Robyn Ochs

{{Short description|American bisexual activist, professional speaker and workshop leader}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Robyn Ochs

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1958|10|5}}

| birth_place = San Antonio, Texas, U.S.

| death_date =

| death_place =

| image = Robyn Ochs July 2016 (cropped).jpg

| caption = Robyn Ochs in 2016

| spouse = Peg Preble

| mother = Sonny Ochs

| movement = LGBT rights/bisexual rights

| organization = Boston Bisexual Women's Network, Bisexual Resource Center, BiNet USA, MassEquality, Bi Women Quarterly, Inc.

| relatives = {{unbulleted list|Phil Ochs (uncle)|Michael Ochs (uncle)}}

| awards = Campus Pride's Voice & Action National Leadership Award (2017); PFLAG's Brenda Howard Award (2011); Susan J. Hyde Activism Award (2009); Harvard Gay & Lesbian Caucus's Lifetime Achievement Award for advocacy on the Harvard University Campus (2009); Reinaldo dos Santos Memorial Award for Bisexual Activism (1997)

}}

Robyn Ochs (born 1958) is an American bisexual activist, professional speaker, and workshop leader. Her primary fields of interest are gender, sexuality, identity, and coalition building. She is the editor of the Bisexual Resource Guide (published annually from 1990 to 2002), Bi Women Quarterly, and the anthology Getting Bi: Voices of Bisexuals Around the World. Ochs, along with Professor Herukhuti, co-edited the anthology Recognize: The Voices of Bisexual Men.

Ochs has appeared on a number of television talk shows, including Donahue, Rolanda, Maury Povich, Women Aloud, Real Personal, Hour Magazine and The Shirley Show, to discuss issues relating to bisexuality. She has also been in Seventeen and Newsweek.

She describes herself as Jewish, but not religious.{{Cite web|url=https://robynochs.com/biphobia/|title = Biphobia|date = 23 February 2014}}

Education

Ochs has a Bachelor of Arts in Language and Culture, Latin American Studies from the State University of New York, Purchase.{{cite web|last1=Ochs|first1=Robyn|title=CV/Résumé|url=https://robynochs.com/curriculum-vitae/|access-date=25 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161026080426/https://robynochs.com/curriculum-vitae/|archive-date=26 October 2016|url-status=dead}} Additionally, she has a Certificate of Special Studies in Administration and Management and a Masters of Education from Harvard University.{{cite web|last1=Ochs|first1=Robyn|title=CV/Résumé|url=https://robynochs.com/curriculum-vitae/|access-date=25 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161026080426/https://robynochs.com/curriculum-vitae/|archive-date=26 October 2016|url-status=dead}}

Work in academia

Ochs teaches courses on topics including LGBT history & politics in the United States, the politics of sexual orientation, and the experiences of those who transgress the binary categories of gay/straight, masculine/feminine, black/white and/or male/female.{{cite web|last1=Ochs|first1=Robyn|title=Robyn Ochs Teaching|url=http://robynochs.com/teaching/teaching.html|access-date=2008-02-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080511193820/http://www.robynochs.com/teaching/teaching.html|archive-date=2008-05-11|url-status=dead}} She has taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Johnson State College, and Tufts University.{{cite web|last1=Ochs|first1=Robyn|title=Robyn Ochs Teaching|work=Robyn Ochs |date=7 January 2014 |url=https://robynochs.com/teaching/|access-date=25 October 2016}}

Ochs worked as an administrator at Harvard University from 1983 until she retired in 2009.{{cite web|last1=Ochs|first1=Robyn|title=Campus Advocacy|work=Robyn Ochs |date=2014-01-07|url=https://robynochs.com/campus-advocacy/|access-date=25 October 2016}} While there, she co-founded and co-chaired the LGBT Faculty and Staff Group, co-founded and facilitated the LGBTQ Lunches, a monthly lunch series for lesbian, bi, queer and trans women faculty and staff, and served as the faculty advisor for QSA, Harvard's undergraduate student LGBTQ organization.{{cite web|last1=Ochs|first1=Robyn|title=Campus Advocacy|work=Robyn Ochs |date=2014-01-07|url=https://robynochs.com/campus-advocacy/|access-date=25 October 2016}}

Work as a bisexual activist

Ochs helped found the Boston Bisexual Network in 1983, and the Bisexual Resource Center in 1985.[http://www.gaypeopleschronicle.com/stories08/march/0328082.htm There's more to humanity than just gay and straight], March 28, 2008, Gay People's Chronicle In 1987, The East Coast Bisexual Network established the first Bisexual History Archives with Ochs' initial collection; archivist Clare Morton hosted researchers.{{cite web|url=http://www.binetusa.org/bihealth.html|title=BiNet USA|access-date=2014-03-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190207185405/http://www.binetusa.org/bihealth.html|archive-date=2019-02-07|url-status=dead}} The group became the Bisexual Resource Center in 1993.{{cite web|url=http://www.binetusa.org/bihealth.html|title=BiNet USA|access-date=2014-03-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190207185405/http://www.binetusa.org/bihealth.html|archive-date=2019-02-07|url-status=dead}}

In 2002 she delivered the first bi-focused keynote during the National Association of Lesbian and Gay Addiction Professionals.{{cite web|url=http://www.binetusa.org/bihealth.html|title=BiNet USA|access-date=2014-03-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190207185405/http://www.binetusa.org/bihealth.html|archive-date=2019-02-07|url-status=dead}} In 1998, 2004, and 2007, she keynoted the Midwest Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender Campus Conference, the largest gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender student conference in the United States.

Ochs has served on the Board of Directors of MassEquality, Massachusetts's statewide equality organization, from 2004 to 2016.

She has written frequently on bisexuality and LGBT rights and her writings have been published in numerous bisexual, women's studies, multicultural and LGBT anthologies.{{cite web|last1=Ochs|first1=Robyn|title=About Robyn Ochs|url=http://www.robynochs.com/speaking/speaking.html|access-date=2008-02-25}}

Awards and recognitions

In 1997, she received the Reinaldo dos Santos Memorial Award for Bisexual Activism.

In 2009 at the Creating Change Conference, the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force awarded Ochs the Susan J. Hyde Activism Award for Longevity in the Movement. As she presented the award Creating Change Director Sue Hyde told Ochs: "We hear your clear voice, we see your staunch advocacy and we respond to your loving insistence that our movement includes all of us."{{cite web |url=http://www.thetaskforce.org/Update/2009/cc09_03_0131/index.htm#story2 |title=Robyn Ochs receives Susan J. Hyde Activism Award |publisher=Thetaskforce.org |access-date=2013-11-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120213223047/http://www.thetaskforce.org/Update/2009/cc09_03_0131/index.htm#story2 |archive-date=2012-02-13 |url-status=dead }}

Also in 2009, Ochs received the Harvard Gay & Lesbian Caucus's Lifetime Achievement Award for advocacy on the Harvard University Campus.{{Cite web|url=https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2009/05/tribe-and-ochs-honored-by-harvard-gay-and-lesbian-caucus/|title=Tribe and Ochs honored by Harvard Gay and Lesbian Caucus|date=2009-05-21|website=Harvard Gazette|language=en-US|access-date=2019-12-08}}

Ochs received the 2011 Brenda Howard Award at the Queens NYC PFLAG chapter's annual awards luncheon on February 5, 2012.{{cite web |url=http://bimagazine.org/index.php/news/robyn-ochs-receives-the-2011-pflag-queens-brenda-howard-award/#sthash.mbuNRnNi.dpuf |title= Robyn Ochs receives the 2011 PFLAG Queens Brenda Howard Award|website=bimagazine.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130731012753/http://bimagazine.org/index.php/news/robyn-ochs-recieves-the-2011-pflag-queens-brenda-howard-award/ |archive-date=2013-07-31}}

On June 13, 2015, Ochs received the City of Cambridge's GLBT Commission's annual recognition award for her work as an educator and activist.{{cite web|last1=Dolan|first1=Shelagh|title=Cambridge Pride brunch marks milestone|url=http://www.universalhub.com/2015/cambridge-pride-brunch-marks-milestone|website=Universal Hub|date=13 June 2015 |access-date=24 June 2015}}

On July 22, 2017, Ochs received Campus Pride’s Voice & Action National Leadership Award.{{Cite web|url=https://www.campuspride.org/campus-pride-awards-national-voice-action-leadership-award-to-robyn-ochs-and-campy-awards-to-volunteer-service-to-aneesah-smith-and-delfin-bautista/|title=Campus Pride awards National Voice & Action Leadership Award to Robyn Ochs and Campy Awards to volunteer service to Aneesah Smith and Delfin Bautista|date=2017-08-08|website=Campus Pride|language=en-US|access-date=2020-12-31}}

On October 16, 2024, Ochs was recognized as an LGBT History Month Icon.{{Cite web |title=Robyn Ochs {{!}} LGBTHistoryMonth.com |url=https://lgbthistorymonth.com/robyn-ochs}}

Personal life

On May 17, 2004, the first day it became legal for same-sex couples to marry in Massachusetts, Ochs and her long-time partner Peg Preble (a self-identified lesbian), were among the first same-sex couples to legally marry.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A34665-2004May17.html|title=A Carefully Considered Rush to the Altar (washingtonpost.com)|newspaper=The Washington Post}} When early news reports spoke of the marriage as a "lesbian wedding", Ochs objected strongly to being classified as a lesbian rather than a bisexual. In follow-up news coverage, Ochs publicly denounced this as an example of exactly the type of bisexual erasure she has been calling attention to for much of her life.{{cite web|url=http://www.advocate.com/bisexuality/2014/08/26/when-bisexual-people-get-left-out-marriage|title=When Bisexual People Get Left Out of Marriage (advocate.com)|date=2014-08-26}}

She is the daughter of music producer and radio host Sonny Ochs{{Cite web|title=Favorite Links|url=http://sonnyochs.com/template.html|access-date=2021-05-04|website=sonnyochs.com}} and niece of folk singer Phil Ochs.{{Cite web|last=Nectoux|first=Tracy|title=Robyn Ochs to speak at today's Bi Fest : Culture : Smile Politely|url=https://www.smilepolitely.com/culture/robyn_ochs_to_speak_at_todays_bi_fest/|access-date=2021-05-04|website=www.smilepolitely.com|date=5 April 2011 }}

Selected bibliography

=Books=

Getting Bi: Voices of Bisexuals Around the World, co-edited with Sarah E. Rowley (2005; second ed., 2009) ({{ISBN|0965388158}})
[https://robynochs.com/2014/09/08/recognize-the-voices-of-bisexual-men/ Recognize: The Voices of Bisexual Men – An Anthology] co-edited with H. Sharif "Herukhuti" Williams (2014) ({{ISBN|0965388174}})

=Anthologies (as a contributor)=

"From the Closet to the Stage," in [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1555831745 Bi Any Other Name: Bisexuals Speak Out], (Lani Kaʻahumanu & Loraine Hutchins, ed.) (1991) ({{ISBN|1626011990}}){{cite web|url=http://lanikaahumanu.com/bianyothername.shtml|title=b i · a n y · o t h e r · n a m e}}
"Bisexuality, Feminism, Men and Me," in [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1878067176 Closer to Home: Bisexuality & Feminism (Weise, ed.)] (1992) ({{ISBN|1878067176}})
"Moving Beyond Binary Thinking," (co-written with Marcia Deihl) in [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0807079197 Homophobia: How We All Pay the Price (Blumenfeld, ed.)] (1992) ({{ISBN|0807079197}})
"Biphobia," in [https://www.amazon.com/Bisexuality-Psychology-Politics-Invisible-Minority/dp/0803972741/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1374359421&sr=1-1&keywords=bisexuality+invisible+minority Bisexuality: The Psychology and Politics of an Invisible Minority (Firestein, ed.)] (1996) ({{ISBN|0803972741}})
[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0815319207 Encyclopedia of Lesbian Histories and Cultures, Volume 1 (Zimmerman, ed.)] (1999) ({{ISBN|0815319207}})
"What's in a Name? Why Women Embrace or Resist Bisexual Identity," in [https://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Visible-Counseling-Bisexuals-Lifespan/dp/0231137249 Becoming Visible: Counseling Bisexuals Across the Lifespan (Firestein, ed.)] (2007) ({{ISBN|0231137249}})
"Bisexuality, Feminism, Men and Me," in [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0767420896 Women: Images and Realities: A Multicultural Anthology (Kesselman, McNair, & Schniedewind, eds.)] (2011) ({{ISBN|0073512311}})
"Beyond Binaries: Seeing Sexual Diversity in the Classroom," in [https://www.amazon.com/Activities-Teaching-Sexuality-University-Classroom/dp/1475801807/ Activities for Teaching Gender and Sexuality in the University Classroom (Murphy & Ribarsky, eds.)] (2013) ({{ISBN|1475801807}})
“LGBTQ politics after marriage: a panel discussion with Gabriel Foster, Paulina Hehn-Hernandez, Robyn Ochs, Steven William Thrasher, Urvashi Vaid, and Hari Ziyad,” in [https://www.routledge.com/Queer-Activism-After-Marriage-Equality/DeFilippis-Yarbrough-Jones/p/book/9781138557505 Queer Activism After Marriage Equality (DeFilippis, Yarbrough, & Jones)] (2018) ({{ISBN|9781138557505}})
“Without Wincing of Clenching: Bisexual People’s Experiences with Health Care Professionals,” in [https://pmpress.org/index.php?l=product_detail&p=1079 Bodies and Barriers: Queer Activists on Health, (Shanker, Kendell, & Levine)](2020)({{ISBN|9781629637846}})