White Crane Institute (commonly known as "White Crane") is a United States non-profit organization headquartered in New York State.
White Crane Institute is an educational non-profit dedicated to publishing the Gay wisdom and culture quarterly magazine White Crane (magazine).
The institute has published classics in modern gay literature through the White Crane Books imprint in collaboration with Lethe Press. Titles in the series have included work by Andrew Ramer, James Broughton, Toby Johnson, Malcolm Boyd, and Mark Thompson.
On the urging of the late gay health advocate Eric Rofes, the White Crane Institute began and continues to sponsor the Gay Men's Health Academies for the training of gay health advocates towards a positive understanding of sexuality.
In collaboration with the estate of James L. White, the institute sponsors a biennial poetry book manuscript prize, the White Crane/James White Poetry Prize for excellence in Gay Men's Poetry. The inaugural judge is the poet Mark Doty.
White Crane Institute achieved 501(c)(3) status in 2004.
Bo Young is the executive director.
White Crane, [1] (formerly White Crane Newsletter & White Crane Journal) was created by Robert Barzan in the Summer of 1989.
Barzan chose the name White Crane because in the ancient traditions of China and Japan, the white crane is a symbol of happiness and wholeness. Suggesting high-flying aspiration and convention-defying independence. It is an appropriate symbol for the Gay quest for a life of wholeness and meaning. In that first issue Barzan described White Crane's mission:
"The driving force behind this newsletter is my belief that as Gay men we have a unique and wonderful spirituality to share with each other. A spirituality that is, in part, due to our gayness but also because we have all experienced oppression of who we are as Gay men...This has forced us to drink from our own wells, exploring new ways that lead to our authenticity."
Barzan published the journal for seven years, growing the newsletter into a journal format with some of the foremost writers in gay history, spirituality and Queer studies contributing almost from the very beginning. He remains White Crane's Emeritus Founder.
In 1996, Barzan passed the journal on to Gay theorist, science-fiction writer and novelist Toby Johnson. At that time he described White Crane Journal's objectives:
During Johnson's tenure the publication expanded to an international readership with subscribers in Europe, South America, Australia and Asia and entered the digital age with the establishment of the White Crane website [2].
Johnson published White Crane Journal for seven years, writing several books in that time including the 2000 Lammie Award winning Gay Spirituality: The Role of Gay Identity in the Transformation of Human Consciousness. Johnson is now publisher emeritus of White Crane after handing over publishing responsibilities to Bo Young [3] who had previously served as Poetry Editor and Associate Editor.
Young invited former RFD Magazine poetry editor and former LGBT church advocate Dan Vera to come on-board, and they share the work of publishing White Crane in the 21st Century. Having met in Harry Hay's Heart Circle Workshops in the mid-90s, they seek to bring White Crane to new readers hungry for a spiritual grounding and self-awareness of gay meaning. Their aim is to continue a forum of discussion and sharing in the spirit of the Heart Circles they learned from Harry Hay.
Now published by the White Crane Institute, White Crane has moved to publishing books under the White Crane Books imprint. The first volume involved the reissue of Andrew Ramer's Two Flutes Playing. Other volumes in the White Crane series include Mark Thompson's Gay Spirit: Myth & Meaning, Toby Johnson's Gay Spirituality, James Broughton's posthumous collection of writings under the title All edited by poet and KPFA radio host Jack Foley, and a reissue of Take Off The Masks by Malcolm Boyd.
White Crane also manages a Gay Wisdom listserve for individuals seeking inspiring and challenging reminders of the contributions gay people have made to human consciousness. This is a free service available via their website.