Eric Rofes (August 31, 1954 – June 26, 2006) was a
gay
''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'.
While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...
activist
Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...
, educator, and author. He was a director of the
Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center
The Los Angeles LGBT Center (previously known as the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center) is a provider of programs and services for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. The organization's work spans four categories, including health, soc ...
in the 1980s. In 1989, he became executive director of the
Shanti Project, a nonprofit AIDS service organization. He was a professor of Education at
Humboldt State University
California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt also known as Cal Poly Humboldt, Humboldt or Cal Poly"Cal Poly" may also refer to California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California or California State Polytechnic Universit ...
in
Arcata, California
Arcata (; Wiyot: ''Goudi’ni''; Yurok: ''Oket'oh'') is a city adjacent to the Arcata Bay (northern) portion of Humboldt Bay in Humboldt County, California, United States. At the 2020 census, Arcata's population was 18,857. Arcata was first ...
, and served on the board of the
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
The National LGBTQ Task Force is an American social justice advocacy non-profit organizing the grassroots power of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community. Also known as The Task Force, the organization supports ac ...
. He wrote or edited twelve books. One of his last projects was co-creating "Gay Men's Health Leadership Academies" to combat what he saw as a "
pathology
Pathology is the study of the causes and effects of disease or injury. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in ...
-focused understanding of gay men" in
safe-sex education.
Early life and education
Eric Rofes was born on August 31, 1954 and grew up in
Commack, New York
Commack ( ) is a hamlet and census designated place (CDP) that roughly corresponds to the hamlet by the same name in the towns of Huntington and Smithtown in Suffolk County, on Long Island, in New York. The CDP's population was 36,124 at the 201 ...
. He graduated from
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...
and went on to receive a master's degree from the
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant un ...
in 1995, and a doctorate in social and cultural studies in 1998.
Career
He was appointed to the White House Conference on the Family in 1980. He became director of the
Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center
The Los Angeles LGBT Center (previously known as the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center) is a provider of programs and services for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. The organization's work spans four categories, including health, soc ...
in the 1980s.
In 1989, he became executive director of the
Shanti Project, a nonprofit AIDS service organization in
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...
. He resigned in 1993, following an audit that questioned how the group had spent federal funds.
In 1998, while doing his PhD at
UC Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant uni ...
, Rofes wrote ''Dry Bones Breathe: Gay Men Creating Post-AIDS Identities and Cultures'', in which he argued that the AIDS crisis had passed and gay men needed to free themselves from the sense of emergency and victimhood. A review in ''
The Nation
''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper t ...
'' described ''Dry Bones Breathe'' as "perhaps the most important book about gay male culture and community of the past decade." However, the book has also been castigated for only limning the experiences of 'middle-class, urban, white, gay men' instead of being more societally inclusive.
He was a professor of Education at
Humboldt State University
California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt also known as Cal Poly Humboldt, Humboldt or Cal Poly"Cal Poly" may also refer to California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California or California State Polytechnic Universit ...
in
Arcata, California
Arcata (; Wiyot: ''Goudi’ni''; Yurok: ''Oket'oh'') is a city adjacent to the Arcata Bay (northern) portion of Humboldt Bay in Humboldt County, California, United States. At the 2020 census, Arcata's population was 18,857. Arcata was first ...
, and served on the board of the
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
The National LGBTQ Task Force is an American social justice advocacy non-profit organizing the grassroots power of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community. Also known as The Task Force, the organization supports ac ...
and White Crane Institute.
One of the last projects he worked on was the creation, with
Chris Bartlett, of a series of "Gay Men's Health Leadership Academies" to combat what he saw as a "pathology-focused understanding of gay men" in safe-sex education. These workshops have persisted as a continuation of his legacy.
Death
He was living in
Provincetown, Massachusetts
Provincetown is a New England town located at the extreme tip of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, in the United States. A small coastal resort town with a year-round population of 3,664 as of the 2020 United States Census, Province ...
, working on his 13th book when he died of a
heart attack
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...
.
Legacy
Humboldt State established the Eric Rofes Center after his death as a new program in honor of his legacy and to continue his work in queer-feminist activism. The Eric Rofes Multicultural Queer Resource center is a student-run, student-funded initiative that provides programming and resources for Humboldt State University's LGBTQIA community. It is located in Warren House #53 on campus.
In June 2019, Rofes was one of the inaugural fifty American “pioneers, trailblazers, and heroes” inducted on the
National LGBTQ Wall of Honor
The National LGBTQ Wall of Honor is an American memorial wall in New York City dedicated to LGBTQ "pioneers, trailblazers, and heroes." The wall is located inside of the Stonewall Inn and is a part of the Stonewall National Monument, the first U. ...
within the
Stonewall National Monument
Stonewall National Monument is a U.S. national monument in the West Village neighborhood of Greenwich Village in Lower Manhattan, New York City. The designated area includes the Stonewall Inn, the Christopher Park, and nearby streets including ...
(SNM) in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
’s
Stonewall Inn
The Stonewall Inn, often shortened to Stonewall, is a gay bar and recreational tavern in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, New York City, and the site of the Stonewall riots of 1969, which is widely considered to be the sin ...
.
The SNM is the first
U.S. national monument
In the United States, a national monument is a protected area that can be created from any land owned or controlled by the federal government by proclamation of the President of the United States or an act of Congress. National monuments prot ...
dedicated to
LGBTQ rights
Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality.
Notably, , 33 ...
and
history
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
, and the wall’s unveiling was timed to take place during the
50th anniversary of the
Stonewall riots
The Stonewall riots (also known as the Stonewall uprising, Stonewall rebellion, or simply Stonewall) were a series of spontaneous protests by members of the gay community in response to a police raid that began in the early morning hours of ...
.
Bibliography
*''The Kids' Book of Divorce'' (1983)
*''I Thought People Like That Killed Themselves: Lesbians, Gay Men and Suicide'' (1983)
*''The Kids' Book About Parents'' (1983)
*''Socrates, Plato, & Guys Like Me: Confessions of a Gay Schoolteacher'' (1985)
*''Gay Life'' (1986)
*"Living as All of Who I Am: Being Jewish in the Lesbian/Gay Community", in ''Twice Blessed: On Being Lesbian, Gay, and Jewish'' ed. Balka & Rose (1989)
*''Living with AIDS on Long Island'' (1989)
*''Reviving the Tribe: Regenerating Gay Men's Sexuality and Culture in the Ongoing Epidemic'' (1996)
*''The Kids' Book About Death and Dying'' (1997)
*''Opposite Sex'' (1998)
*''Dry Bones Breathe: Gay Men Creating Post-AIDS Identities and Cultures'' (1998)
*''Youth and Sexualities'' (2004)
*''The Emancipatory Promise of Charter Schools'' (2004)
*''A Radical Rethinking of Sexuality & Schooling'' (2005)
*''Thriving'' (with an introduction by
Chris Bartlett & Tony Valenzuela) (Posthumous
(PDF of Thriving)
References
External links
Eric Rofes article on the history of Gay Men's Health Movement ''White Crane''
Movie of tribute to Eric Rofes at National LGBTI Health Summit, Philadelphia, March, 2007.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rofes, Eric
1954 births
2006 deaths
HIV/AIDS activists
American feminists
Feminist studies scholars
Harvard University alumni
American gay writers
LGBT Jews
American LGBT rights activists
American health activists
University of California, Berkeley alumni
Male feminists
People from Arcata, California
Writers from California
20th-century American writers
21st-century American writers
People from Commack, New York
Activists from California
Gay feminists
20th-century American male writers
20th-century LGBT people
LGBT educators