Valerie Anne

Autostraddle Work

I've written for Autostraddle for almost three years now, writing anything and everything from TV recaps to movie reviews and a few random things in between. Here's a selection of pieces I published over the past few years.

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Airyn De Niro (Yes, Robert's Daughter) is Coming Out Trans, Telling Her Own Story, Has Great Hair

Technically Airyn De Niro has been out for a while and started hormone therapy back in November, but she’s here now with Them to tell her own story without the speculation of paparazzi-fueled sites like Daily Mail trying (and failing) to do it for her. Last month, paparazzi caught snaps of Airyn while she was visiting her father and went wild with headlines and speculations. In the interview with Them, Airyn said, “Not only did they get information wrong about me… They just sort of reminded me t...
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'The Last of Us' Episode 203 Recap: Wreckage and Funerals

This recap will have spoilers for Season 2, Episode 3 of The Last of Us, “The Path” Hello and welcome to another recap of The Last of Us! This one is a little less heavy and a little gayer than last week, so let’s tap dance right on into it. As always, Nic and I (Valerie Anne) will be discussing this week’s episode in detail, and while we will compare and contrast the show and the video game at times, we won’t spoil what happens in the games past where the show is in the story and we ask that yo...
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Margaret Qualley and Aubrey Plaza To Star in Lesbian Detective Movie

feature image photo of Margaret Qualley by Dia Dipasupil / Staff via Getty Images | photo of Aubrey Plaza by Mike Coppola / Staff via Getty Images Good gay news: Margaret Qualley will star in upcoming Tricia Cooke and Ethan Coen film Honey Don’t!. She will play the titular Honey, a lesbian detective out to investigate a questionable “church” that happens to be led by Chris Evans. Aubrey Plaza will star alongside her, though the specifics of her role are currently a mystery. Maybe she’ll be the t...
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'The Last of Us' Episode 202 Recap: Fathers and Daughters

This recap will have spoilers for Season 2, Episode 2 of The Last of Us, “Through the Valley.” Welcome to yet another The Last of Us joint recap from Nic and me (Valerie Anne) where we break down the emotional beats of each episode and invite you to join us in doing the same. This one was a heavy one, so I’m not going to waste a lot of time blathering in the intro! As always, we ask that you don’t spoil things that happen in the games further on in the story than we have seen in the show for tho...
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'The Wheel of Time' Season 3 Has Queer Joys and Queer Tears

This review will have spoilers for Season 3 of The Wheel of Time, including the finale, “He Who Comes at Dawn.” Well, you all told me to watch The Wheel of Time, so I watched The Wheel of Time, AND NOW I’M SAD. What a heartbreaking final two episodes of the season! I laughed, I cried, I cheered, I cried again. And I’m delighted to report that this show is, as promised, pretty damn gay. It has been a while since I went into a fantasy series not really knowing what was coming, especially one that...
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'And Just Like That...' We Have a Season Three Trailer

Well, Sex and the City fans, after one year and seven months, And Just Like That is finally returning. A trailer was released this week, and just because I don’t watch this show doesn’t mean I can’t snoop for queer content for and with you. After last season, with Miranda’s professor friend Nya (Karen Pittman) and ex-lover Che (Sara Ramirez) gone, Miranda’s world seems to be opening up to new people. The only person she spoke of in this trailer is a “work contact” (possibly a reporter?) who she...
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'The Last of Us' Episode 201 Recap: Brand New Day

This recap will have spoilers for Season 2, Episode 1 of The Last of Us, “Future Days.” Hello and WELCOME BACK to our The Last of Us recaps! It’s been two long years, but we made it through. As we did back in season one, Nic and I (Valerie Anne) are going to do joint recaps of this season, and invite you to chat with us in the comments about all the goings-on as we watch Ellie (Bella Ramsey), Joel (Pedro Pascal), and the people they meet along the way endure and survive the only way they know ho...
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From Wives to Exes to Friends: 'Slayers, Every One of Us' Tells the Tale of Two Queer Podcasters and Buffy

Longtime fans of Autostraddle will recognize the names Kristin Russo and Jenny Owen Youngs, either from meeting them at A-Camps past, watching Kristin’s “Getting in Bed with Kristin” Q&A sessions, or maybe even reading the essay about them Heather Hogan wrote that is quoted in the very book I’m reviewing. But most of you, at this point, probably know Kristin and Jenny best as the co-hosts for the podcast so popular it was an answer on Jeopardy: Buffering the Vampire Slayer, a Buffy rewatch podca...
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Kesha Fought for Her Own Freedom and Vows To Fight for Everyone Else’s

Paper Magazine sat down with Kesha and Bob The Drag Queen, and they talked about Kesha’s new album, freedom, songwriting, and more. I won’t lie to you, I’m not 200% sure why these two icons are being interviewed together, besides the fact that Bob has a new novel to promote (Harriet Tubman: Live in Concert) and is a “certified Animal” and fellow millennial, who also grew up screaming along with Kesha in the club. Regardless of the reason, I’m actually a big fan of artist-led conversations, so ev...
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Queer Stand-Up Comedian Amber Ruffin Stands Up For What She Believes In

In February, comedian Amber Ruffin was invited to perform at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, and it felt significant that despite everything going on with the current administration, they chose a Black queer woman as their comedian for the evening. Of course, that proved too good to be true when they rescinded that offer, with Deputy White House Chief of Staff Taylor Budowich saying Amber Ruffin said “hate-filled and violence-inspiring” things on a podcast. Ironic, considering the admini...
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Lady Gaga Was a Lifeline to Doechii When She Was a Queer, “Weird” Little Monster

feature image photo by Variety / Contributor via Getty Images Some of the queer things that happened at this year’s iHeartRadio Music Awards include but are not limited to SZA taking home the R&B artist of the year award for the third year, Billie Eilish introducing Gracie Abrams as breakthrough artist of the year, Becky G and Victoria Monet presenting awards, with JoJo Siwa, Madison Beer, and more in the audience. Among the gayest was when queer rapper Doechii presented Lady Gaga with the Innov...
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New Reality Show ‘You Hauled’ Puts Single Lesbians Together in One Mansion, What Could Go Wrong?

Move over Love is Blind and The Bachelorette, there’s a new reality show in town, and it’s gay as hell. In fact, this new queer dating show is for lesbians, even playing off a classic lesbian stereotype for the name of the show: You Hauled. (I hate to admit that this did make me giggle.) The show, which will live exclusively on YouTube, features a group of single lesbians moving into a mansion together, and it seems being paired off before deciding if they will “move in” or “move on.” The struct...
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Lena Waithe Joins 'Grey's Anatomy' as a Hot Doctor Fighting for Her Wife

The following recap will have spoilers for Grey’s Anatomy Season 21, Episode 10, “Jump (For My Love)” – specifically and especially the gay bits. Queer Emmy-award-winning multi-hyphenate Lena Waithe has once again put on her acting hat for a guest spot on Grey’s Anatomy, the #1 go-to destination vacation for queer actors and fictional doctors. Cynthia Erivo’s partner plays Evynne Moore, a surgeon and good friend of Catherine Fox, whose wife Tasha is at Grey Sloan for a liver transplant. But I am...
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Lady Gaga Is Fly and Bi As the Host of 'Saturday Night Live'

Lady Gaga’s latest album Mayhem has dropped, which our own Stef Rubino says is “a celebration of her past, a reflection of her present, and a small glimpse into what we might see more of from her in the future.” To coincide with this album drop, Lady Gaga was the host and musical guest on this weekend’s SNL. It was full of good-natured jabs at her own career; in her monologue she talked about winning a Razzie for The Joker 2 (and how she doesn’t care because she likes winning things and wants an...
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Queer Icons Chappell Roan and Elton John Sang a Duet of ‘Pink Pony Club’ and It Was So Very Gay

Elton John tapped pop femininomenon Chappell Roan to perform at his annual Oscars AIDS Foundation party, where she covered Your Song, one of Elton’s songs that she has covered on YouTube in the past, before she blew up. She also joined him in a performance of Don’t Let the Sun Go Down On Me, and he joined HER for a performance of Pink Pony Club. All in all, a gay ol’ time. And it’s beautiful to see queer people lifting each other up. Especially in the past few months, Chappell Roan has gotten so...
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Jen Tullock Confirms Severance's Devon Has Always Been Queer, Probably Had a Hot Rugby Girlfriend

feature image photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez / Stringer via Getty Images In this week’s episode of Severance, we learned that queer actress Jen Tullock’s character, Devon, is also queer, but in an interview with Parade, Tullock confirmed that even though it was only recently revealed, that has always been true of Mark’s sister. Tullock says in discussions with creator and writer Dan Erickson, they had determined that as part of Devon’s backstory, she had dated people of all genders before meeting...
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'Lesbian Space Princess' is Exactly As Gay and Fun As It Sounds

I don’t know about you, but I have never said “yes” to watching a movie as fast as I did when I heard the title Lesbian Space Princess. But in case you do need a little more convincing, I’m here to tell you that I loved it. A lot. Created by Emma Hough Hobbs and Leela Varghese, Lesbian Space Princess is an animated comedy (for adults) about a shy princess with zero self-confidence who has to go on a journey across space to try to save her ex-girlfriend. It’s full of hilarious jokes and bright, c...
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What The World Needs Now Is More Same-Sex Figure Skating Pairs, Am I Right Ladies

Two major retired Olympic skaters want to change the game and open up the field to more same-sex figure skating duos. Gabriella Papadakis (who is bisexual) and Madison Hubbell (who is, as far as I can tell, straight) paired up for an Art on Ice Gala in Switzerland, and hope they will just be the first of many. While their intention is mainly to help solve the issue of gender imbalance in the sport — more women than men tend to get into figure skating, making the pairings uneven when limited to m...
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Emilia Pérez Star Karla Sofía Gascón's Unhinged Racist Tweets Have Killed Her Oscar Campaign

Emilia Pérez‘s monumental 13 Oscar nominations were remarkable for a lot of reasons, including Karla Sofía Gascón’s Best Actress nod, which made her the first out trans performer nominated for an Oscar. (Elliot Page was nominated in 2007, but was not yet out.) It was a major milestone in Oscars history, even as the film itself has divided critics and offended the communities it aims to represent. When asked about the backlash from queer and trans critics, including our own, Gascón didn’t mince w...
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However, Elliot Page Is Gonna Make Some Inclusive Canadian TV For Us

Finally some good news during a very dark time for the trans community: Elliot Page’s production company PAGEBOY Productions is partnering with Bell Media to make TV series with CTV and Crave. For those of you who, like me, have always loved the television shows our neighbors to the north make for us (because they LOVE a queer character), you might recognize the Bell Media logo from the credits of such shows as Orphan Black. (I mean, it’s a whole media conglomerate, so I’m sure you’ve seen it pl...
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