Betty Berzon was an American author and psychotherapist known for her work with the gay and lesbian communities.
15 Facts About Betty Berzon
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Betty Berzon was among the first psychotherapists to assist gay clients.
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In 1971, during a UCLA conference called "The Homosexual in America," Betty Berzon became the first psychotherapist in the country to come out as gay to the public.
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Betty Berzon temporarily attended Stanford University before enrolling in UCLA in 1952 and graduating in 1957.
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Betty Berzon then obtained her master's degree from San Diego State University in 1962.
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Betty Berzon later became president of the national Gay Academic Union.
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Betty Berzon served on the boards of many gay organizations, including the LA Gay and Lesbian Center, the Whtman-Radclyffe Foundation, the Gay Academic Union, the National Gay Rights Advocates, and the Gay and Lesbian Adolescent Social Services.
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Betty Berzon was treated by mastectomy and her cancer remained in remission for many years.
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The cancer returned in 2001, and Betty Berzon died on January 24,2006.
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Betty Berzon is survived by Teresa DeCrescenzo, the president of Gay and Lesbian Adolescent Social Services, whom Berzon met in 1973 and married during a mass wedding ceremony at the 1993 March on Washington.
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In 2013, the Lambda Literary Foundation launched the Betty Berzon Emerging Writer Award, an award for LGBTQ writers of exceptional talent and promise who have published at least one book in any genre of literature, which was presented as part of the Lambda Literary Awards program until 2016.
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The Betty Berzon Papers are Coll2011.004 at the ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives.
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The Betty Berzon Papers are Collection Number 7312 at the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections at the Cornell University Library.
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Betty Berzon's books included Positively Gay, Permanent Partners, and The Intimacy Dance.
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Betty Berzon wrote a personal memoir, Surviving Madness, a Therapist's Own Story in which she discussed her previous suicide attempt and institutionalization.