Marie “Riese” Lyn Bernard
Marie “Riese” Lyn Bernard founded Autostraddle.com in March 2009 after a long stint as a solo blogger. Bernard’s writing has appeared in several books, in magazines like Curve and Marie Claire and on websites including Nerve.com and Suspectthoughts.com. In just one year, Autostraddle has become a premier website for lesbians, winning a 2009 Lezzy award for New Lesbian Blog from thelesbianlifestyle.com. Bernard hopes Autostraddle will bring more queer women together offline as well. “There are lots of lesbos out there who like books, hot girls, bad television, social activism and group therapy,” she laughs. “We provide all of those in one website! Our goal is to create web 3.0, in which the connections we make online either directly translate into real-life friendships, or empower our community online to be a part of their local queer circles.” -CB