I was born in the Bronx, New York, and attended Columbia College for a B.A. in English, and NYU for graduate work in English. I moved to Los Angeles to become a journalist for the
L.A. Weekly
and
L.A. Times,
and helped open and run Highways Performance Art Space for a decade. I wrote two books,
Sacred Lips of the Bronx
(St. Martin’s Press, 1994), and the social history book, Sex
Between Men: An Intimate History of the Sex Lives of Gay Men, Postwar to Prese
nt.
Fairly soon after arriving in Los Angeles, I entered gay-affirmative therapy and was introduced to the notion of facing my “shadow,” and transforming unfinished family business into experiences of greater selfhood, strength, love and creativity. I returned to school to receive an M.A. in Clinical Psychology at Antioch University and a Ph.D. at Pacifica Graduate Institute. I wrote a dissertation on the idea of philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche as a forerunner of what we today might call “gay soul-making.”
In 2005, I founded the Antioch LGBT Specialization in Clinical Psychology and, in 2011, Colors LGBTQ Youth Counseling Center.
Over the last year, I have been the moderator for the Gay-Centered Inner Work Club during the first Saturday of every month at Plummer Park, which focuses on same-sex love and racial justice issues.
My interests have been widening to include issues faced by people of color and women.