Lotte Jeffs

Lotte Jeffs (she/they) has built a multifaceted career as an award-winning journalist, author, and cultural advocate. Former Acting Editor-in-Chief of ELLE UK, Jeffs has written for The Guardian, The Times, and The Telegraph, producing acclaimed celebrity profiles and essays on queer identity, modern parenting, and gender. Their books include How to Be a Gentlewoman (2019), My Magic Family (2020), The Queer Parent (2022, with Stu Oakley), and the debut novel This Love (2024), each expanding representation in literature across audiences from children to adults. Jeffs also co-hosted the award-winning podcast Some Families and launched From Gay to Ze, further cementing their role as a leading voice in LGBTQ+ culture. Based in London with their wife and daughter, Jeffs continues to challenge narrow narratives, offering stories that celebrate inclusivity, resilience, and the diversity of modern family life.

Lotte Jeffs: Author, Journalist, and Advocate Redefining Queer Storytelling and Family Representation

Lotte Jeffs (she/they) has built a career at the intersection of literature, journalism, and cultural advocacy, establishing themself as one of the UK’s most prominent voices on identity, queerness, and modern family life. A former deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief at ELLE UK, Jeffs earned industry recognition for shaping the magazine’s editorial vision during a period of significant change in women’s media. Their journalism, which has appeared in outlets such as The Guardian, The Times, and The Sunday Times Style, is noted for its incisive blend of personal reflection and cultural critique, often addressing subjects ranging from gender and sexuality to parenting and authenticity in public life.

Jeffs is also an accomplished author. Their memoir How To Be a Gentlewoman (2019) combined wit, candor, and social commentary in a guide to navigating modern womanhood beyond stereotypes, winning praise for its honesty and accessibility. In 2022, they published My Magic Family, a children’s picture book that centers queer parenting and family diversity, breaking new ground in a genre often dominated by heteronormative narratives. This dual commitment—to adult nonfiction and children’s literature—reflects Jeffs’s broader mission to create inclusive stories across audiences and age groups.

Beyond writing, Jeffs has worked as a creative consultant and podcast host, co-presenting the award-winning parenting podcast Some Families, one of the first UK-based shows to foreground LGBTQ+ parenting experiences. Through this platform, they have amplified conversations about adoption, co-parenting, surrogacy, and visibility in ways rarely addressed in mainstream media.

What defines Jeffs’s career is not only the breadth of their output but the consistency of their advocacy. Whether in print, on stage, or through broadcast media, they continue to challenge limiting narratives about gender and family, offering alternatives rooted in empathy, inclusivity, and authenticity. This combination of editorial authority, literary craft, and cultural commitment secures Jeffs’s place as a significant figure in contemporary storytelling and public discourse.

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Career and Literary Contributions

Lotte Jeffs’s professional life has been defined by a commitment to telling stories that broaden cultural understanding while challenging received ideas of gender and family. During their tenure as Acting Editor-in-Chief and Deputy Editor of ELLE UK, Jeffs steered the magazine toward sharper cultural relevance, commissioning work that brought issues of identity, inclusivity, and social change into the mainstream fashion press. This editorial vision helped shift the publication’s role beyond style coverage, positioning it as a platform that engaged seriously with contemporary debates. Their bylines in The Times, The Guardian, and The Telegraph further extended their reach, ranging from high-profile celebrity profiles to essays on queer identity and selfhood.

In 2019, Jeffs moved decisively into literary authorship with How to Be a Gentlewoman: The Art of Soft Power in Hard Times. More than a lifestyle guide, the book reimagined etiquette for a new era, blending memoir with cultural commentary. Written through a queer, feminist perspective, it proposed authenticity and resilience as forms of empowerment in contrast to conventional notions of femininity. Critics praised the book for its wit, insight, and originality, noting its refusal to conform to prescriptive self-help formulas.

Jeffs then turned toward family-centered literature, publishing My Magic Family in 2020, a children’s book that celebrates the diversity of modern households. Inspired by her own experiences as a queer parent, the book challenged the heteronormative dominance of children’s publishing, providing representation for families long absent from picture books. This commitment to visibility continued with The Queer Parent (2022), co-written with Stu Oakley. Combining firsthand accounts, practical guidance, and social analysis, the book became a vital resource for LGBTQ+ families navigating parenthood, adoption, and fertility, reinforcing Jeffs’s role as both storyteller and advocate in reshaping cultural narratives around family.

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Books

Lotte Jeffs’s body of work reflects a commitment to telling stories that challenge convention while expanding the boundaries of representation across genres. Their first book, How to Be a Gentlewoman: The Art of Soft Power in Hard Times (2019), combined memoir with cultural commentary to reimagine modern etiquette. Written with humor and candor, it encouraged readers to embrace authenticity and resilience over outdated ideals of femininity, earning praise for its fresh, queer-informed perspective on personal empowerment.

In 2020, Jeffs turned toward children’s literature with My Magic Family, a picture book inspired by their own parenting journey. The book presented family structures often absent from mainstream publishing, celebrating diversity in a way that allowed children from LGBTQ+ households to see their lives reflected on the page. Its warmth and accessibility positioned it as a meaningful contribution to inclusive storytelling for young readers.

Two years later, Jeffs co-authored The Queer Parent: Everything You Need to Know From Gay to Ze (2022) with Stu Oakley. Drawing on lived experience as well as interviews with LGBTQ+ parents, the book offered practical guidance on everything from adoption and surrogacy to navigating societal prejudice. Both resource and manifesto, it became an essential text for queer families seeking representation and support.

In 2024, Jeffs released their debut novel, This Love. Spanning a decade in the lives of two friends, the novel explored queer friendship, intimacy, and chosen family, weaving a portrait of connection that challenged traditional narratives of romance. With this move into fiction, Jeffs expanded their literary reach, demonstrating the same commitment to authenticity and inclusivity that has defined their career across journalism, nonfiction, and children’s literature.

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Articles and Journalism

Lotte Jeffs has built a distinguished career in journalism, producing work that ranges from high-profile celebrity profiles to deeply personal essays and cultural criticism. As a senior editor and later Acting Editor-in-Chief at ELLE UK, Jeffs commissioned and wrote features that pushed the magazine beyond fashion, making space for conversations about gender, sexuality, and contemporary identity. Their writing has since appeared in major publications including The Times, The Guardian, and The Telegraph, each piece marked by a blend of insight, wit, and narrative flair.

Among their most notable work are in-depth interviews with figures such as Kristen Stewart and Dan Levy, where Jeffs combined access to global stars with a sensitivity to how celebrity culture intersects with queerness and self-expression. Alongside these profiles, they have published essays that draw on personal experience to address broader cultural issues, including explorations of queer identity, the realities of same-sex parenting, and the complexities of navigating authenticity in a media-saturated world.

What defines Jeffs’s journalism is a consistent ability to merge cultural analysis with storytelling. Whether writing about public figures or reflecting on their own life, their pieces capture the shifting dynamics of modern identity and family, earning Jeffs recognition as a journalist who can both interpret and influence contemporary conversations.

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Media Presence and Podcasts

In addition to their work in print and publishing, Lotte Jeffs has cultivated a strong presence in broadcast media, using podcasts as a platform to amplify stories often sidelined in mainstream conversations. As co-host of Some Families with Stu Oakley, Jeffs helped create one of the UK’s first major podcasts dedicated to LGBTQ+ parenting. The show, which went on to win awards and build a wide listener base, featured candid interviews with queer parents navigating adoption, surrogacy, co-parenting, and blended families. Jeffs balanced humor and warmth with a willingness to confront social stigma, making the series both a resource and a celebration of queer family life.

Building on the success of Some Families, Jeffs launched From Gay to Ze, a podcast that broadened their focus to the wider spectrum of LGBTQ+ culture and identity. Each episode delves into representation in media, lived experiences within the queer community, and the ongoing challenges of visibility. Through thoughtful yet accessible conversations, Jeffs established themself as a cultural commentator who could bridge advocacy with entertainment, deepening their role as a storyteller committed to inclusive narratives across multiple platforms.

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Personal Life

Lotte Jeffs lives in London with their wife, their young daughter, and two cats that frequently feature in their social media presence. Parenthood has been both a personal joy and a creative influence, shaping much of Jeffs’s writing on queer family life and the importance of visibility for LGBTQ+ parents and children.

Outside of publishing and consulting, Jeffs is an active presence at literary festivals, book events, and LGBTQ+ forums, where they speak on topics ranging from representation in children’s literature to the evolving narratives of queer identity in mainstream media. These appearances reflect a commitment to advocacy that runs parallel to their creative output, reinforcing their role as both cultural commentator and community figure.

Across journalism, books, podcasts, and public engagement, Jeffs has built a career defined by range and purpose. Their work consistently challenges limited definitions of gender and family, offering instead narratives rooted in inclusivity, resilience, and authenticity. This combination of personal commitment and professional achievement has made Jeffs a transformative voice in contemporary storytelling.