Pure Land Foundation has released a Pride Month YouTube series on LGBTQ+ identity and self-love with Buddhist monk and LGBTQ+ advocate Kodo Nishimura.
-- The Pure Land Foundation has launched a Pride Month video series on YouTube in collaboration with TIME Magazine's Next Generation Leader, Kodo Nishimura. The limited series explores themes of identity, self-love, and resilience, offering an affirming space for those navigating the intersection of LGBTQ+ and Buddhist philosophy.
The series challenges longstanding assumptions about exclusion within religion, with Kodo sharing his personal experiences as a member of the LGBTQ+ community within the Buddhist tradition. Born and raised in a 500-year-old temple where his family were ordained monks, Kodo began formal monastic training in Japan at the age of 24.
When Kodo came out as gay to his parents, his father, a professor of Buddhist studies, encouraged him to live authentically. A respected Buddhist master also assured him that his identity – including his love for makeup - did not conflict with the Dharma.
While studying in New York, Kodo met his future husband, but then faced a battle to have him recognised as his spouse in Japan, where same-sex marriage is not legally recognised. Kodo hopes to inspire global leaders to change laws that harm members of the LGBTQ+ community and is consistently campaigning to make this a reality in Japan.
The series was commissioned by Pure Land Foundation founder and curator Bruno Wang, who highlights that LGBTQ+ individuals from Buddhist communities can face unique challenges and obstacles. Bruno Wang also grappled with the intersection of Buddhism and LGBTQ+ identity based on his upbringing within a highly conservative Buddhist household.
Having experienced a stricter, less accepting form of Buddhism during his early life in East Asia, he later discovered a more compassionate and inclusive Buddhist community after moving to San Francisco and, like Kodo, found affirmation and acceptance of his identity. Bruno Wang hopes that the series will help others to discover empowering and uplifting Buddhist philosophies.
Affirmations of Pride
The series aims to deliver messages of self-acceptance and to cultivate mental wellbeing through positive affirmations, particularly aimed at members of the global LGBTQ+ community. The videos are visually striking and appealing in the backdrop of nature-focused landscapes, which represent the calmness and harmonic themes of Buddhist teachings.
Instead of the simple black, red or saffron garments traditionally associated with ordained Buddhist monks, in the first episode of ‘Buddhist, Queer and Beautiful’, Kodo wears upcycled green robes in homage to the 2025 World Pride theme of ‘Fabric of Freedom’, which amplifies the intersection of identity, resistance and access in the LGBTQ+ movement.
This collaboration between the Pure Land Foundation and Kodo Nishimura marks the beginning of a new focus for the foundation at the intersection of LGBTQ+, Buddhism and mental health, under the curation of Bruno Wang, who first founded the Pure Land Foundation in 2015 to promote peace, co-existence, harmony and creative expression.
The Pure Land Foundation has previously led several high-profile projects inspired by Buddhist philosophies and precepts, including The Pure Land Series, a collection of insightful discussions on mental health, war, and healing. Aligning with Bruno Wang’s prominent role as a patron of the arts, film and theatre; in 2024 the Pure Land Foundation became a digital-first advocacy organisation focused on original content creation.
The intersection of LGBTQ+, Buddhism and mental health
LGBTQ+ people are 2.5x more likely to have a lifetime mental disorder and 2x as likely to have a current mental disorder. LGBTQ+ individuals experience depression and anxiety at 3x the rate of the general population and are more likely to experience suicidal thoughts.
Whilst Western lineages of Buddhism are more often affirming, LGBTQ+ communities still face challenges. A large U.S. college survey of over 100,000 students found that for bisexual students, being more religious was linked to higher odds of depression - an effect that didn't appear in their heterosexual peers. This was especially true amongst Buddhist students.
In non-Westernised cultural contexts, religion can be an even more prevalent a source of mental health strain for LGBTQ+ communities. Conflicts reconciling faith and sexuality can amplify mental health issues, especially when conservative cultural interpretations of Buddhism strongly conflict with sexual minority identities. In countries with Buddhist majorities, LGBTQ+ individuals report disproportionately high mental distress.
Through the ‘Buddhist, Queer and Beautiful’ series, Kodo Nishimura and Bruno Wang hope to delve further into the subject of LGBTQ+ mental health and wellbeing. Further content is being planned on this topic with practitioners who sit at the cross-section of LGBTQ+, mental health and Buddhist teachings and philosophies.
Speaking of the new series, Kodo said:
“Buddhism is accepting, and it doesn’t deny anybody based on their sexuality or colour or ethnicity or sex or disability. If you ever doubt yourself, please remember that shining in your colour makes the world more colourful and more beautiful”.
Pure Land Foundation founder Bruno Wang said:
“Affirming, inclusive Buddhist communities and practices such as mindfulness and compassion can significantly improve mental well-being, countering stigma and internal conflict. The affirmations within this first limited series will help the global LGBTQ+ community to learn how Buddhist philosophies can be empowering and uplifting.”
For more information follow @thepurelandfoundation on Instagram and subscribe to @ThePureLandFoundation on YouTube.
About the company: The Pure Land Foundation is a registered charity that advocates for the benefits of Buddhism-inspired wisdom and practices to support the improvement of mental and emotional wellness as a response to the global mental health crisis. The Pure Land Foundation creates wholly original digital content including insights, teachings and practical tools for individuals, whilst also emphasising the importance of inner transformation as a pathway to societal change and collective well being.
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Video URL: https://youtu.be/o8u3dI5wbS4
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