Queer Community

Clouds has a beautiful queer community! Many of our teachers and priests, and sangha members identify as LGBTQI+.

Our whole community is accountable to our pronouns practice and statement on non-harming.

We have gender neutral bathrooms, and work hard to create supportive environment where all bodies, and identities, are welcome.

We take the safety of our members seriously, which is why we have an intentional practice around addressing concerns in the form of our Ethics and Reconciliation Committee.

Pronouns Practice at Clouds in Water

You may notice at Clouds in Water that the teachers and many of the participants list their pronouns along with their name on Zoom, or on their name badges when in person. We do this because respecting a person’s pronouns goes hand-in-hand with the practice of refraining from harmful speech, and creating a harmonious sangha in which we all feel seen, included, and understood.

Creating an inclusive sangha – and world – is part of our practice. We recognize that some people might not be in a place where they feel comfortable letting everyone know their pronouns, and that's fine. While sharing your own pronouns is optional, using other people's stated pronouns has a profound and cumulative impact on the wellbeing of our gender-expansive, trans and non-binary sangha members, and on the wellbeing of the sangha as a whole.

-Some of this language was drawn from the Zen Mountain Monastery website and we gratefully acknowledge their permission to make use of it in our sangha.