White Crane Institute (commonly known as "White Crane") is a United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 non-profit organization

Non-profit organization

Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...

 headquartered in New York State.

White Crane Institute is an educational non-profit dedicated to publishing the Gay wisdom and culture quarterly magazine White Crane (magazine).

The institute has published classics in modern gay literature through the White Crane Books imprint in collaboration with Lethe Press. Titles in the series have included work by Andrew Ramer, James Broughton

James Broughton

James Broughton was an American poet, and poetic filmmaker. He was part of the San Francisco Renaissance...

, Toby Johnson

Toby Johnson

Toby Johnson is an American novelist and writer in the field of gay spirituality.- Life :Born as Edwin Clark Johnson in 1945 in San Antonio Texas, Johnson attended Catholic parochial school and then the college prep school associated with St. Mary's University, both run by the Brothers of Mary. A...

, Malcolm Boyd

Malcolm Boyd

Malcolm Boyd is an American Episcopal Priest and author.-Biography:In the 1960s Boyd became known as “The Espresso Priest” for his religiously-themed poetry-reading sessions at the “Hungry i” nightclub in San Francisco. Boyd went on to become a prominent white clergyman in the American Civil...

, and Mark Thompson.

On the urging of the late gay health advocate Eric Rofes

Eric Rofes

Eric Rofes was a gay activist, feminist, educator, and author who wrote or edited 12 books.-Life and works:Rofes grew up in Commack, New York and he graduated from Harvard University...

, the White Crane Institute began and continues to sponsor the Gay Men's Health Academies for the training of gay health advocates towards a positive understanding of sexuality.

In collaboration with the estate of James L. White

James L. White

James L. White was an American poet, editor and teacher.-Biography:Born in Indianapolis, Indiana, White attended Indiana University and Colorado State University where he attained an MA in Literary Criticism....

, the institute sponsors a biennial poetry book manuscript prize, the White Crane/James White Poetry Prize for excellence in Gay Men's Poetry. The inaugural judge is the poet Mark Doty

Mark Doty

Mark Doty is an American poet and memoirist.-Biography:He was born in Maryville, Tennessee, earned his Bachelor of Arts from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, and received his Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from Goddard College in Vermont.In 1989, his partner Wally Roberts tested...

.

White Crane Institute achieved 501(c)(3) status in 2004.

Bo Young is the executive director.

Magazine

White Crane, http://www.whitecranejournal.com (formerly White Crane Newsletter & White Crane Journal) was created by Robert Barzan in the Summer of 1989.

Barzan chose the name White Crane because in the ancient traditions of China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

 and Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, the white crane

Crane (bird)

Cranes are a family, Gruidae, of large, long-legged and long-necked birds in the order Gruiformes. There are fifteen species of crane in four genera. Unlike the similar-looking but unrelated herons, cranes fly with necks outstretched, not pulled back...

 is a symbol of happiness

Happiness

Happiness is a mental state of well-being characterized by positive emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. A variety of biological, psychological, religious, and philosophical approaches have striven to define happiness and identify its sources....

 and wholeness. Suggesting high-flying aspiration and convention-defying independence. It is an appropriate symbol for the Gay quest for a life of wholeness and meaning. In that first issue Barzan described White Crane's mission:

"The driving force behind this newsletter is my belief that as Gay men we have a unique and wonderful spirituality to share with each other. A spirituality that is, in part, due to our gayness but also because we have all experienced oppression of who we are as Gay men...This has forced us to drink from our own wells, exploring new ways that lead to our authenticity."

Barzan published the journal for seven years, growing the newsletter into a journal format with some of the foremost writers in gay history, spirituality and Queer studies

Queer studies

Queer studies is the critical theory based study of issues relating to sexual orientation and gender identity usually focusing on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people and cultures. Universities have also labeled this area of analysis Sexual Diversity Studies, Sexualities...

 contributing almost from the very beginning. He remains White Crane's Emeritus Founder.

In 1996, Barzan passed the journal on to Gay theorist, science-fiction writer and novelist Toby Johnson

Toby Johnson

Toby Johnson is an American novelist and writer in the field of gay spirituality.- Life :Born as Edwin Clark Johnson in 1945 in San Antonio Texas, Johnson attended Catholic parochial school and then the college prep school associated with St. Mary's University, both run by the Brothers of Mary. A...

. At that time he described White Crane Journals objectives:

1. That it be a forum where we can share with each other what we have found both helpful and not helpful for our spiritual development; and
2. that what is written here be a source of encouragement in our own life journeys. You are encouraged to test everything that is written here, keep what is helpful to you, and lay the rest aside.

During Johnson's tenure the publication expanded to an international readership with subscribers in Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, South America

South America

South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 and Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

 and entered the digital age with the establishment of the White Crane website http://www.gaywisdom.org.

Johnson published White Crane Journal for seven years, writing several books in that time including the 2000 Lammie Award winning Gay Spirituality: The Role of Gay Identity in the Transformation of Human Consciousness. Johnson is now publisher emeritus of White Crane after handing over publishing responsibilities to Bo Young http://www.gaywisdom.org who had previously served as Poetry Editor and Associate Editor.

Young invited former RFD Magazine poetry

Poetry

Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...

 editor and former LGBT church advocate Dan Vera

Dan Vera

Dan Vera is a Cuban-American poet, and editor, living in Washington D.C.-Life:He is the Managing Editor of White Crane, founder of Brookland Area Writers & Artists, co-publisher of Vrzhu Press, and a member of the Triangle Artists Group.His work has appeared in Beltway Poetry Quarterly, Delaware...

 to come on-board, and they share the work of publishing White Crane in the 21st Century. Having met in Harry Hay

Harry Hay

Henry "Harry" Hay, Jr. was a labor advocate, teacher and early leader in the American LGBT rights movement. He is known for his roles in helping to found several gay organizations, including the Mattachine Society, the first sustained gay rights group in the United States.Hay was exposed early in...

's Heart Circle Workshops in the mid-90s, they seek to bring White Crane to new readers hungry for a spiritual grounding and self-awareness of gay meaning. Their aim is to continue a forum of discussion and sharing in the spirit of the Heart Circles they learned from Harry Hay

Harry Hay

Henry "Harry" Hay, Jr. was a labor advocate, teacher and early leader in the American LGBT rights movement. He is known for his roles in helping to found several gay organizations, including the Mattachine Society, the first sustained gay rights group in the United States.Hay was exposed early in...

.

Now published by the White Crane Institute, White Crane has moved to publishing books under the White Crane Books imprint. The first volume involved the reissue of Andrew Ramer's Two Flutes Playing. Other volumes in the White Crane series include Mark Thompson's Gay Spirit: Myth & Meaning, Toby Johnson's Gay Spirituality, James Broughton

James Broughton

James Broughton was an American poet, and poetic filmmaker. He was part of the San Francisco Renaissance...

's posthumous collection of writings under the title All edited by poet and KPFA

KPFA

KPFA is a listener-funded progressive talk radio and music radio station located in Berkeley, California, broadcasting to the San Francisco Bay Area. KPFA airs public news, public affairs, talk, and music programming. The station signed on-the-air April 15 1949, as the first Pacifica Station...

 radio host Jack Foley

Jack Foley (poet)

Jack Foley is an American poet living in Oakland, California.-Biography:Jack Foley is a widely-published San Francisco poet and critic. Born in Neptune, New Jersey , raised in Port Chester, New York, and educated at Cornell University, Foley moved to California in 1963 to attend U. C. Berkeley...

, and a reissue of Take Off The Masks by Malcolm Boyd

Malcolm Boyd

Malcolm Boyd is an American Episcopal Priest and author.-Biography:In the 1960s Boyd became known as “The Espresso Priest” for his religiously-themed poetry-reading sessions at the “Hungry i” nightclub in San Francisco. Boyd went on to become a prominent white clergyman in the American Civil...

.

White Crane also manages a Gay Wisdom listserve for individuals seeking inspiring and challenging reminders of the contributions gay people have made to human consciousness. This is a free service available via their website.

External links

• White Crane Institute — official website
• White Crane Journal White Crane Journal