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Ep. 42 - David Gurzenski Luke
David Gurzenski Luke grew up in upstate New York in the city of Albion . David was a soft-spoken introvert and had tragedy hit him at 11 years old when his father died of a heart attack. He eventually moved to Arizona, where he attended Arizona State University, and got his Bachelors Degree in Journalism in 1969. He also became the editor of the school newspaper at ASU in his first year of school. He got married to a beautiful woman named Pam and ended up having two beautiful girls, Jennifer and Julia. David felt the pressure of being married with all the things couples go through in the first few years of marriage. From a young age, he knew he was attracted to men, but had a tremendous amount of shame and guilt. He met a very outgoing classmate who had confidence, and they ended up having an affair but the shame and guilt was so strong he went into depression. David eventually came out to Pam when she asked him if he was having an affair with a woman, and he said “no it was an affair with a man”. His wife, Pam, whose father is a doctor suggested he get a lobotomy to change his orientation, which David found shocking . The doctor did refer him to a psychiatrist to help him become straight. Obviously it didn’t work. David also went onto the University of Arizona, where he received his Masters in Journalism in 1972. He became the editor of the University of Arizona’s newsletter, and also was the Associate Director of the Alumni Association. He went on to have a successful career in journalism holding several positions. Unfortunately, he was fired from two positions due to being a gay man. He took both employers to court for discrimination and was successful in winning both cases.This shows a tremendous amount of courage on David’s part. David met his life partner and husband Alan who is a Substance Abuse Counselor, and they’ve been together 19 years. His husband, Alan formed a group called “ Life Challenges Support Group” which he supports free of charge for anyone who is facing challenges in their life and needs courage to get through them.
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By Dan Bolen
5
88 ratings
David Gurzenski Luke grew up in upstate New York in the city of Albion . David was a soft-spoken introvert and had tragedy hit him at 11 years old when his father died of a heart attack. He eventually moved to Arizona, where he attended Arizona State University, and got his Bachelors Degree in Journalism in 1969. He also became the editor of the school newspaper at ASU in his first year of school. He got married to a beautiful woman named Pam and ended up having two beautiful girls, Jennifer and Julia. David felt the pressure of being married with all the things couples go through in the first few years of marriage. From a young age, he knew he was attracted to men, but had a tremendous amount of shame and guilt. He met a very outgoing classmate who had confidence, and they ended up having an affair but the shame and guilt was so strong he went into depression. David eventually came out to Pam when she asked him if he was having an affair with a woman, and he said “no it was an affair with a man”. His wife, Pam, whose father is a doctor suggested he get a lobotomy to change his orientation, which David found shocking . The doctor did refer him to a psychiatrist to help him become straight. Obviously it didn’t work. David also went onto the University of Arizona, where he received his Masters in Journalism in 1972. He became the editor of the University of Arizona’s newsletter, and also was the Associate Director of the Alumni Association. He went on to have a successful career in journalism holding several positions. Unfortunately, he was fired from two positions due to being a gay man. He took both employers to court for discrimination and was successful in winning both cases.This shows a tremendous amount of courage on David’s part. David met his life partner and husband Alan who is a Substance Abuse Counselor, and they’ve been together 19 years. His husband, Alan formed a group called “ Life Challenges Support Group” which he supports free of charge for anyone who is facing challenges in their life and needs courage to get through them.