Wooster, Ohio. In May 1980 I joined with a group of friends and associates to form the first gay and lesbian support group on the campus of my school, the College of Wooster in Ohio. The group was formed in response to a gay student getting mugged off campus – we wanted to organize to protect our community. Having been raised in the 1970′s in the then-homophobic Midwest, it was an enormous step forward for me to come out and claim my place at the table as an equal member of the human race. Although difficult to imagine today, I remember being truly afraid. The College was enormously supportive of our efforts.
Following graduation from the College of Wooster as an East Asian Studies major, I spent more time in Tokyo before moving to New York to work for a Japanese bank, beginning my career on Wall Street.
