AfterEllen is an American culture website founded in 2002,[2] with a focus on entertainment, interviews, reviews, and news of interest to the lesbian and bisexual women's community.

[4] AfterEllen is not affiliated with entertainer Ellen DeGeneres, although its name refers to her coming out, specifically when her character came out in "The Puppy Episode" (1997) on her eponymous sitcom.

[citation needed] In March 2008, AfterEllen was named one of "the world's 50 most powerful blogs" by British newspaper The Guardian for its "irreverent look at how the lesbian community is represented in the media.

[24][25] In November 2014, TotallyHer Media announced the launch of The Lphabet, an original AfterEllen online comedy series that would "demystify terms from the lesbian and bi community".

[28] In September 2016, Trish Bendix announced her departure on her personal Tumblr blog and stated that AfterEllen was shutting down, with only its archive to be kept live.

[32][33] Bendix told The Advocate, "I share the feelings of the community at large that contributing to a site that is run by a cisgender, heterosexual male is not what we are looking for in a virtual home".

[34] Emrah Kovacoglu, General Manager of TotallyHer Media, explained that a drawback was triggered by the lack of "increased audience" and "enough advertiser support to justify continuing to invest at the same levels".

"[50] In March 2019, AfterEllen was bought by Lesbian Nation, a multimedia company owned by Memoree Joelle and business partner Gaye Chapman.

[55] In November 2020, the website experienced technical difficulties and was inaccessible for a week, prompting Out to publish a hostile article speculating about AfterEllen's demise.

[56] Gaye Chapman, co-founder and chief executive officer of Lesbian Nation LLC, issued a rebuke through her Twitter account and announced that the site would "be back soon".

Chapman also announced that effective June 30, 2023, "new, paid content" was being suspended as a cost-cutting measure necessitated by the site's current financial situation.