Allan Pinka; Psychologist Helped Gays
Allan Thomas Pinka, past president of the Los Angeles Society of Clinical Psychologists and active on behalf of lesbian and gay organizations, died Wednesday of AIDS. He was 41.
He co-chaired the Psychosocial Advisory Counseling Committee of AIDS Project Los Angeles from 1983 to 1985 and helped set up seminars for health professionals on how to deal with the mental health problems of people with acquired immunity deficiency syndrome.
With Alan Kent Malyon, who died of lung cancer a week ago at the age of 47, he co-authored a 1983 article on the subject. It was published in the Professional Psychologist, journal of the American Psychological Assn.
He was on the steering committee of the Assn. of Lesbian and Gay Psychologists, then was secretary-treasurer of the Society for the Psychological Study of Lesbian and Gay Issues.
Pinka was born in Chicago on Oct. 6, 1947. He received his bachelor’s degree from St. Louis University, a master’s degree in counseling psychology at Loyola Marymount University and his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology in Los Angeles.
He leaves twin brothers, Gerald and Gary, both of Chicago.
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