Robert Starkey:  

There were times when I was terrified to come to school. Mr Schoolcraft would sometimes pull me into his office for the daily morning humiliation treatment to ask if I was a boy or a girl, if my mother put my hair in curlers because it curled onto my forehead. During Moments Musical I was contemplating suicide. The real catalyst had been my swimming instructor who stood above me for 45 minutes screaming like a Marine sergeant as I did pushups as punishment for having long hair . Because of shoulder injuries I wore both arms in slings for several weeks. As I write this I am considering a move to the desert because my shoulders never healed and are sometimes so painful I cannot do something as simple as washing my hair. At Georgetown University in DC, I met my soul mate, Rob. We moved to San Francisco together. Rob taught special Yoga classes for persons with terminal illnesses. Together we participated in helping people die with dignity during the AIDS epidemic. Watching people take their last breath is a life altering experience. As painful as it was, I am grateful to have had the privilege. By 1990 we had seen more than 100 people die. Among them was Lewayne Mathews from DHS. In 1990 Rob and I moved to Berlin for the reunification of Germany. We spent four years in Loutro, Crete teaching Yoga classes in a 13th century castle ruins. We traveled to Southeast Asia together. I traveled alone to Afr...Expand for more