Human Sexuality Studies is a department in the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences at San Francisco State University. It has been training students since the l970s and it is not surprising since San Francisco is one of the birthplaces of sexual liberation in the U.S that is has also fostered sexuality studies in the academy. San Francisco State University has nurtured and developed sexuality as a field of study: other bay area institutions in general were not receptive to building sexuality research and training, no doubt due in large measure to the bias that sexuality was not "scientific." The AIDS epidemic in the l980s changed this to some extent, but primarily in the area of disease prevention. Sexuality education, training, and research to strengthen community building on issues of sexuality were very low priorities. Today, SFSU's program offers minor degrees and specialized courses in a variety of areas of sexuality study, including sex and relationships, sexual education, sexual identity development, sexual culture and social theory, sexuality and disability study, and many more. In addition to a minor in human sexuality, and another minor in lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender studies, the Program has recently created a Master of Arts degree in human sexuality studies. The Master of Arts in Human Sexuality Studies-the first of its kind in the U.S.- specifically trains graduate students in Human Sexuality Studies (rather than Health Education or the Humanities)-our Program is pioneering higher education in this domain, and we are able to recruit excellent faculty and students.

The SFSU Program dates back to the heyday of the sexual revolution, the feminist and gay and lesbian movements in the best tradition of education and social change for progress in civil and human rights. Many of its faculty members were leaders in the Bay Area gay rights movement, and remain active contributors to gay and lesbian life today. One of our senior professors, Jim Brogan, is perhaps notable for having been the first academic in the US to have taught a regular class on gay and lesbian issues when he introduced a new course to the English Department long ago, and he is still teaching it. He has also recently created the Jim Brogran Teaching Scholarship for HMSX graduate students.

In the late l990s, the Human Sexuality Studies Program created a full-time Director position, and expanded it's focus to new areas of primary research and innovative training. Professor Gilbert Herdt joined the program from the University of Chicago to become the new Director in l998-99. Subsequently, Rafael Diaz, who is Professor of Human Sexuality Studies and Ethnic Studies, and Caitlin Ryan, Director of Policy Studies at the Institute were recruited. Rafael Diaz is an internationally known and respected developmental psychologist and social worker specializing in Hispanic sexuality is a national authority on HIV/STDs and people of color, including the effects of social injustice on health. Caitlin Ryan, M.S.W., is a nationally prominent social worker, and an authority on lesbian health and gay, lesbian and bisexual youth.Both Dr Diaz and Dr Ryan have since moved on to other projects. In 2002, the Program hired two young promising research scholar teachers: Amy Sueyoshi, a UCLA trained historian specializing in sex and race in San Francisco, 1880-1920, with a focus on Chinese, Japanese, and Italian Americans; and Niels Teunis, a Northwestern University trained cultural anthropologist, and a specialist on sexuality in West Africa, who is working on sex and racism in the gay and lesbian community.A third research scholar, a Senior Research Professor, Deborah Tolman, joined Human Sexuality Studies in the Fall of 2003. Historically, prior to the AIDS epidemic in the l980s, human sexuality research was primarily the study of adolescent and young adult sexuality, especially in the arena of reproductive health. We believe that Deb Tolman's addition to our team will consolidate existing strength in the Program/Institute, and allow us to attract other young faculty, principle investigators, and graduate students who seek career teaching and research opportunities in the important and growing domain of adolescent sexual health, and sexual minority community building.In the Fall of 2004 Rita Melendez joined us from the HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies at Columbia University, where she combined quantitative and qualitative methods in researching HIV issues as they relate to gender. She has worked in the areas of gender-specified HIV/ STD prevention programs, intimate partner violence, and the structural concerns of transgendered people. In the Fall of 2006 Héctor Carrillo Assistant Adjunct Professor of Medicine at the Center for AIDS Prevention Studies, University of California San Francisco will join our faculty. He is primarily interested in the ethnographic study of sexuality and HIV prevention in Mexico and with Latino populations in the U.S. His current research analyzes how the sexuality of Mexican gay immigrants influences their paths of migration to the U.S., their incorporation into U.S. life, and their sexual health and HIV risk.

In the Fall of 2007, the Human Sexuality Studies Program was instituted by San Francisco State University as a Department in the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences. It is the first Department of Human Sexuality Studies created in Academia.