LGBTQ+ Pride Month is a month, typically June, dedicated to celebration and commemoration of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQ+) pride, observed in the Western world. Pride Month began after the Stonewall riots, a series of gay liberation protests in 1969, and has since spread outside of the United States. Modern-day Pride Month both honors the movement for LGBTQ+ rights and celebrates LGBTQ+ culture.
HSZC came out of the Gay Buddhist Club in response to the feelings of some in the community that their needs were not adequately addressed at SFZC, City Center. The first meetings were held at City Center but soon relocated to the Hartford Street house, which had been in use as a Tibetan Buddhist center since 1973, where the group hosted such speakers as Allen Ginsburg, Ram Dass, and Baker Roshi. On December 8, 1981, the day of Buddha’s enlightenment, a ceremony took place to inaugurate the new zendo in the basement, and the Hartford Street Zen Center began to take form.
We continue still to stand for the LGBTQ+ community and our allies through our ongoing evolution of societal views of our lives.