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)
