The relationship between Buddhism and sexual and gender minorities varies by tradition and teacher. According to some scholars, early Buddhism appears to have placed no special stigma on homosexual relations, since the subject was not mentioned.James William Coleman, The New Buddhism: The Western Transformation of an Ancient Tradition. Oxford University Press 2002, page 146. Historically, Buddhist cultures, leaders, and traditions have varied in their treatment of LGBTQ relationships, sexuality, and gender expressions ranging from being hostile, neutral, or supportive.
Buddhism is more likely to accept homosexuality than Confucianism and marriage is largely considered to be a secular issue within Buddhism.
Buddhist texts
Early texts
According to the Pāli Canon and Āgama (the early Buddhist scriptures), there is nothing saying that same or opposite gender relations have anything to do with sexual misconduct, for lay people.優婆塞經 (Upāsaka Sutra from Madhyam āgama):復次，舍梨子！白衣聖弟子離邪婬、斷邪婬，彼或有父所護，或母所護，或父母所護，或兄弟所護，或姉妹所護，或婦父母所護，或親親所護，或同姓所護，或為他婦女，有鞭罰恐怖，及有名雇債至華鬘親，不犯如是女。彼於邪淫淨除其心，白衣聖弟子善護行，此第三法
Within the earliest monastic rules known as the Vinaya ( 4th century BCE), male monks are explicitly forbidden from having sexual relations with any of the four genders: male, female, ubhatovyañjanaka and paṇḍaka; various meanings of these words are given below. Later, the Buddha allowed the ordination of women, forbade ordination to these other types of people, with exceptions to a few particular types of paṇḍaka.See, for example, the Pandakavatthu section of the Mahavagga. 1:61, 68, 69. The Buddha's proscriptions against certain types of people joining the monastic sangha (ordained community) are often understood to reflect his concern with upholding the public image of the sangha as virtuous; in some cases, this is explicitly stated. Social acceptability was vital for the sangha, as it could not survive without material support from lay society.Peter Harvey, An Introduction to Buddhist Ethics. Cambridge University Press, 2000, page 390. Quoting Sponberg 1992, 13–18.
Ubhatovyañjanakas
The word ubhatovyañjanaka is usually thought to describe people who have both male and female sexual characteristics, and thus are intersex.The Pali Text Society Pali-English Dictionary defines ubhatobyanjanaka as "Having the characteristics of both sexes, hermaphrodite". Rhys Davids, T. W. & William Stede (eds.), Pali-English Dictionary, Oriental Books Reprint Corporation, New Delhi, 1975. In the Vinaya, it is said that ubhatovyañjanaka should not be ordained, on account of the possibility that they would entice a fellow monk or nun into having sex.Harvey, op cit, pages 412–413; the bad can be found at Vin. I.89; Vin. II.271. It has been seen by some that the category of ubhatovyañjanaka is of later addition to the early Buddhist texts, since it does not appear in the early suttas, the Pāṭimokkhas, nor in the early parts of the Vinaya.Through the Yellow Gate
Ordination of Gender-Nonconforming People in the Buddhist Vinaya
by Ven. Vimala
Paṇḍakas The paṇḍaka is a complex category that is variously defined in different Buddhist texts. In the earliest texts, the word seems to refer to a socially stigmatized class of trans-feminine and/or cross-dressing people, some of whom may have been sex workers.Harvey, Peter (2000). An Introduction to Buddhist Ethics: Foundations, Values and Issues, Cambridge press. p.416. , Damien Keown, in Routledge Encyclopedia of Buddhism, page 683. Paisarn Likhitpreechakul argue that these people are grouped together with groups who are excluded from ordination as well; those with physical disabilities such as deafness or dwarfism, or those who have committed crimes.Vinaya: Mahavagga, 1:71, 76. "The Story of the Prohibition of the Ordination of Pandaka" from the Vinaya claims that the ban is a response to the example of a paṇḍaka monk with a desire to have sex. Being refused by other monks, he had sex with animal handlers, who then told the wider community and brought disgrace upon the sangha.Vinaya, Vol. 4, pp. 141–142Harvey, Peter. An Introduction to Buddhist Ethics, Cambridge University Press, 2000, pages 415f. Since the word paṇḍaka does not appear in either of the early Suttas nor in the early parts of the Vinaya, it has been seen by some as a possible indication that pandaka's inclusion in the Vinaya did not happen in the Buddha's lifetime but was added later.Through the Yellow Gate Ordination of Gender-Nonconforming People in the Buddhist Vinaya by Ven. Vimala
The Lotus Sutra reads that a Bodhisattva should not go near a Paṇḍaka,Lotus Sutra: Leon Hurvitz, trans., Scripture of the Lotus Blossom of the Fine Dharma (New York: Columbia University Press, 1976), p. 209Lotus Sutra: If he enters the house of another person, he should not engage in talk with the young girls, unmarried women or widows. Nor should he go near the five types of "unmanly males" or have any close dealings with them. similar to the rules for monks in the Vinaya. The Theravadin text Milinda Panha claims that Paṇḍakas betray secrets because of their alleged imperfection.Milinda Panha, 100 BC. p. 310.Milinda Panha: There are nine kinds of people, Nâgasena, who let out a secret that has been talked over with them, and treasure it not up in their hearts. And who are the nine? The lustful man reveals it in obedience to some lust, the ill-tempered man in consequence of some ill-will, the deluded man under some mistake. The timid man reveals it through fear, and the man greedy for gain to get something out of it. A woman reveals it through "infirmity", an alcoholic in his eagerness for drink, a eunuch (Paṇḍaka) because of their "imperfection", and a child through fickleness.
LGBTQ+ people in later traditions Some modern commentators interpret the word ubhatovyanjañaka as including those who are not physically intersex, but display behavioral and psychological characteristics of both sexes, such as a woman who is attracted to other women.Bunmi Methangkun, head of the traditionalist Abhidhamma Foundation in Thailand, describes two types of hermaphrodites, namely, female (Pali: itthi-ubhatobyan janaka) and male (Pali: purisa-ubhatobyanjanaka). According to Bunmi, an itthi-ubhatobyanjanaka is physically female, including having normal female genitals, but when physically attracted to another woman, "her previously female mind disappears and changes instead into the mind of a man, and at the same time male genitals appear while her female genitals disappear and she is able to have sexual intercourse with that woman." (Bunmi Methangkun, Khon Pen Kathoey Dai Yang-rai (How Can People Be Kathoeys?), Abhidhamma Foundation, Bangkok, 2529 (1986).) 5th-century Buddhist writer Buddhaghosa describes ubhatobyanjanaka as people with the body of one sex but the "power", or gender of the other. Leonard Zwilling argues that in this account Buddhaghosa does not in fact describe "hermaphroditism" but rather bisexuality or homosexuality.Zwilling, Leonard (1992). "Homosexuality As Seen In Indian Buddhist Texts", in Cabezon, Jose Ignacio, Ed., Buddhism, Sexuality & Gender, State University of New York. p. 206. Janet Gyatso pointed out that Zwilling destroys his own argument that pandakas are homosexuals when he writes, "The Vinaya, in fact, goes so far as to distinguish sexual activity between normative males from sexual relations between a socially normative male and a pandaka."
In other texts, the term paṇḍaka can include those born sexually indeterminate or with no sex, eunuchs, those whose impotence changes every half month, males who gain sexual potency by absorbing other men's semen, or spying on other people having sex. It sometimes includes males or females with any sexual dysfunction, such as impotence or irregular menstrual cycles. The common element seems to be those whose sexuality is either limited physiologically, or those who are sexually impotent. Together these impotence types are almost always portrayed negatively as a pariah class, especially in the earliest texts. In modern contexts, paṇḍaka is sometimes alleged to include lesbians, gay men, and transgender and intersex people,Zwilling, Leonard (1992). "Homosexuality As Seen In Indian Buddhist Texts", in Cabezon, Jose Ignacio, Ed., Buddhism, Sexuality & Gender, State University of New York. Pp. 203–214. although in ancient times, a man who sexually penetrated another man or a paṇḍaka was not himself considered a paṇḍaka.
Some texts of the Abhidharma state that a paṇḍaka cannot achieve enlightenment in their own lifetime, but must wait for reincarnation as a man or woman. Ananda — Buddha's cousin and disciple — was said to be a paṇḍaka in one of his many previous lives, as was the Buddhist nun Isidāsī (from the Therigatha). In both cases, birth as a paṇḍaka was a result of poor karma, and the idea that being a paṇḍaka stems from bad behaviour in a previous life is common in Buddhist literature.For example, the Pravrajyantaraya Sutra, or the 7th century Ta-ch'eng tsao-hsiang kung-te sutra. In the latter, a man "with the lusts and desires of a woman, [who] enjoys being treated as a woman by other men" despised other men or enjoyed dressing as a woman in a previous life. Asanga and Vasubandhu discussed if a pandaka was able to be enlightened or not.
In the Samantapasadika, a work of the 5th century CE Theravadin commentator and scholar Buddhaghosa, paṇḍaka are described as being filled with defiling passions (ussanakilesa), unquenchable lusts (avapasantaparilaha) and are dominated by their libido (parilahavegabhibhuta). Nevertheless, Buddhaghosa did not forbid all Paṇḍakas from becoming ordained as monks; indeed, the "āsittapaṇḍaka" was allowed to join. Notably, the "āsittapaṇḍaka" was a male that gained "satisfaction from performing oral sex on another man". Hence, there does not appear to be a consistent exclusion of homosexual Paṇḍakas by Buddhaghosa. The 4th century Mahayana Buddhist writers Vasubandhu and Asanga contend that the paṇḍaka has no discipline for spiritual practice, due to their defiling passions of both male and female sexes. They lack the moral fortitude to counter these passions because they lack modesty and shame. Incapable of showing restraint, such a being is abandoned by their parents and lacking such ties are unable to hold strong views. Asanga, like Vasubandhu, refuses the pandaka recognition as a layman on the grounds that such persons are unfit to associate with or serve the Sangha. Asanga, however, considers them capable to practice the path of a layman individually if they so desire, but without receiving recognition as a layman or being introduced in the sangha. A position similar to Asanga view was also featured in the Lotus Sutra, where sangha members were advised to avoid the paṇḍaka.
Buddha's proscriptions against certain types of people joining the monastic sangha (ordained community) are often understood to reflect his concern with upholding the public image of the sangha as virtuous. Peter Jackson, the scholar of sexual politics and Buddhism in Thailand, speculates that the Buddha was initially reluctant to allow women to join the sangha for this reason. Jackson explains:
Buddhism, the middle path, has always been concerned with the maintenance of social order and since the Buddha's time the sangha has never claimed to provide a universal vehicle for the spiritual liberation of all individuals in society, explicitly excluding those who are considered to reflect badly on the monkhood in terms of prevailing social norms and attitudes.Jackson, Peter A. (1998). "Male Homosexuality and Transgenderism in the Thai Buddhist Tradition". In Queer Dharma: Voices of Gay Buddhists, edited by Winston Leyland. San Francisco : Gay Sunshine Press.
Social acceptability was vital for the sangha, as it could not survive without material support from lay society.