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 and of erotic fiction and poetry. Califia is a bisexual trans man. Prior to transitioning, Califia identified as a lesbian and 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. Early life Califia was born in Corpus Christi, Texas in 1954 and assigned female at birth. He grew up in Utah in a Latter-day Saint family, the eldest of six children. 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. 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, and he dropped out of the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, due to his mental state. Califia came out as a 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 BDSM group in the United States, Samois, in 1978. Education Califia began attending the University of Utah in Salt Lake City in 1971. In 1981, he graduated from San Francisco State