Out Spotlight

Today's Out Spotlight  is a transgender author of fiction, nonfiction and poetry. His writings explore sexuality and gender identity, and have included lesbian erotica and works about BDSM subculture. Today's Out Spotlight is Patrick Califia.

Patrick Califia was born female on March 8, 1954 and raised by Mormon parents in Corpus Christi, Texas.  His father was an itinerant road-construction worker and he moved his family from job to job. His mother was a housewife. Califia was the oldest of six children. He started writing stories and poems in his youth. He graduated a year early from high school and matriculated to the University of Utah. While in college, Califia—who was still living as a woman—came out as a lesbian to his parents in 1971. They placed him in a mental institution.

In 1973, Califia moved to California and joined the women’s liberation and anti-war movements. He joined the lesbian separatist movement, but was rejected for his interest in S&M. In 1978, Califia cofounded a lesbian S&M group.

In 1980, his book “Sapphistry: The Book of Lesbian Sexuality” was published. He wrote many works on gender theory, erotica and LGBT issues. He received a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in counseling from San Francisco State University. 

He received Lambda Literary Awards for his short story collection, “Macho Sluts” (1988), his novel “Doc and Fluff: The Dystopian Tale of a Girl and Her Biker” (1990) and his columns published in The Advocate Adviser (1991). In 1997, he wrote “Sex Changes: The Politics of Transgenderism,” chronicling gender nonconforming identities through historical and social perspectives. 

In 1999, at the age of 45, Califia transitioned from female to male, noting that “neither one is really a very good fit for me.”

Califia has published over 20 books. He is a marriage and family therapist practicing in California.

“By coming out to ourselves, we free up the energy we spent keeping a part of ourselves hidden.”