American writer of novels, short fiction, and nonfiction whose critically acclaimed work focuses on male homosexual (homosexuality) society in America. His studies of evolving attitudes toward homosexuality and of the impact of AIDS on homosexual communities in the United States are significant contributions to contemporary sociological and social history.

Educated at the University of Michigan (B.A., 1962), White taught writing seminars and creative writing at Columbia, Yale, New York, and George Mason universities. He was a frequent contributor of articles, reviews, and commentary to periodicals such as New York Times Book Review, Mother Jones, and Architectural Digest.

White's nonfiction includes The Joy of Gay Sex (1977; with Charles Silverstein), States of Desire: Travels in Gay America (1980), and a biography of Jean Genet (Genet, Jean) (1993). Among White's novels and short-story collections are Forgetting Elena (1973), Nocturnes for the King of Naples (1978), Caracole (1985), and Skinned Alive (1995). With the publication of The Farewell Symphony in 1997, he completed an autobiographical trilogy that includes A Boy's Own Story (1982) and The Beautiful Room Is Empty (1988).