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Dalai Lama Voices Support for Gay Marriage

<p>“If two people... really feel that way ... and both sides fully agree, then okay," the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader says.</p>
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The Dalai Lama has come out in support of gay marriage, saying it was “OK” and a personal affair for people of the same sex to commit to each other.

“If two people... really feel that way ... and both sides fully agree, then okay," the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader said on Ora.tv’s Larry King Now show.

The Nobel laureate was interviewed after he offered the customary prayer that opens each Senate session in Washington D.C.

Ultimately, the Dalai Lama, who like all Tibetan Monks is celibate himself, said gay marriage was up to each government and was ultimately "individual business."

"People who have belief or who have special traditions, then you should follow according to your own tradition. Like Buddhism, there are different kinds of sexual misconduct, so you should follow properly."

"I think (it's) OK,” he added. “I think that's an individual's business.”

He also condemned bullying of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.

"That is wrong," the Dalai Lama stressed. "That's a violation of human rights."

The Dalai Lama fled from Tibet to India in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule. Beijing calls him a "wolf in sheep's clothing" who seeks to use violent methods to establish an independent country.

The Dalai Lama contends what he wants is autonomy for Tibet and denies advocating violence.

- Reuters contributed to this report.