Alison Bechdel

American cartoonist, originally best known for the long-running comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For (1983-2008) which is one of the earliest ongoing representations of lesbians in popular culture. Bechdel came to critical and commercial success in 2006 with her graphic memoir Fun Home, which was subsequently adapted as a musical and won a Tony Award for Best Musical in 2015. In 2012, she released her second graphic memoir Are You My Mother? She's a 2014 recipient of the MacArthur "Genius" Award. On 6 April 2017, Bechdel was appointed as Vermont's third Cartoonist Laureate.

She is known for the Bechdel test, a measure of the representation of women in fiction. It asks whether a work features at least two women who talk to each other about something other than a man. The requirement that the two women must be named is sometimes added.

She has two brothers, Bruce "Christian" Bechdel II and John Bechdel, a keyboard player who has worked with many bands including Fear Factory, Ministry, Prong and Killing Joke.

Bechdel came out as a lesbian at age 19. Her sexuality and gender non-conformity are a large part of the core message of her work.