A Letter to a Friend: Thoughts on Living as a Gay Man

A Letter to a Friend was written in 1999 by Doug Cooper to his then boyfriend, Gregory Spencer, a year into their relationship. It was during a time when Gregory, having just come out to his family, was being pressured by some family members to reconsider his decision to live as a gay man. What began as a personal letter to Gregory eventually became a manifesto against homophobia and a declaration of liberation from homophobia. Giving thought to homophobic tropes and devices such as the idea of God's condemnation of homosexuality, and the view that declares homosexuality as unnatural, A Letter to a Friend challenges those worn ways of thinking with fresh ideas. A Letter to a Friend offers words and thoughts for anyone who wishes to break the bonds of homophobia, be they same-gender loving, or those who simply are brave enough to take a fresh look at old ideas. A Letter to a Friend implores all of us to take another look at ways of thinking that have held many captive to oppression and bigotry and to move to a spirit that seeks to realize a self-actualized spirit anchored in love.

    Doug Cooper Spencer is a writer living in New York City. He is the author of four novels and a book written as an epistle. 
    Doug grew up in Lincoln Heights, Ohio, an all-black town north of Cincinnati. He attended Lincoln Heights Elementary and High School, before graduating from Princeton High School in 1972. 
    Following high school, Doug enrolled at Thomas More College,where he majored in English Literature, but he left before completing his degree because he wanted to travel and write. He joined the Navy where he traveled extensively and began to seriously pursue writing.  While in the military he began to speak openly about gay rights, and as a result, he was kicked out of the military.
    He went on to eventually work at The University of Cincinnati where he worked in administration and lectured part-time. 
    Doug also served as in-house lecturer at the Cincinnati branch of The National Urban League's "Leadership Training Forum". He also aided in the production of, and appears in the award winning 1996documentary "All God's Children", a film that looks at the role of black gays and the black church. Along with his husband, hairstylist and photographer Greg Cooper Spencer, Doug co-produced "The Eyes Open Festival" and was president of "The Eyes Open Festival Organization", a non-profit organization that used the arts in the black LGBTQ community to educate and inspire all communities to wellness.
    In 2006 Doug was named by "Clik Magazine" as one of their 'elite 25 writers', and in 2016 Doug's novel 'Ella Pruitt' was named as 'one of the best works of fiction of 2016' by The Phillis Wheatley Book Awards.
    Currently Doug is at work on his sixth book (his fifth novel), a collection of short stories and memory pieces, in addition to a screenplay.

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(Author's photos by GregoryCooper Spencer)