Patrick Califia (born Pat Califia; 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.[1][2] Califia is a bisexual trans man.[3] 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.[4] 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.[2] His father was a construction worker and his mother was a housewife. Califia was the oldest of six children.[5][6] 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.[7]