A former White House aid to President Clinton, Boykin was once the highest-ranking openly gay person in the Clinton White House. He also helped to organize and participated in the nation's first ever meeting between a sitting US president and leaders of the gay community.
Each of Boykin's three books has been nominated for a Lambda Literary Award, including his most recent book, Beyond the Down Low: Sex, Lies, and Denial in Black America. He won the Lambda Literary Award for his second book, Respecting the Soul, while his first book, One More River to Cross, is taught in colleges and universities throughout the country.
A founder and the first board president of the National Black Coalition, Boykin has been actively involved in progressive causes since he worked on his first congressional campaign while still a high school student. A veteran of six political campaigns, including two presidential campaigns, Boykin was named one of the top instructors when he taught political science at American University in Washington. He has traveled extensively from Africa to Europe to North America and South America, and President Clinton appointed him to the US presidential trade delegation to Zimbabwe, along with Rev. Jesse Jackson, Coretta Scott King, and Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater.
Boykin has spoken to audiences across the world. He delivered a landmark speech to 200,000 people at the Millennium March on Washington, delivering a stirring speech about the AIDS epidemic in front of 40,000 people in Chicago's Soldier Field for the opening ceremonies of the 2006 Gay Games.
In 2004, Boykin launched his media career as a star on the Showtime television series American Candidate. Since then, he has been seen on The Montel Williams Show, Anderson Cooper 360, The O’Reilly Factor, Tony Brown’s Journal, and The Dennis Miller Show. He has been heard on “The Tom Joyner Morning Show,” NPR and on Sirius Satellite Radio, where he served as a frequent guest host of the “Michelangelo Signorile Show.” Boykin has appeared on almost every major broadcast TV outlet, including CBS, CNN, VH1, BET, LOGO and Fox News.
Boykin has also appeared in every major American newspaper, including the New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today and Wall Street Journal. He has been featured in Essence, JET and VIBE and on the cover of several publications including A&U, Out, and The Advocate. Last year he was selected as one of The Advocate Magazine's “10 People of the Year” and as one of Instinct Magazine's “25 Leading Men of 2005.” In 2004 and again in 2006, he was designated as one of Out Magazine’s “100 Most Intriguing People.”
Currently an associate producer of the 2007 feature film Dirty Laundry, Boykin is busy writing a new book and continues to write daily commentary on his influential web site, keithboykin.com.