God is Queer,
and so is the Universe.

To sing, to touch, to listen, to heal, and to create – each of those independently or in combination with the others – is to bless.

Manifesto of
Queer Spiritual Counseling & Coaching

❖This is a Queer universe.

❖ The universe was clearly not created by a God allergic to variety. Queer God created a Queer universe in which there is a place for each of us. A theology that says different has never looked out of a window onto the world.

❖ All of us – Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex, Genderqueer, Questioning, and Straight – are reflections of God, and necessary to the Queer wholeness of creation.

❖ We are meant to shape society through expression of our true selves. To hide ourselves is to cheat the world of treasures that it needs.

❖ Every individual is unique and capable of a unique conversation with God. God is that big and that Queer.

❖ Queer people have right of access to all the great spiritual teachings of the world, and we have the right to read scriptures and speak about God from a Queer perspective.

❖ The world can benefit from Queer wisdom, Queer spirituality. The more we develop spiritually, the more use we are to God and to the world.

David Dunn Bauer

The world is filled with spiritual traditions intended to help people navigate the extraordinary beauty and the disorienting chaos of the world. However, most of these traditions have forced Queer people off of the map of the spiritual world, and many have sought our destruction. Queer Spiritual Counseling is here to help every individual find her/his/their safe place in the universe and celebrate every individual's connection to whatever God speaks to them.

Queer Spiritual Counseling addresses both the injuries of the past and the astonishing potential of the future. In our work together, we can bring healing to the injuries of our souls. We can illuminate paths towards growth and joy that we never believed possible. We can have life with God's blessing, Queer life blessed by a Queer God.

Discover a spiritual path that truly resonates with your queer identity

My personal default setting is to talk about God, but Queer Spiritual Counseling is available to people of all faiths or of none. Prayers can be addressed to God, to the Universe, to the Great Spirit, or they can simply be spoken, they don’t need to be addressed at all. In our sessions, we will use the spiritual language that works for you.

Core Benefits

❖ Heal from the wounds of religious rejection.

❖ Embrace your sexuality as a sacred aspect of your being.

❖ Build a strong foundation for a fulfilling and authentic life.

❖ Discover the power of your queer voice in shaping your spiritual journey.

Queer spirituality is not just about acceptance; it's about celebration. Your unique identity is a gift, a reflection of the divine diversity of the universe. Let's explore how your queerness can deepen your connection to the sacred and inspire your spiritual growth.

Spiritual Counseling & Coaching Sessions

My Background

My education as a rabbi and interfaith clergy person, obtained at Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and Pacific School of Religion, provides a strong foundation for my work.

The Power of Listening

However, equally important are my lifelong experience as a listener and my previous international career directing theater and opera productions. Listening is perhaps my strongest sense. While we can communicate via phone or Zoom, in-person meetings are rare. I find focusing solely on your voice and words allows me to achieve a deeper level of attentiveness and spiritual connection. I listen intently to what you say and even more deeply to what remains unspoken.

Compassionate Guidance

Spiritual counseling is a gentle, gradual process that mirrors the rhythms of your daily and weekly life. We discuss your most meaningful and challenging experiences, weaving blessings and spiritual insights into the tapestry of your life story. I listen carefully and prepare my responses with prayerful consideration. My prayer is to serve God by serving you and to serve you through my reliance on God. This approach allows me to be present, honest, and loving in my communication.

  • “When David offered to work with me for spiritual counseling I was conflicted. I have complicated feelings about God and organized religion, but at the same time a profound need for spirit, connection and faith. I decided to take the risk and am so glad I did. His ability to embrace and hear any/all feelings and thoughts, combined with compassion and insight, make him effective and incredibly comfortable to talk with. He was able to ask me some intensely thought-provoking questions and discuss deep, sometimes emotional issues while infusing our conversations with joy, lightness and humor. He brings his whole heart to every conversation and offers a very special opportunity for learning and personal growth.”

    Deanna W., Racine WI

  • “David was a terrific source of encouragement and counsel as my husband and I planned our wedding. Although we all came from different spiritual traditions, David understood our desire for religious meaning in our ceremony. He deftly guided us through the process of planning not only a rich ceremony but also discerning what was important to us in our new life together. In addition to providing pre-marital counseling and guidance, David also officiated at our wedding, and he has become a terrific friend and spiritual mentor. David understands the unique needs of LGBTQ persons on a spiritual journey, and I recommend him highly.”

    Todd B., Philadelphia

  • “As a guest in my Western Religions class at San José State University, David's presentation sparked one of the best discussions of the semester, along theological, abstract, personal, and political lines. This is a Rabbi who knows how to hear everybody. His approach to spirituality never circumscribes the pathways that others need to explore. His probing honesty through the continuities and discontinuities in his own life journey yield both focus and compassion in how he listens. He embodies the queer playfulness and eclecticism of such ancestors as Harry Hay. Seek him out, if you are seeking.”

    Jennifer Rycenga Professor of Religious Studies & Women's Studies San Jose State University

  • “Rabbi David Dunn Bauer has been an important part of our families’ spiritual life for a very long time. He met with us frequently during the year before our son’s Bar Mitzvah to help all of us prepare and get the most out of the experience. In fact, that passage was life-changing for all of us. He also married us a week after gay marriage became legal in Massachusetts. His involvement with our wedding plans, frequent meetings prior to the wedding, and beautifully kind words during that magical ceremony, further strengthened our trust, faith and connection with him. When my mother was dying, he sat with her and prayed and sang and comforted her like no one else could. He then sat with us and comforted us in a different, but equally critical way."

    Marion W. Amherst, MA

  • “I have seen David for counseling for a while now, and each time I have been deeply impressed by his care, gentleness, and remarkable presence. He is really and totally present to me in our sessions. It also matters to me a great deal how David integrates the “spiritual” and the “physical” in his thinking. I have gained a new appreciation of just how sacred my own body and gay identity are – to me and to others – because of David’s work. It’s not too much at all to say that I have a better relationship with both because of David’s presence.”

    Sergius San Francisco, CA

  • “David Bauer is a gifted spiritual guide. He’s one of the smartest people I know, and also wise, deeply empathetic, steady, courageous. Over the years I’ve seen him make a difference in the lives of a great diversity of people – teens, old folks and those in between. He understands how to listen, how to ask good questions, how to offer support and hope.”

    Merle Feld, Author and Teacher

  • “David was the first Rabbi (indeed, the first Jewish person!) to earn the Certificate of Sexuality and Religion at Pacific School of Religion. I admire David so much for engaging with an academic course of study outside his own religious tradition and integrating his own faith with the material while showing profound respect for the other faiths of his colleagues. David brings an amazing breadth as well as depth of knowledge from the arts, religion, literature, and a well-traveled life to his work. He pushes the usual boundaries of religion and sexuality into a truly pioneering position, and for the sake of human and planetary thriving. This guy is good.”

    The Rev. Jay E. Johnson, Ph.D. Lecturer in Theology and Culture Coordinator, the Certificate of Sexuality and Religion Pacific School of Religion

FAQ

  • Queer Spiritual Coaching is a short-term process to address specific ambitions or challenges. It can develop into a long-term coaching or counseling relationship, but we start by looking together at one question in your life.

    • Do you feel “stuck” or inert around one personal or professional project?

    • Is some a personal or professional goal within your reach, but for some reason you "can’t land the plane"?

    • Do you feel emotionally drawn to someone, but you are reticent or stuck about getting closer?

    As your Queer Spiritual Coach, I can help you discern what you want and what keeps you from asking for it. I listen closely and prayerfully to you, and help you identify the strategies and actions that will get you through the fog. As your Queer Spiritual Coach, I recognize holiness in questions and goals where you haven’t seen them yet. I provide you with spiritual focus or a brief prayer that channels your own spiritual power towards achieving the goals you set. Schedule a free 30-minute discovery call now and let me listen to what's going on.

    Queer Spiritual Counseling is a slow, gentle process that follows the shape of your life on the level of the day and the week. We talk about what has been most meaningful and most challenging, we follow the story of your life and weave blessings and spiritual insights into it. I listen carefully to what you say and I prepare my responses prayerfully. I pray that I may serve God by serving you, and that I may serve you through my reliance on our gloriously Queer God enables me to be present and honest, direct and loving in my words. I invite you to schedule a free 30-minute counseling session HERE.

  • I was educated at Yale University, Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, the Conservative Yeshiva, Fontainebleau Music School (under Nadia Boulanger), and Pacific School of Religion where I became the first Jew to earn the certificate in Sexuality and Religion. At Midwest Academy in Chicago, I learned the basics in organizing for social change. With Betty Martin, I studied the Art of Giving and Receiving and the Wheel of Consent. 

    My ability to heal through touch is a gift with which I was born. I got very lucky in having the talent, but I also have studied, read, researched, and raised my skill level.

    I have packed a lot of experience and training into my life, and I make use of everything I have learned.

    Artist and Director: My first career, directing theatre and opera internationally, was itself an education in understanding and compassion. I needed to care about the desires and emotional lives of all the characters in the plays and operas I staged, and I needed to respect the talents and process of the artists with whom I worked, understanding the unique path each individual actor or singer took in creating their roles.

    Rabbi and Social Justice Advocate: I believe in prayer through word and action. Establishing justice and freedom from oppression for all humanity is a sacred obligation. Jewish sacred text provides me with endless inspiration. 

    Educator and Writer: I love teaching anything that I am passionate about. Whether my topic is Jewish Sacred Text, Shakespearean Poetry, Italian Opera, or How Prayer Can Make Hot Sex Even Hotter – nothing in life excites me more than teaching. 

    Chaplain: My five years of offering pastoral care and religious education in a maximum-security prison have intensified my innate compassion and strengthened my dedication to serving others.

    Spiritual Erotic Massage: Working primarily with gay and bisexual men, I heal through touch and I have a gift for awakening someone’s awareness of the inherent blessings of their bodies. 

    Each of these professions is an exercise of the same spiritual calling. Everything I do is an exercise of the same three principles: 

    • Each life is a work of art, and its beauty deserves acknowledgement.

    • Every sensation in the body is an encounter with God and deserves a blessing. 

    • In every circumstance of life there is an opportunity to be guided by God, and we should seize as many of those as we can. 

  • The per session costs move along on a sliding scale. Other factors that contribute to the answer to that question are how urgent does it feel for you to talk weekly? Let’s discuss, contact me.