Riese Bernard


Marie Lyn Bernard, known professionally as Riese Bernard, is an American writer and digital media executive. She is best known as the CEO and co-founder of the lesbian and queer women's interest website Autostraddle. Bernard received a 2017 GLAAD Media Award nomination for her article, “105 Trans Women On American TV: A History and Analysis”.

Early life and education

Bernard was born and raised in Michigan. Her father, Victor L. Bernard, a scholar, researcher and professor in the field of financial statement analysis, died of a heart attack when she was 14 years old and her mother came out to her as gay shortly after her father's death. She graduated from Interlochen Arts Academy in 1999 with a major in Creative Writing. After graduating from University of Michigan with a bachelor's degree in English in 2003, she moved to New York City to pursue a career in writing.

Career

In 2007, Bernard created The Road Best Straddled, a spin-off of her personal blog This Girl Called Automatic Win, to recap The L Word, then in its fourth season. This led to collaborations with The L Word Online and Showtime and her blogs gained sizeable followings. She also interned at the now-defunct website Nerve and worked for the Donald Maass Literary Agency.
She has also published in Marie Claire, Curve, GO, Queerty, Bitch, Jezebel and Emily Books. In 2018, Bernard's profile of Hayley Kiyoko was the cover story for Nylon's first-ever Pride Issue. Her article “105 Trans Women On American TV: A History and Analysis” was nominated for a 2017 GLAAD Media Award.

Autostraddle

At the end of the final season of The L Word in 2009, she created Autostraddle.com with her then-girlfriend Alex Vega, with the intention of creating a digital website focused on gay women. Bernard stated she was inspired to create the website because nothing else like it existed at the time. The website received a GLAAD Media Award in 2015 and receives 4 million unique page views per month. In 2012, she created A-Camp, an annual 5-day "curated conference/camp/retreat combo" for queer women and trans people, located in Ojai, California.

Personal life

Bernard first began to identify as a bisexual, and then as a lesbian, in her twenties. Bernard is Jewish.

Accolades