Tristan Taormino is an 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.
Taormino is the author of four 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. In 2006 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 continues to direct the Chemistry series of movies for Vivid Ed, their sex-education line of movies that she was instrumental in creating.
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 Taboo, and a former columnist for The Village Voice 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 Princeton, Yale, Brown, Columbia, Cornell, University of Toronto, Wesleyan, Vassar, Swarthmore, and New York University, 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.)
Taormino 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."
Taormino 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."
In addition to being a vocal advocate of nonmonogamy, Taormino supports gay marriage: "I support gay marriage being legalised in every state. I do however think it’s unfortunate that in some cases gay marriage opponents have used the issue against polyamory."
The Ultimate Guide to Anal Sex for Women (Cleis Press, 1997/2006) ISBN 1-57344-028-0—winner of a Firecracker Book Award and named Amazon.com's #1 Bestseller in Women's Sex Instruction in 1998. Second edition was released in February 2006
Pucker Up: A Hands-on Guide to Ecstatic Sex (ReganBooks, 2001)—re-issued in paperback as Down and Dirty Sex Secrets (2003) ISBN 0-06-098892-4
True Lust: Adventures in Sex, Porn and Perversion (Cleis Press, 2002) ISBN 1-57344-157-0
Opening Up: Creating and Sustaining Open Relationships (Cleis Press, 2008) ISBN 978-1-57344-295-4
The Best Positions for Easy, Exciting, Mind-Blowing Pleasure (Quiver, 2009) ISBN 978-1-59233-356-1
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, 1996-2009) 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
