Valerie Anne

Entertainment Journalism

I've written for Autostraddle for almost nine 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.

Autostraddle •

The Mighty Nein’s Lesbian Monk Is Just One Reason To Watch

The Mighty Nein weaves the tale of a group of strangers thrust together by circumstance; a chance meeting at crossed pathways that changes the course of all of their lives forever. It is a dark tale, full of traumatic backstories and dangerous dealings, but it’s also one of friendship, of found family, and of breaking free of the things in your past that are holding you back. Critical Role‘s latest animated series has some things in common with their first, The Legend of Vox Machina: similar ani...
Autostraddle •

Ring the Alarm: A Firefighter Lesbian Christmas Movie Is Coming

Sound the alarm and break out the hoses — we’re getting a gay firefighter holiday movie! Just last week in this very Pop Culture Fix column, I bemoaned the fact that there weren’t a lot of new queer holiday movies when I told you about the queer character that would be in the otherwise-pretty-straight-looking Oh. What. Fun. I thought the Ali Liebert/Kat Barrell Hallmark movie was going to be the only one we got this season, but I am delighted to report that I was wrong. Kyana Teresa shared the p...
Autostraddle •

'Hazbin Hotel' Delivers a Sexy Sapphic Duet for Charlie and Vaggie

Hazbin Hotel‘s season two keeps delivering, especially musical, and this week is no exception with the thing we’ve all been waiting for: a sexy sapphic duet between Charlie and Vaggie! Erika Henningsen and Stephanie Beatriz teased us about it on a red carpet with some hilarious hand motions, and the day has finally arrived. Of course, this isn’t the first duet between the two of them — they had a very lovely moment in season one during the “More Than Anything” reprise where they reminded us just...
Autostraddle •

Chloë Grace Moretz Has Herself a Vegan Girlfriend in New Christmas Movie

It looks like we have a new LGBTQ+ character to add to the very short list of Christmas movie queers this year! In the trailer for the upcoming family comedy Oh. What. Fun., we learn a lot about the “Clauster” family. Claire (Michelle Pfeiffer) is an overworked and underappreciated mother and grandmother trying to get ready for the holiday season. In the trailer, we see Chloë Grace Moretz’s character, Taylor, announce that her girlfriend is vegan, something she could have told her mother before...
Autostraddle •

Yes, Zohran Mamdani Popped Up at Gay Bars and Parties Over Halloweekend

feature image photo by VIEW press / Contributor via Getty Images It seems the entire country is watching the NYC mayoral election, and everyone on MY side of the internet seems to be rooting for Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic candidate and the only one on the ballot who appears to care about actual New Yorkers and who takes debates seriously and speaks to issues instead of spending the entire time bashing other candidates for things like *checks notes* having an affordable rent and calling some...
Autostraddle •

Sophia Bush Is Back To Gay Up 'Grey's Anatomy' Season 22

When Sophia Bush swooped into last week’s episode of Grey’s Anatomy and the episode ended with Teddy giving Dr. Cass Beckman a smooch, I worried it was a fluke. A one-time thing Teddy would regret and back away from, a cliffhanger to tease us. After all, they’ve been dispatching queer characters left and right lately — Helm seemed to have vanished into the parking lot of no return, Beltran died in Jules’ arms, Amelia went on sabbatical — so I thought poor Teddy would be trapped in her marriage t...
Autostraddle •

Charlie and Vaggie Are Harmonizing in 'Hazbin Hotel' Season 2

Hazbin Hotel is back with its stunning animation, amazing music, killer voice acting, and of course, our favorite merry band of misfits, including but not limited to hell’s favorite girlfriends, Charlie and Vaggie. Two episodes of the second season have dropped so far, and they gleefully lead you into what will be one hell of a season (no pun intended). The stakes are higher than ever for Charlie and her gang to prove to sinners that redemption is possible, all while heaven reckons with the fact...
Autostraddle •

Some Good News To Start Your Week: Chappell Roan Started a Fund for Queer and Trans Youth

Looking for some GOOD news this week? Chappell Roan has started a fund for trans youth and LGBTQ+ communities called the Midwest Princess Project. She took to Instagram, saying the project already raised over $400k at her pop-up shows, and that they are committed to donating every dollar possible to organizations who need it most. So far, according to the official website, those organizations include two LGBTQ+ centers in NYC, two trans centers in LA, and two LGBTQ+ centers in her home state of...
Autostraddle •

'Gen V' Episode 208 Recap: How it Ends for Marie and Friends

This recap will contain spoilers for Prime Video’s Gen V, Season 2, Episode 8: Trojan. Hello and WELCOME to the final Gen V recap of the season, where tensions and stakes are high for our intrepid heroes. I thought this was a pretty solid finale, but I’ll get into my overall thoughts on the episode and the season at the end. Until then, let’s crack on into the episode! Previously on Gen V, Marie & Co. learned about the Odessa Project which involved trying to make super-supe babies, the only succ...
Autostraddle •

Reneé Rapp Is Giving the Gays Everything They Want (Jennifer Beals)

Reneé Rapp’s Bite Me tour has been taking the internet by storm, whether it’s because people are losing their minds about her insane vocals (valid), roasting her outfits (less valid, but to each their own), or getting hype for the special guests that pop up at her shows. And this weekend was no exception. Now, for the uninitiated, Reneé Rapp has a song on her new album called “At Least I’m Hot,” during which her real-life girlfriend Towa Bird has an exchange with her where she asks how Reneé is...
Autostraddle •

Aubrey Plaza Should Guest Star in 'The Hunting Wives' Season 2

In case you have somehow missed it, I’m here to make sure you’ve seen this: Aubrey Plaza joined Amy Poehler for an SNL sketch about The Hunting Wives, and it’s very horny and hilarious. The sketch is a fake trailer for the upcoming second season of the show. In it, they gently mock the wigs, the copious amount of drinking, the insane storylines, and how all the women are all over each other at all times. It amps up the touching and the canoodling and plays into how easily peer pressured Brittany...
Autostraddle •

'Gen V' Episode 207 Recap: The Truth About Cipher

This recap will contain spoilers for Prime”s Gen V Season 2, Episode 7, “Hell Week.” Hello and welcome to this recap of the penultimate episode of Gen V Season 2! I know it’s partially because the first three episodes dropped at once, but this season flew by. It could also be because I’m enjoying it so much. There is hardly time to catch your breath, each episode action-packed and rocketing toward what is sure to be an explosive end. Let’s jump in, shall we? Previously on Gen V, Cipher was takin...
Autostraddle •

'Gen V' Episode 206 Recap: What's the Plan, Stan?

This recap will contain spoilers for Gen V Season 2 Episode 6, “Cooking Lessons.” Welcome back! This week, some theories were confirmed, others were spawned, and emotions were high. So let’s dive into it. Previously on Gen V, Cate’s powers were glitchy, Cipher was trying to push Marie to be the best blood bender she can be, Marie, Jordan, and Emma tried to break Cate out of Elmira but ended up getting caught again themselves, and Marie’s sister Annabeth died BUT Marie used her powers to bring he...
Autostraddle •

Are You Ready for the Return of Grey's Anatomy?

feature image photo by Disney/Anne Marie Fox Grey’s Anatomy returns to us soon, and we’ll finally know how many of our queer beloveds survived the explosion that rocked Seattle Grace Mercy West Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital for the Disaster Prone at the end of Season 21. When we last left the hospital of chaos, Piper Perabo’s character went Coyote Ugly and forced bisexual badass Amelia Shepherd (Caterina Scorsone) to perform brain surgery on her sick daughter, and then accidentally set off an exp...
Autostraddle •

'Gen V' Episode 205 Recap: Sister, Sister

This recap will have spoilers for Prime Video’s Gen V Season 2 Episode 5, “The Kids Are Not All Right.” Welcome to another recap of Gen V, a show that has me holding my breath at every turn because goodness knows they are not afraid to kill anyone at any moment in the most horrific ways possible. This episode officially pushes us past the halfway point in the season so let’s waste no time and jump right into it. Previously on Gen V, Cate and Jordan found out that Cipher was keeping a man in a hy...
Autostraddle •

Leisha Hailey and Kate Moennig Are Back at Dinah Shore

Twenty-one years after the Dinah Shore episode of The L Word aired, stars Leisha Hailey and Kate Moennig are on The Dinah’s red carpet and answering questions about the queer community. They say that while it’s easy to worry about “aging out” of relevance after being successful, they’re grateful and find it such a compliment that they’re still able to be part of the community by way of their podcast, PANTS, and their book So Gay for You: Friendship, Found Family, and the Show That Started It All...
Autostraddle •

'Gen V' Episode 204 Recap: Lovers and Fighters

This recap will contain spoilers for Prime Video’s Gen V, Season 2 Episode 4, “Bags”. Hello and welcome back to our Gen V recaps, where I’m here to break down all the supe-r happenings on the GodU campus. Previously on Gen V: Emma found herself a little group of Starlighter buddies in Harper and Ally; Jordan blasted Cate into a wall, which crushed part of her skull and put her powers on the fritz; Starlight told Marie to look into Project Odessa, which turned out to be related to her own birth...
Autostraddle •

Chappell Roan Forgot About Her Butt

feature image photo by Joseph Okpako / Contributor via Getty Images A lot of fun news came out of this weekend that has to do with lesbian icon Chappell Roan. First up, Chappell Roan officially kicked off her latest tour, called the “Visions of Damsels & Other Dangerous Things” tour in New York City. At one of the shows, before doing a cover of “Barracuda”, as she’s been doing at her shows for quite a while ago, she did something she hasn’t done yet. She brought out Heart’s Nancy Wilson to perfo...
Autostraddle •

'Gen V' Returns With Queer Kisses, New Mysteries, and Utter Chaos

This recap will have spoilers for Gen V Season 2, including episodes 201 (“New Year, New U”), 202 (“Justice Never Forgets”), and 203 (“H is for Human”), Prime’s spinoff of The Boys. School is OFFICIALLY back in session and Gen V Season 2 is off to a dramatic and gay start. I’m going to be recapping this season for you here on Autostraddle dot com, where we can break down all the queer shenanigans our favorite young adult supes get up to. This one will be a little more condensed because we’re cov...
Autostraddle •

Here’s What Was Good and Gay About the 2025 Emmy Awards

feature image photo by Gilbert Flores / Contributor via Getty Images The 2025 Emmy Awards were last night, and so let’s talk about all the gay goings-on! First up, some winners I think you’ll all appreciate. While queer faves like The Last of Us and Ayo Edebiri may not have taken home any awards, there were some winners to celebrate. Like bisexual comedian Hannah Einbinder winning for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series and using her acceptance speech to say “Go Birds, fuck ICE, and free...
Load More Articles