Ralph A. Hyman was born to a Jewish family in Davenport, Iowa, on April 18, 1951, the son of Leroy and Dorothy Cohen Hyman. His family also included his older sister Judith and younger brother Barry. He graduated from Excelsior High School in La Mirada, California, in 1969. Afterwards he attended New York University; majoring in psychology, he graduated in 1973. That same year he enrolled in a master’s program at the City University of New York, which he completed in 1974, with his thesis entitled “The Psychologist and the Homosexual.”

Hyman subsequently attended Auburn University in Alabama. In 1978 he received an internship from the Elizabeth Miller Children’s Center and moved to Little Rock, Arkansas, which became his permanent residence. He completed his Doctor of Education degree in 1980. His dissertation was entitled “A Comparison of Methods for Changing Homophobic Attitudes of Mental Health Professionals: The Effects of Cognitive vs Affective and Homosexuality vs Homophobic Approaches.”

Hyman’s internship allowed him to work with a group designed to help people struggling with issues of sexuality, which later became PALS. Establishing a private practice, his clientele included gay men and lesbians, people infected with HIV, and transgender patients, as well as patients suffering mental health issues.

In Little Rock Hyman became involved in Arkansas Gay Rights, the state’s premier LGBT rights organization. After that organization dissolved, he became a founding member of its successor, the Arkansas Gay and Lesbian Task Force, as well as the Arkansas AIDS Foundation. In 1988 his prominent work with HIV patients earned him an Arkansas Community Service Award from Governor Bill Clinton. During his acceptance speech Hyman announced the fact that he was gay. Subsequently, in 1990 he unsuccessfully ran for the state legislature on a platform calling for the repeal of the state sodomy law.

After 1990 Hyman stepped back from public gay activism, investing his time in his practice and a life-long passion—the theater. In 1991 he joined with friends and local actors to produce off-Broadway plays and musicals, which officially became The Weekend Theater in 1994. A community theater, it specialized in producing “socially significant plays” presented in a setting that is “decidedly New York in character.” Its mission statement read, “The Weekend Theater is dedicated to personally, interpersonally and educationally reducing prejudice, cruelty, and indifference through live theater.” Hyman served as the theater’s artistic director until his retirement in 2014, both directing and acting in productions. During his tenure the theater produced more than 200 plays and musicals. To date Hyman lives in Little Rock.