Oral History Telling Evening with Bernhard Ruchti
July 24, 2010

I was born in Berkeley in 1974. My parents are both Swiss and my father had a research assistant position at UC Berkeley. When I was about three years old, we returned to Switzerland, where I grew up. At the age of 15 or 16, I joined a spiritual group that was engaged in anthroposophical ideas. A pretty complex story…. About the same time, I began to discover that I am gay. But, under the influence of spiritual ideologies, I was not able to accept that fact. I tried to live as a straight man, and, at the age of 28, I even married.

During the following years, I felt more and more separated from my true self, both concerning the group I joined and my marriage. About 2 years ago I finally decided to break out of this prison and to come out. …. I plan to stay here for at least half a year, to practice the piano, to create my own music, and, first of all, to find myself a little more.  I'm looking forward very much to seeing you all and sharing my life story with you.”