Photo: Queer Producers Network
Anna Margarita Albelo is an out Cuban-American writer, actress, and filmmaker who directed and appeared in the 2013 lesbian film Who’s Afraid of Vagina Wolf? In 2020, she was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for her work as a producer on Wild Nights with Emily, a queer comedy about Emily Dickinson. In addition to being a filmmaker, Albelo also co-founded Wynwood Pride, a non-profit organization and pride festival in Miami, Florida.
Photo: Instagram
Many people are still pretty devastated over Netflix’s cancellation of One Day at a Time, and much of that has to do with the work of queer Latinx writer Michelle Badillo, who brought so much heart to this feminist mother-daughter comedy series. Aside from One Day at a Time, Badillo has also written for Fox’s The Great North and Freeform’s The Bold Type and appeared in two episodes of Vida. Previously, Badillo also wrote and directed the short film Ladies Room, which premiered at OutFest in 2016.
Photo: Sahar Nicolette
River Gallo is a GLAAD-award winning Salvadoran- American filmmaker, actor, writer, model, and intersex activist from New Jersey. In 2019, they wrote, co-directed, and starred in Ponyboi, a short film about an intersex runaway sex worker that premiered at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival, and is the first film to feature an openly intersex actor in an intersex role. They are currently working to develop Ponyboi into a feature film.
Photo: IndieWire
Aurora Guerrero is a queer Mexican-America activist and filmmaker who wrote and directed the coming- of-age lesbian film Mosquito y Mari in 2012. More recently, Guerrero directed two episodes of Netflix’s Gentefied, a television show about three Mexican- American cousins, one of whom is queer, that work to save their grandfather’s taco shop from gentrification in Los Angeles.
Photo: Jackson Davis
Tanya Saracho is a queer Mexican-American screenwriter and producer who served as the showrunner of Vida, which follows two Mexican- American sisters as they deal with the death of their mother and open a gay bar. Earlier this summer, it was announced that Saracho will make her movie directorial debut with the production of her 2014 off- Broadway play, Mala Hierba.
Photo: Twitter
Annie Segarra, who also goes by Annie Elainey, is a disabled, queer, and Latinx YouTuber who creates videos centered on body image, gender, race, sexuality, disability, chronic illness, and mental health. Segarra first became popular in 2010, when she created the popular Tumblr account, Stop Hating Your Body. In 2017, Segarra created a T-shirt with the words “The Future Is Accessible” to call attention to the lack of accessibility at the Women’s March.
Photo: Mark Boster
If you’ve rewatched The L Word you might recognize the name Rose Troche, who directed twelve episodes of the show. This award-winning Puerto Rican writer, director, and producer is also famous for her GLAAD-award winning film Go Fish, which made waves in 1994. Since then, Troche has been busy directing other LGBTQ-inclusive shows, including Vida, Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist, and Black Lightning.
For more on queer Latinx representation in movies and television, check out Netflix’s four-part digital documentary Visions of Us, which is now streaming on YouTube.
