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Martin Rochlin (1928 –2003)
Hollywood and psychology have lost one of their brightest
stars. Following a brief struggle with cancer, Martin (Marty)
Rochlin, a pioneer in the field of gay-affirmative psychother-
apy, passed away on October 20, 2003, at the age of 75. He
was in the comfort of his own home in Baywood Park,
California, surrounded by the warmth and love of family and
friends. Through his clinical practice, mentorship of students,
contributions through programs of the American Psychologi-
cal Association (APA), conferences, and public appearances,
Marty Rochlin was a model for academic and professional
psychologists, regardless of sexual orientation.
Rochlin was born to Russian immigrant parents in the
Bronx, New York, in 1928. An avid music fan and a piano
prodigy, Rochlin graduated from the Julliard School of Music
and earned a master’s degree in music from Columbia University
at the age of 20. Rochlin’s 25-year music career took him to
nightclubs and venues throughout the United States. Judy Gar-
land hired him to work with her both on and off the set of A Star
Is Born. His many other collaborations included musical icons
such as Pearl Bailey, Eartha Kitt, Martha Raye, and his dear
friend, Billie Holiday.
In 1966 Rochlin earned his doctorate in psychology from
the University of Southern California. His path to developing the
field of gay-affirmative psychotherapy began during this period
and was rooted in his personal experience. In an autobiographical
essay (“Becoming a Gay Professional”) in Berzon and Leighton’s
(1979) book Positively Gay, Rochlin described the struggle he
experienced as a gay graduate student: “Mr. Hyde, the horrid
homosexual I felt I was, was in mortal combat with Dr. Jekyll, the
respectable Jewish doctor I was brazen enough to aspire to
become.” Eventually finding allies, including his lover and the
chair of his doctoral committee, he earned the doctorate. Next, he
had to be fingerprinted and admit that he had been arrested 12
years earlier following an affectionate but nonsexual encounter in
the Hollywood Hills. The charges were dismissed but nonetheless
led to an investigation instituted by the Board of Medical Exam-
iners. When Rochlin finally was granted his psychology license,
he decided that “being gay might be okay if it was attended by
sufficient penitential guilt, kept quiet and not flaunted” (Rochlin,
1979). In 1972, he came out as the first openly gay clinical
psychologist in Los Angeles. He maintained an independent
practice from 1967 until his retirement in 1993.
Rochlin was a leader in the campaign that led to removing
homosexuality from the list of mental disorders in the Diagnostic
and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (American Psychi-
atric Association, 1973). In 1974 he was one of the founders of
the Association of Gay Psychologists (AGP), an advocacy group
that pressured the American Psychiatric Association to drop
homosexuality as a mental disorder and the American Psycho-
logical Association “to take the lead in removing the stigma of
mental illness that has long been associated with homosexual
orientations” (see “Proceedings of the American Psychological
Association,” American Psychologist, 1974, 30). Rochlin served
on the first steering committee of AGP and brought the maturity
of his involvement in the early struggle for gay rights in Los
Angeles to shape the mission of the organization. This early
mobilization of lesbian and gay psychologists to be open about
their own identity had an enormous influence on the supportive
role organized psychology has played in advancing lesbian and
gay civil rights.
Rochlin was also instrumental in the founding of APA’s
Division 44 (the Society for the Psychological Study of Les-
bian, Gay, and Bisexual Issues). His work and advocacy on
behalf of the lesbian and gay community earned him the
moniker “Patriarch of Gay-Affirmative Therapy in Southern
California,” bestowed upon him by Alan Malyon, the fourth
elected president of Division 44. When Marty stepped down
from active involvement in the division, it required two
elected officers to cover his responsibilities as secretary and
treasurer. In 1994 he was awarded the Distinguished Professional
Contribution Award by Division 44; he became a fellow of APA
in 2000.
Rochlin attained national and international acclaim when
he created his “Heterosexual Questionnaire,” an instrument
that reverses the assumptions and questions that homosexuals
frequently endure (www.burgy.50megs.com/hetero.htm). In
answering the questions, heterosexual respondents gain a bet-
ter appreciation of the social pressures with which homosex-
uals must constantly deal. The questionnaire has been widely
used to diminish stigma and promote tolerance.
Rochlin’s contributions to the homosexual community were
not limited to the field of psychology. For many years, he was an
active member on the board of directors of the Los Angeles Gay
and Lesbian Community Center, of which he was a founding
member. In his retirement he continued to write books and
contribute articles and commentary on issues relevant to the
well-being of lesbians and gay men.
Rochlin was predeceased by his longtime partner, Victor
Netterville, formerly of the University of Southern California
Law School. Netterville’s death of a heart attack at age 43 played
a role in Rochlin’s development as a psychologist. “If the loved
one is not of the opposite gender,” he wrote “secret love may well
end in solitary pain” (1979). Rochlin never shared his sexual
orientation with his father, and after his father’s death he resolved
to live life his own way. He became “Militant Martin” who
always wore his button, “How dare you presume I’m homosex-
ual?” In time, he became a “healthier and happier Gay Marty”
(Rochlin, 1979).
Rochlin was often quiet and reserved. However, when he
performed at the piano or engaged in advocacy, he could light up
a room. His smile, charm, and wit were legendary. Rochlin is
survived by his niece, Stacey Cohen, a publicist in Los Angeles;
his nephew, Jon Rocklin, a Los Angeles therapist; and his partner
of the last 15 years, Charles Myers of Baywood Park.
Stephen F. Morin
University of California, San Francisco
Douglas C. Kimmel
City College of the City University of New York
958 December 2004 ●American Psychologist
Copyright 2004 by the American Psychological Association 0003-066X/04/$12.00
Vol. 59, No. 9, 958 DOI: 10.1037/0003-066X.59.9.958
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