''Bi Any Other Name: Bisexual People Speak Out'', published by

Riverdale Avenue Books Riverdale Avenue Books, located in Riverdale, Bronx, New York, is a publisher of e-books, print books on demand and audiobooks founded in 2012 by Lori Perkins. Riverdale is a member of the American Association of Publishers and publishes between ...

, is an anthology edited by

Loraine Hutchins Loraine Hutchins is an American bisexual and feminist author, activist, and sex educator. Hutchins rose to prominence as co-editor (with Lani Kaʻahumanu) of ''Bi Any Other Name'', an anthology that is one of the seminal books in the bisexual righ ...

and

Lani Kaʻahumanu Lani Kaahumanu (born October 5, 1943) is a Canadian bisexual and feminist writer and activist. She is openly bisexual and writes and speaks on sexuality issues frequently. She serves on the editorial board of the ''Journal of Bisexuality''. Sh ...

, and is one of the seminal books in the history of the modern

bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, wh ...

rights movement. It holds a place that is in many ways comparable to that held by

Betty Friedan Betty Friedan ( February 4, 1921 – February 4, 2006) was an American feminist writer and activist. A leading figure in the women's movement in the United States, her 1963 book ''The Feminine Mystique'' is often credited with sparking the se ...

's ''

The Feminine Mystique ''The Feminine Mystique'' is a book by Betty Friedan, widely credited with sparking second-wave feminism in the United States. First published by W. W. Norton on February 19, 1963, ''The Feminine Mystique'' became a bestseller, initially selling ...

'' in the feminist movement. The book comprises fiction and

nonfiction Nonfiction, or non-fiction, is any document or media content that attempts, in good faith, to provide information (and sometimes opinions) grounded only in facts and real life, rather than in imagination. Nonfiction is often associated with bei ...

pieces,

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek '' poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings ...

and

art Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...

created by a diverse group of over seventy bisexual people speaking about their lives. To quote

Wendy Curry Wendy Curry is an American bisexual rights activist and animal rescue advocate. Career and civil rights work She was the President of BiNet USA, an American national bisexual civil rights organization, a position she assumed in 2006. Previou ...

, longtime bisexual rights activist and former president of the American national

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life ...

group

BiNet USA BiNet USA (officially Bi/Net USA, The Bisexual Network of the USA Inc.) was an American national nonprofit bisexual community whose mission was to "facilitate the development of a cohesive network of bisexual communities, promote bisexual visibil ...

, This book helped spark at least ten other books (many by its own contributors), was named one of Lambda Book Report's Top 100 Queer Books of the 20th century, has been reprinted 3 times since 1991, has over 40,000 copies in circulation, and was translated and published in Taiwan in June 2007. It also frequently appears on numerous

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term i ...

reading lists, from assistance in

coming out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out ...

queer studies Queer studies, sexual diversity studies, or LGBT studies is the education of topics relating to sexual orientation and gender identity usually focusing on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, gender dysphoria, asexual, queer, questioning, i ...

curriculum In education, a curriculum (; plural, : curricula or curriculums) is broadly defined as the totality of student experiences that occur in the educational process. The term often refers specifically to a planned sequence of instruction, or to ...

guides. In 1992, despite requests from the

bisexual community The bisexual community, also known as the bi+, m-spec, bisexual/pansexual, or bi/pan/fluid community, includes members of the gay community, LGBT community who identify as bisexual, pansexual, :simple:Omnisexuality, omnisexual, :simple:Polysexual ...

for a more appropriate and inclusive category, ''Bi Any Other Name: Bisexual People Speak Out'' was forced to compete (and lose) in the category "Lesbian Anthology" at the

Lambda Literary Awards Lambda Literary Awards, also known as the "Lammys", are awarded yearly by Lambda Literary to recognize the crucial role LGBTQ writers play in shaping the world. The Lammys celebrate the very best in LGBTQ literature.The awards were instituted ...

. Additionally, in 2005, ''Directed by Desire: Collected Poems'', a posthumous collection of the

Jamaican American Jamaican Americans are an ethnic group of Caribbean Americans who have full or partial Jamaican ancestry. The largest proportions of Jamaican Americans live in South Florida and New York City, both of which have been home to large Jamaican commu ...

writer June Jordan's work, had to compete (and win) in the category "Lesbian Poetry". Led by BiNet USA, and assisted by other bisexual organizations including the

American Institute of Bisexuality The American Institute of Bisexuality (AIB) is a charity founded on July 23, 1998, by sex researcher, psychiatrist and bisexual rights activist Fritz Klein to promote research and education about bisexuality. AIB produces the '' Journal of Bisexua ...

, BiPOL, and

Bialogue Bialogue, a portmanteau of the words ''bisexual'' and ''dialogue'', is an American activist group that started in New York City, working on issues of local, national, and international interest to the bisexual, fluid, pansexual, queer-identified co ...

, the bisexual community launched a multi-year struggle that eventually culminated in 2006 with the addition of a Bisexual category at the Lambda Literary Awards. A 25th anniversary edition of the book was released in 2015 during Bi Awareness Week.

References

External links

''Bi Any Other Name'' on publisher's site

Alyson Publications Alyson Books, formerly known as Alyson Publications, was a book publishing house which specialized in LGBT fiction and non-fiction. Former publisher Don Weise described it as "the world's oldest and largest publisher of LGBT literature" and "the ...

''Bi Any Other Name'' on Facebook

review ''International Gay & Lesbian Review''

Lani Kaʻahumanu (editor)
{{Bisexuality topics 1990s LGBT literature 1991 anthologies Books about bisexuality LGBT literature in the United States LGBT anthologies Alyson Books books