Toby Johnson – Keynote 2005

Toby Johnson, PhD is past editor of White CraneJournal and author of eight books. three non-fiction books that apply the wisdom of Joseph Campbell, his teacher and the “wise old man” of his personal journey, to modern-day social and religious problems, three gay genre novels that dramatize spiritual issues at the heart of gay identity, and two books on gay men’s spiritualties and the mystical experience of homosexuality. Former Catholic monk turned comparative religion scholar, San Francisco hippie, gay psychotherapist, community organizer, writer, gay bookstore operator, B&B host, Johnson was one of the regular presenters at the Texas-based Shaman’s Circles in the 1990s, and one of the organizers of the 2004 Gay Spirituality Summit. Since 1984, he and Kip Dollar have been partners in life and in business and champions of long-term gay relationships. They were the first male couple registered as domestic partners in the state of Texas. Toby Johnson’s current book is provocatively titled GAY PERSPECTIVE: Things Our Homosexuality Tells Us About the Nature of God and the Universe. He is especially fascinated by the Buddhist myth of the androgynous Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, which can be interpreted to describe the central “Self” of the universe, residing in each and every sentient being, as a sweet, sensitive, attractive young gay man.