POZ I AM - Richard Berkowitz - Sex Positive

Richard Berkowitz was born in Newark, New Jersey and graduated from Rutgers University in 1977. An author and activist, he is probably best known for two landmark writings, which he co-authored along with Dr. Joseph Sonnabend and the late Michael Callen. First, the controversial 1982 New York Native article, "We Know Who We Are: Two Gay Men Declare War on Promiscuity" and second, the self-published 40 page manual, How to Have Sex in an Epidemic: One Approach, in May 1983, which has been hailed as the invention of safe sex and has served as the framework for safe sex campaigns ever since. His 2003 book, Stayin' Alive: The Invention of Safe Sex (Westview Press) tells the story of his life as a sex worker in New York City before and after AIDS. He is the last surviving co-founder of the People with AIDS self-empowerment movement, which helped sparked patient advocacy groups and breast cancer activism. His writing has appeared in dozens of publications and has been quoted, attacked, misrepresented and occasionally praised in scores of books, journals and on-line magazines www.sexpositive-themovie.com