I am currently President and CEO of Toye Corporation, a manufacturer of security systems in Los Angeles. I have spent over 30 years in sales, marketing and engineering in various corporations throughout the U.S. I was an officer in the U.S. Army for two years.

I have worked in many corporate boards including my condominium association for seven years as treasurer and president. During my tenure we experienced the Northridge earthquake which involved $3,000,000 dollars of repairs, and three SBA loans. I have also been the president of our local gay, lesbian and transgender square dancing club in Los Angeles for the last four years. I came out as gay at the age of 35. In 1982 it was not easy to be out as a gay person. There is a great psychological toll in being in the closet and constantly denying one’s true nature. Since marriage was not an option, I was very aware of the discrimination of being single and being denied the over 1000 rights and privileges conveyed by marriage. For many years, I focused mainly on my career and avoided relationships. However, I was fortunate in some ways in coming out so late, since I missed the first wave of the AIDS crisis.

About 20 years ago I heard about a group in the Los Angeles area supporting unmarried people, and got on their mailing list. That list worked its way to AtMP, and I became involved with AtMP last year. I find the goals of AtMP are very much in line with my concerns about discrimination and gay rights. Although the right to marry has recently been a leading controversy in the GLBT community, marriage makes no sense for a large percentage of GLBT people. Many GLBT couples do not want children or the financial entanglements of marriage.

The GLBT community has made wonderful progress in the last decade. I would very much like to see the same progress for unmarried people. I feel that AtMP is in an excellent position to participate in that progress. We have a long way to go, and I hope that I can be part of that journey.