Tristan Taormino

Tristan Taormino (born May 9, 1971) is an award-winning author, columnist, editor, pornographic film director (and occasional actress) and self-styled "anal sexpert". She graduated Phi Beta Kappa with her Bachelor's degree in American Studies from Wesleyan University in 1993. Tristan Taormino is the niece of author Thomas Pynchon.

Career
Taormino is the author of three books, including the Firecracker Book Award winning The Ultimate Guide to Anal Sex for Women. She has also made two videos based on the book. The first was co-directed by Buttman (John Stagliano) and Ernest Greene. The second was directed by Tristan herself. In both videos, she takes part in the on-screen sexual activities. Subsequently, she directed Tristan Taormino's House of Ass for Adam & Eve, which shows a number of "porn stars" (from famous to unknown) interacting without a script. This film could be called a full-length "behind-the-scenes" movie. More recently, she directed Tristan Taormino's CHEMISTRY, which is the first in a series of a full-length "behind the scenes" movies for Vivid Entertainment.

She is series editor of fourteen volumes of the Lambda Literary Award-winning anthology Best Lesbian Erotica, an annual anthology published by Cleis Press, for which she has collaborated with writers Heather Lewis, Jewelle Gomez, Jenifer Levin, Chrystos, Joan Nestle, Patrick Califia, Amber Hollibaugh, Cheryl Clarke, Michelle Tea, and Felice Newman.

She is a columnist for The Village Voice, Taboo, and Velvet Park. She is the former editor of On Our Backs, the nation's oldest lesbian-produced lesbian sex magazine.

Taormino has been featured in over 200 publications including The New York Times, Redbook, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Entertainment Weekly, Details, New York Magazine, Men's Health, and Playboy.

She has been named to several media lists, including Out Magazine's 100 Gay Success Stories of the Year and The Advocate's Best and Brightest Gay & Lesbian People Under 30.

She has appeared on CNN, MSNBC, HBO's Real Sex, NBC's The Other Half, The Howard Stern Show, Loveline, Ricki Lake, MTV, Oxygen Network, Fox News, The Discovery Channel, and on over four dozen radio shows.

She lectures at top colleges and universities including Yale, Brown, Columbia, Smith, Vassar, Swarthmore, and New York University (NYU), where she speaks on gay and lesbian issues, sexuality and gender, and feminism. She teaches sex and relationship workshops around the world and provides private coaching sessions for individuals and couples.

In 2006 she appeared as a so-called "sextra" in John Cameron Mitchell's film, Shortbus, participating in an unsimulated orgy that was filmed for the movie. (Her presence is confirmed by the director on the DVD commentary).

Sexual identity
Tristan on her sexuality, "I don't really identify with the label 'bisexual', nor does it feel like it accurately describes me...I see myself as queer, since queer to me is not just about who I love or lust, but it's about my culture, my community, and my politics. The truth is, even if I were with a heterosexual guy, I'd be a queer dyke."

Tristan stated in an online interview, "I identify strongly as queer and as a dyke, because, as I have said before, it's not just about who I fuck and love, being queer is also about my politics, my culture, my community, and the way I see the world. People want to call me bisexual or pansexual or whatever, but I believe in people's power to self-identity."

In addition, "she describes herself as "equal opportunity." She doesn't like the word "bisexual" -- it's too polarizing."

As editor

 * Pucker Up: the zine with a mouth that's not afraid to use it (Black Dog Productions, 1995-?) publisher and editrix
 * Best Lesbian Erotica (Cleis Press, 1996-present) as Series Editor
 * Ritual Sex (Rhinoceros Books, 1996) co-editor
 * A Girl's Guide To Taking Over the World: Writings from the Girl Zine Revolution (St. Martin's Press, 1997) co-editor
 * Hot Lesbian Erotica (Cleis Press, 2005) editor
 * Best Lesbian Bondage Erotica (Cleis Press,2007) editor

Videos

 * Tristan Taormino's Ultimate Guide to Anal Sex for Women (Evil Angel, 1999).
 * Tristan Taormino's Ultimate Guide to Anal Sex for Women 2 (Evil Angel, 2000).
 * Tristan Taormino's House of Ass (Adam & Eve, 2006)
 * Tristan Taormino's CHEMISTRY (Vivid / Smart Ass Productions, 2006)
 * Tristan Taormino's CHEMISTRY, Vol. 2 (Vivid / Smart Ass Productions, 2007)
 * Tristan Taormino's CHEMISTRY, Vol. 3 (Vivid / Smart Ass Productions, 2007)
 * Tristan Taormino's Expert Guide to Anal Sex (Vivid / Smart Ass Productions, 2007)
 * Tristan Taormino's Expert Guide to Oral Sex, Part 1: Cunnilingus (Vivid / Smart Ass Productions, 2007)
 * Tristan Taormino's Expert Guide to Oral Sex, Part 2: Fellatio (Vivid / Smart Ass Productions, 2007)