[1] Born into a traditional Adeni Yemenite family in 1974, Yosef began to become aware of his sexual identity in his early twenties, if not earlier.

[2] A June 2013 article reported that Yosef lives with his partner, who is also Orthodox, although the two men don't make public appearances or go out together.

[2] In 2004-2005, he worked with the Association for Society and Culture, a Netanya-based organization devoted to the preservation of the Yemenite Jewish heritage.

From the start, Yosef led the organization, although he was initially known only by his first name due to the sensitivity of the subject of homosexuality in the Jewish Orthodox community in Israel.

However, in April 2009, he became the first Israeli orthodox Rabbi to come out, by appearing in Uvda ("Fact"), Israel's leading investigative television program.

[6] Yosef received death threats in the year leading up to the 2009 Tel Aviv gay centre shooting.

[9] The Israel Gay Youth (IGY) Movement released a report that year stating that at least half the homosexual soldiers who serve in the IDF suffer from violence and homophobia.