Patrick Califia
| Pat Califia | |
|---|---|
| Born |
March 8, 1954 Corpus Christi, Texas, United States |
| Residence | Tampa, Florida |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | San Francisco State University |
| Occupation | Writer, therapist |
Pat Califia (born 1954, formerly also known by the last name Califia-Rice) is an American writer of non-fiction essays about sexuality and of erotic fiction and poetry. Califia is a bisexual trans man. Prior to transitioning, he identified as a lesbian and as such, wrote for many years a sex advice column for the gay men's leather magazine Drummer. His writings explore sexuality and gender identity, and have included lesbian erotica and works about BDSM subculture. Califia is a member of the third-wave feminism movement.
Califia was born in Corpus Christi, Texas in 1954 and grew up in Utah in a Mormon family. His father was a construction worker and his mother was a housewife. Califia was the oldest of six children. Califia has said he did not have a good childhood, claimed that his father was an angry and violent man and his mother a pious woman.
Califia believed in the Mormon religion, and there were elements of Mormonism in his approach to life. One primary tenet of Mormonism Califia tended to follow was, "if the truth has been revealed to you and you don't speak out, you are culpable for any wrongs that are committed in those realms of life." Califia's sense of difference began when he was a child. He had dreams of becoming a train engineer which his parents shot down because he was born female. He started transitioning in 1999.
In the 1970s, Califia's parents had him admitted to a psychiatric hospital, and he dropped out of college (the University of Utah in Salt Lake City) due to his mental state. Califia came out as lesbian in 1971 while attending college. He began using the last name Califia, after the mythical female warrior Amazon. Califia began to evade his parents, and became involved in the women's liberation and anti-war movements. After getting involved in consciousness raising in the area, he moved to San Francisco in 1973, bringing an interest in sex education to work on the San Francisco Sex Information switchboard. After moving to San Francisco he began writing for a magazine and joined a lesbian separatist movement. In 1975 he spoke in favor of sadomasochism and found himself excluded from the lesbian feminist community. He was not only excluded from his nuclear family by coming out as a lesbian but also lost his gay family when speaking his opinions. Califia became increasingly involved in S/M activities not only with lesbians but also with gay men. He co-founded the first lesbian S/M group, Samois, in 1978.
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