Patrick Califia (born 1954; formerly also known as Pat Califia and by the last name Califia-Rice) is an American writer of non-fiction essays about

sexuality Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied ...

and of erotic fiction and poetry. Califia is a

bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whi ...

trans man A trans man is a man who was assigned female at birth. The label of transgender man is not always interchangeable with that of transsexual man, although the two labels are often used in this way. ''Transgender'' is an umbrella term that incl ...

. Prior to transitioning, Califia identified as a lesbian and wrote for many years a

sex advice column A sex columnist is a writer of a newspaper or magazine column about sex. Sex advice columns may take the form of essays or, more frequently, answers to questions posed by readers. Sex advice columns can usually be found in alt weekly newspapers, wo ...

for the

gay men Gay men are male homosexuals. Some bisexual and homoromantic men may also dually identify as gay, and a number of young gay men also identify as queer. Historically, gay men have been referred to by a number of different terms, including ' ...

's leather magazine ''

Drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one mem ...

''. His writings explore sexuality and

gender identity Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent, and consistent with the i ...

, and have included

lesbian erotica Lesbian erotica deals with depictions in the visual arts of lesbianism, which is the expression of female-on-female sexuality. Lesbianism has been a theme in erotic art since at least the time of Culture of ancient Rome, ancient Rome, and many ...

and works about

BDSM BDSM is a variety of often erotic practices or roleplaying involving bondage, discipline, dominance and submission, sadomasochism, and other related interpersonal dynamics. Given the wide range of practices, some of which may be engaged ...

subculture. Califia is a member of the

third-wave feminism Third-wave feminism is an iteration of the feminist movement that began in the early 1990s, prominent in the decades prior to the fourth wave. Grounded in the civil-rights advances of the second wave, Gen X and early Gen Y generations third-w ...

movement.

Early life

Califia was born in

Corpus Christi, Texas Corpus Christi (; Ecclesiastical Latin: "'' Body of Christ"'') is a coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat and largest city of Nueces County, it also extends into Aransas, Kleberg, and San Patrici ...

in 1954 and assigned female at birth. He grew up in Utah in a

Latter-day Saint Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into several ...

family, the eldest of six children.Preview.
/ref> His father was a construction worker and his mother a housewife. Califia has said he did not have a good childhood, claiming that his father was an angry and violent man and his mother a pious woman.Pdf version.
/ref> Califia recalled one incident where he told his parents he wanted to be a train engineer, and they told him he couldn't because he was a girl. He replied that he wasn't a girl. In the 1970s, Califia's parents had him admitted to a

psychiatric hospital Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociative ...

, and he dropped out of the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

, due to his mental state. Califia came out as a lesbian in 1971 while attending college. He began using the last name ''

Califia Calafia, or Califia, is the fictional queen of the island of California, first introduced by 16th century poet Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo in his epic novel of chivalry, ''Las sergas de Esplandián'' (The Adventures of Esplandián), written aro ...

,'' after the mythical female warrior

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...

.Wendy Chapkis, introduction to ''Macho Sluts: A Little Sister’s Classic'' by Patrick Califia, rev. ed., Little Sister’s Classics, № 10 (Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp Press, 2009), , p. 35
Details.
/ref> Califia began to evade his parents, and became involved in the

women's liberation The women's liberation movement (WLM) was a political alignment of women and feminist intellectualism that emerged in the late 1960s and continued into the 1980s primarily in the industrialized nations of the Western world, which effected great ...

and

anti-war movement An anti-war movement (also ''antiwar'') is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. The term anti-war can also refer to ...

s. After getting involved in

consciousness raising Consciousness raising (also called awareness raising) is a form of activism popularized by United States feminists in the late 1960s. It often takes the form of a group of people attempting to focus the attention of a wider group on some cause or ...

in the area, he moved to San Francisco in 1973, bringing an interest in

sex education Sex education, also known as sexual education, sexuality education or sex ed, is the instruction of issues relating to human sexuality, including emotional relations and responsibilities, human sexual anatomy, Human sexual activity, sexual acti ...

to work on the

San Francisco Sex Information San Francisco Sex Information (SFSI) is an organization that provides free sex information via the World Wide Web, e-mail, telephone, and online social networking. SFSI also offers a bi-annual sex educator training program and various continuing ed ...

switchboard.Details.
/ref> 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 Sadomasochism ( ) is the giving and receiving of pleasure from acts involving the receipt or infliction of pain or humiliation. Practitioners of sadomasochism may seek sexual pleasure from their acts. While the terms sadist and masochist refer ...

and found himself excluded from the

lesbian feminist Lesbian feminism is a cultural movement and critical perspective that encourages women to focus their efforts, attentions, relationships, and activities towards their fellow women rather than men, and often advocates lesbianism as the logic ...

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

group in the United States,

Samois Samois was a lesbian- feminist BDSM organization based in San Francisco that existed from 1978 to 1983. It was the first lesbian BDSM group in the United States. It took its name from Samois-sur-Seine, the location of the fictional estate of Ann ...

, in 1978.Drake's Event Guide for Leather Women
/ref>

Education

Califia began attending the

in 1971. In 1981, he graduated from

San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (commonly referred to as San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a public research university in San Francisco. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers 118 different ...

(SFSU) with a bachelor of arts degree in psychology. He has also said he has a master's degree.

Career and honors

In 1980, Califia published his first book—''Sapphistry: The Book of Lesbian Sexuality'', a non-fiction work for lesbians which described, in a non-judgmental tone, butch-femme sexuality, and

safety and practice.Details.
/ref> Subsequently, he published work in lesbian, gay and

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

magazines, including a long-running sex advice column in '' The Advocate''. Califia is "one of heearliest champions of lesbian sadomasochistic sex" whose "work has been taught on college campuses across the country and abroad." He has a long history of transgression, identifying as a

, lesbian, and

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...

while also at times finding rejection from those communities "for various infractions." He played what some observers termed a "notable role" in the

Feminist Sex Wars The feminist sex wars, also known as the lesbian sex wars, or simply the sex wars or porn wars, are terms used to refer to collective debates amongst feminists regarding a number of issues broadly relating to sexuality and sexual activity. Diff ...

of the 1970s/1980s. The sides were characterized by anti-porn feminist and

sex-positive feminist Sex-positive feminism, also known as pro-sex feminism, sex-radical feminism, or sexually liberal feminism, is a Feminism, feminist movement centering on the idea that sexual freedom is an essential component of women's freedom. Sex-positive fe ...

groups with disagreements regarding

, pornography and other forms of sexual representation, prostitution, the role of

trans women A trans woman or a transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity, may experience gender dysphoria, and may transition; this process commonly includes hormone replacement therapy and so ...

in the lesbian community,

lesbian sexual practices Lesbian sexual practices are sexual activities involving women who have sex with women, regardless of their sexual orientation. A woman who has sex with another woman may identify as a lesbian if she is sexually attracted to women, or bisexual ...

, and other sexual issues. Califia rejected the "essentialist, feminist ideology—that women are better, more nurturing, more peaceful, more loving, more relationship-oriented and less raunchy in bed," instead advocating for

, "the consensual integration of power, pain, domination and submission into sex." According to the ''San Francisco Chronicle'', many feminists were won over to Califia's views on S/M not from his arguments, but from his erotic fiction: "they read Califia-Rice's S/M fantasies, got turned on and got over it." In 1979, as a student in

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

, his research was published in the ''

Journal of Homosexuality The ''Journal of Homosexuality'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal covering research into sexual practices and gender roles in their cultural, historical, interpersonal, and modern social contexts. History The founding editor-in-chief was Char ...

''. Califia co-founded

, a lesbian-feminist BDSM organization based in San Francisco that existed from 1978 to 1983, and shifted his focus to the lesbian experience of

.Details.
/ref> The Samois Collective produced, with Califia's contributions, the book '' Coming to Power'', published by

Alyson Publications Alyson Books, formerly known as Alyson Publications, was a book publishing house which specialized in LGBT fiction and non-fiction. Former publisher Don Weise described it as "the world's oldest and largest publisher of LGBT literature" and "the ...

.Details.
:''Quote:'' ::It is interesting to note that after I had written this chapter, Califia and Sweeney's sequel to ''Coming to Power'' was published, entitled ''The Second Coming''. This title's reference to the earlier volume is obvious. But it also strikes me that the theological connotation it carries of a "resurrection" is a concept that is deeply inscribed in s/m practice. Such a "redemptive" grammar, which is pervasive in the literature, could be perceived as pastoralizing in tone, and indeed must be in part. But it also campy and ironic, parodic in one sense and, like all parody carrying with it a certain ambivalent reverence for the model that it both mocks and imitates. ''Coming To Power'', according to Heather Findlay, editor-in-chief of lesbian magazine '' Girlfriends'', was "one of the most transformative lesbian books, oretellingthe end of a certain puritanism that had dominated the community. It was the first articulate defense of lesbian S/M, and that was the end of it." Another book, the ''Lesbian S/M Safety Manual'', won the 1990

Bookseller/Diagram Prize for Oddest Title of the Year The ''Bookseller''/Diagram Prize for Oddest Title of the Year, originally known as the Diagram Group Prize for the Oddest Title and commonly known as the Diagram Prize, is a humorous literary award that is given annually to a book with an unusua ...

. In 1989, Califia and

Geoff Mains Geoffrey Mains (24 January 1934 – 16 April 2021) was an English cricketer. Mains was a right-handed batsman who bowled right-arm fast-medium. He was born at Mangotsfield, Gloucestershire. Mains made his first-class debut for Gloucesters ...

received the Steve Maidhof Award for National or International Work from the

National Leather Association International National Leather Association International (NLA-I) is a BDSM organization, based in the United States with chapters in various cities in the United States and Canada. It was founded in 1986 as the "National Leather Association" (NLA), as a nationa ...

. In 1992, Califia received the Woman of the Year award as part of the Pantheon of Leather Awards.🖉 Also in 1992, Califia founded the leatherwomen's quarterly ''Venus Infers'' and published "Feminism, Paedophilia, and Children's Rights" in a special women's issue of the pro-pedophile scholarly journal ''Paidika''. Califia has asserted that he 'support ''Paidika'' and enjoyed working with the editors of this special issue'. Califia has asserted that all age of consent laws should be repealed, describing pedophilia as 'erotic initiation'.P. Califia, Public Sex: The Culture of Radical Sex, 2nd Edition (San Francisco, Cleis Press, 2000), pp. 55–56. In 'Public Sex: The Culture of Radical Sex', Califia criticized anti child abuse / anti child pornography laws because they are applied disproportionately to gay men, commenting that he 'knew several gay men who proudly called themselves boy-lovers', and criticized federal laws against child abuse imagery because they would have 'guaranteed that it hild abuse imagerywould disappear from the shelves of adult book stores'. Califia additionally supported the pedophilia advocacy organization

North American Man/Boy Love Association The North American Man/Boy Love Association (NAMBLA) is a pedophilia and pederasty advocacy organization in the United States. It works to abolish age-of-consent laws criminalizing adult sexual involvement with minors and campaigns for the rel ...

. After becoming a parent, Califia reconsidered his stance on the age of consent and adult / child sex: 'I was naive about the developmental issues that make sex between adults and prepubescent children unacceptable,'; 'I've become much more cynical about the ability of adults to listen to children'; 'Perhaps because I am a parent now, I am less idealistic about the possibilities for an equal adult / child relationship'. In 1996 he was co-editor, with Robin Sweeney, of ''The Second Coming: A Leatherdyke Reader'', a sequel to ''Coming to Power''. Califia was writing about

queer studies Queer studies, sexual diversity studies, or LGBT studies is the education of topics relating to sexual orientation and gender identity usually focusing on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, gender dysphoria, asexual, queer, questioning, inte ...

and

, and coming to terms with these issues on a personal level. At age 45, Califia transitioned, taking the name Patrick. In 2000 Califia received the Forebear Award as part of the Pantheon of Leather Awards. In a 2000 interview, Califia explained that the inspiration for his erotic writings varies; sometimes it is just about having fun, or it can be satire, or exploring a sexuality issue like HIV-positive people

barebacking Bareback sex is physical sexual activity, especially sexual penetration, without the use of a condom. The topic primarily concerns anal sex between men who have sex with men without the use of a condom, and may be distinguished from unprotected se ...

with the intention of infecting the other person with the virus. In the interview with Rona Marech, Califia is quoted as saying:

It's about me trying to put a human face on that and understand that from the inside out. ...It's about being thought-provoking, hopefully. And I like (presenting issues) that challenge the reader; that are maybe a little scary, maybe hard to think about. ...It's also a way to top a lot of people. In some ways, I get to do a scene with everyone who reads one icmy books.

Janet Hardy Janet W. Hardy is an American writer and sex educator, and founder of Greenery Press. She has also been published as ''Catherine A. Liszt'' and ''Lady Green''. She is the author or co-author of eleven books, and frequently collaborates with Doss ...

, of

Greenery Press Greenery Press is a publishing house based in Emeryville, California, specializing in books on BDSM (particularly femdom) and polyamory, with over 50 titles in print. Most titles are non-fiction, but a smaller number of fiction titles and memoi ...

, admires Califia's tenacity, stating, "He's got a phenomenal mind.... He's willing to get a hold of a thought and follow it through to the end, even if it doesn't feel comfortable." Califia was nominated for the

Lambda Literary Awards Lambda Literary Awards, also known as the "Lammys", are awarded yearly by Lambda Literary to recognize the crucial role LGBTQ writers play in shaping the world. The Lammys celebrate the very best in LGBTQ literature.The awards were instituted i ...

for his short-story collection, ''

Macho Sluts ''Macho Sluts'' () is a 1988 book of erotic short stories by Pat Califia, published by Alyson Publications. Then lesbian identified, Califia had written the stories between 1977 and 1988 during a period of fierce struggle between lesbian feminist ...

'' (1988), his novel, ''Doc and Fluff: The Dystopian Tale of a Girl and Her Biker'' (1990), and a compilation of his columns, ''The Advocate Adviser'' (1991). He is working on a book that discusses the topic of FTM sexuality, and is working on a new set of essays surrounding the topic of BDSM. He has also written vampire books.Details.
/ref> Califia presented a paper for the

American Academy of Religion The American Academy of Religion (AAR) is the world's largest association of scholarly method, scholars in the List of academic disciplines, field of religious studies and related topics. It is a nonprofit member association, serving as a profes ...

conference in Montréal, November 19–22, 2009, on the gay marriage debate, and how arguments about

monogamy Monogamy ( ) is a form of dyadic relationship in which an individual has only one partner during their lifetime. Alternately, only one partner at any one time (serial monogamy) — as compared to the various forms of non-monogamy (e.g., polyga ...

and S/M have been used to try to control the argument. When Califia would travel to Canada, his pornographic works were often seized by Canadian customs, until he fought a court case to allow them to be accepted. Afterwards, he wrote of his amusement at finding that anti-porn feminist

Catherine Itzin Catherine Lenore Itzin (29 May 1944, in Iowa City, Iowa, US – 9 March 2010), also known as Cathy Itzin, was a critic specialising in alternative theatre and later an advisor on women's issues. Itzin immigrated to Britain in the late 1960s a ...

's book ''Pornography: Women, Violence and Civil Liberties'' was seized under the very law she had helped to establish, while Califia's books were recognized as acceptable by that law. Califia fought against anti-pornography legislation co-authored by

Catharine MacKinnon Catharine Alice MacKinnon (born October 7, 1946) is an American radical feminist legal scholar, activist, and author. She is the Elizabeth A. Long Professor of Law at the University of Michigan Law School, where she has been tenured since 1990, a ...

. In 2013, he was named by Equality Forum as one of their 31 Icons of the

LGBT History Month LGBT History Month is an annual month-long observance of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender history, and the history of the List of LGBT rights by region, gay rights and related civil rights movements. It was founded in 1994 by Missouri high- ...

. From 2001 to 2011, Califia was licensed in California as a

marriage and family therapist Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...

(MFT). Califia is an inductee of the

Society of Janus The Society of Janus is the second BDSM organization founded in the United States (after The Eulenspiegel Society) and is a San Francisco, California based BDSM education and support group. The Society of Janus is nonprofit, volunteer run and is ...

Hall of Fame.

Personal life

Califia has a son, Blake Califia-Rice (born October 1999), to whom his ex-partner, Matt Rice, a

, gave birth. Califia has said that, since the 1990s, he has had

fibromyalgia Fibromyalgia (FM) is a medical condition defined by the presence of chronic widespread pain, fatigue, waking unrefreshed, cognitive symptoms, lower abdominal pain or cramps, and depression. Other symptoms include insomnia and a general hyp ...

.Details.
/ref> Califia has said he incorporates elements of

Mormonism Mormonism is the religious tradition and theology of the Latter Day Saint movement of Restorationist Christianity started by Joseph Smith in Western New York in the 1820s and 1830s. As a label, Mormonism has been applied to various aspects of t ...

in his approach to life. One tenet of Mormonism he said he believes in is "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."

Transition

In 1999, Califia decided to begin

hormone replacement therapy Hormone replacement therapy (HRT), also known as menopausal hormone therapy or postmenopausal hormone therapy, is a form of hormone therapy used to treat symptoms associated with female menopause. These symptoms can include hot flashes, vaginal ...

as a part of his transition. Califia had considered sex reassignment in his twenties, but had been hesitant, for one reason, because there were many dangers to the surgery at that time. He also hesitated because his career had been built around a reputation as a lesbian writer and activist. Califia had entered age-related

perimenopause Menopause, also known as the climacteric, is the time in women's lives when menstrual periods stop permanently, and they are no longer able to bear children. Menopause usually occurs between the age of 47 and 54. Medical professionals often d ...

when he began his transition. He has stated that being a man or a woman was never a good fit for him but sex reassignment seemed to be the most reasonable option.

Selected bibliography

Non-fiction

* ''Sapphistry: The Book of Lesbian Sexuality'' (1980) () * ''Public Sex: The Culture of Radical Sex'' (1994) () * ''Feminism and Sadomasochism'', a chapter/article in ''Feminism and Sexuality: A Reader'' (1996)
(edited by

Stevi Jackson Stevi Jackson (born 23 June 1951), is an academic and writer working in the field of gender and sexuality. She has been Professor of Women's studies at the University of York, England since 1998,University of York, 2014 and is Director of the Un ...

and Sue Scott) () * ''Sex Changes: The Politics of Transgenderism'' (1997) () * ''Speaking Sex to Power: The Politics of Queer Sex'' (2001) ()

Fiction

* '' Macho Sluts: Erotic Fiction'' (July 1994) () * (as editor) ''Doing It for Daddy: Short and Sexy Fiction about a Very Forbidden Fantasy'' (December 1994) () * ''Doc and Fluff: The Dystopian Tale of a Girl and Her Biker'' (May 2000) () * ''No Mercy: Short Stories'' (June 2000) () * ''Melting Point'' (November 2000) ()

References

External links

Pat Califia—A three-part interview
at Technodyke.com

a 1995 interview published in the free quarterly San Francisco leather zine ''Cuir Underground''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Califia, Patrick BDSM activists BDSM writers American essayists American male essayists Feminist studies scholars Queer theorists Transgender men Transgender writers Feminism and transgender Bisexual men Bisexual writers 1954 births Living people University of Utah alumni People from Corpus Christi, Texas American LGBT writers American erotica writers Lambda Literary Award winners Leather subculture Writers from San Francisco Sex-positive feminists LGBT Latter Day Saints LGBT people from Texas LGBT people from Florida Male feminists Lesbian BDSM Bisexual feminists San Francisco State University alumni