How I Survived the Ex-gay Movement

As a gay man, his journey out of the closet has been long and complicated. After years of submitting to reparative therapy through counseling, ex-gay support groups, and even three exorcisms, Peterson enrolled in the ex-gay residential program, Love in Action. He graduated successfully from the program nearly two years later, but in January of 1999 he finally came OUT and fully accepted himself as a gay man.

Peterson Toscano studied Theater and English Literature at City College of NY after which he worked as a teacher and the director of education at CASES, a NYC alternative program for youth offenders. In 1995 he moved to England then Zambia to work in radio production for a Christian mission.

In 1999 Peterson founded p2son productions and began performing his one-man play, "Footprints, An Inspirational Comedy." A comic character actor and a playwright, he often draws on poetry, the Bible and other texts as well as extensive interviews to inspire his drama. Known for his flawless character transformation, Peterson literally changes the way his whole body and face appear on stage as well as his voice and accent.

He made his professional acting debut in the Peter Hanke play "Kaspar" at Cafe Bustello, NYC (1989). His film credits include "Star Queen--A Star is Bored" (2002) and Eli Parker's Getting Married? (2001). and Fish Can't Fly (2005), and is slated to appear in the documentaries This is What Love in Action Looks Like (2008) and For Such a Time as This (2008). He has been featured in The New York Times, People Magazine, the Montel Williams Show, Public Radio International and The Tyra Banks Show.

In 2007, along with fellow ex-gay survivor, Christine Bakke, (with technical assistance from Steve Boese) he launched Beyond Ex-Gay (bXg), an on-line resource for ex-gay survivors. In conjunction with SoulForce and The University of California at Irvine, bXg hosts the Ex-Gay Survivor Conference--Undoing the Damage, Affirming Our Lives Together.

Peterson currently lives in Hartford, CT and his a member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quaker) in West Hartford, CT.

He maintains three blogs (he's a little addicted to blogging, oh, and vlogging)

• A Musing — Ruminations of a quirky queer Quaker
• Dos Equis (Spanish con mi Amiga Ariadna)
• Svensk Spädbarn (Swedish)