Usually covered in some type of wood shaving
“My name is Rave Clay, and I am a part of the Butch Community.”
As it stands, I am 23, queer identified and female bodied. I am a woodworker; former hockey player, inked human and these do not begin to scratch the surface. But for reasons other than these, I identify as butch.
There has been some hostility, and some outright hatred expressed within the Butch Community towards trans exposure, and so much more. Younger generation butches have been accused of not knowing the history. Trans butches have been accused to stealing others’ identity. Accusations are being thrown left and right and the community is folding in on itself.
BUTCH Voices is “Pro-Bono”
EW.com – Story and Photo
Holding the broad tent of identities that are a part of the BUTCH Voices community has not always been an easy task, but one that we value highly. Conversations across identity – gender, race, sexuality, ability, class, background, and size – are key components in creating spaces that are not only diverse, but also welcoming, accepting, and conducive to positive change.
This season on Dancing with the Stars, NBC has added Chaz Bono to its lineup – this is the first time a transgender person has been featured on the program. We at BUTCH Voices are near ecstatic. We understand that Chaz being featured will not heal all hurts or solve all problems. Still, we recognize this as step in the direction of positive visibility. We are not alone in this belief.
Robin Tyler (butch elder, comedian and Executive Director of Equality Campaign), along with attorney Gloria Allred, and comedian/activist Belinda Carroll (long-time BUTCH Voices ally and supporter who has hosted fundraisers for BUTCH Voices in Austin in 2009 and Portland in 2011, and participated in the organizing committee for BUTCH Voices Portland in 2010) have taken a stand in support of Chaz. They have established a Facebook page and twitter account encouraging LGBTQ folks and their allies in cities across the country to host viewing parties to show their support of Chaz. Read more
Hundreds attend second national BUTCH Voices conference
This review was written by Nicole Jones.
Appeared originally: Oakland North
…Oakland continues to be a prime location to host the national BUTCH Voices conference. At Thursday night’s opening celebration, Oakland City Councilmember at Large Rebecca Kaplan addressed the conference goers. “As the only butch in the local government,” she said, “I gotta say it is so awesome to be in a room of badass butches and allies.”
Building Bridges Between Masculine of Center Women & Transmen
This article was written by Tehea Robie and appeared originally on OaklandLocal.com
A socio-political conversation with Krys Freeman feels exactly right.
It’s a journey to eternity at the speed of light. In fact, s/he has a timeless, elaborate comprehension of power relations and multiple systems of domination. On blaKtivist, her blog, Freeman writes about everything from solar planes and civil rights, to health reform and HIV. “On Haiti: Dear Journalists, Looting Doesn’t Exist in a Disaster Area” succinctly puts reporters on blast for being “contextually inappropriate.”
Freeman earned a degree in Urban and Environmental Policy at Occidental College. S/he was born and raised in Flushing, Queens, in a three-parent (grandparents and mother) household. Her grandfather and mother passed down an interest in computers. Freeman works her/his tech-savy swag as a web project manager. S/he serves as [Board President and Chief Strategist] for BUTCH Voices and has been published on AOL.com, wiretapmag.com and Sustainable Life Media.
In 2008, Freeman was a media fellow for communities of African descent at GLAAD – Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. Currently, s/he has started developing a social network – The Definition – for masculine of center women, trans men and their allies. The site has links for testosterone self care, how to get compression vests and links that teach people transgender terminology.
To Be Black, Intellectual and Butch
It took me a long time to decide what to say about being a black butch woman. A great deal has already been said, rivers of ink have flowed and countless electrons sent whizzing around the Internet, in the name of defining and illustrating what it is to be butch. However, there’s an image of butchness that is rarely seen or even recognized: what of the butch intellectual? The TV host, Rachel Maddow, is really the first acknowledged butch intellectual I’ve ever seen. Leslie Feinberg, whatever other appellations might crown her in glory, isn’t referred to as an intellectual. Butches are known to be many things, we all carry an image of a butch in all her glory but amongst those images, I’d wager that very few of them are of a woman sitting at a desk eagerly figuring out some arcana of Linux or Apple Script or lying on a couch, some copious tome on evolutionary biology or string theory in her hands. Yet, we do exist. I know we do because I am one.
Inclusive Space for a Cajun, Genderqueer Butch
As someone who continues to explore my gender as a Genderqueer Butch, I continue to look for spaces that are inclusive to all aspects of me. Those spaces have been few and far between for me. I’m Southern born and raised, originally from the suburbs of New Orleans, or N’awlins as we say back home. I grew up a tomboy. I dated boys and later men, and then came out as a lesbian at the age of 22. So many different times over my life trying to fit in with who I thought I should be, instead of who I actually was inside. Often times pushing and pulling with various points of masculinity and femininity in my life, coming to a sense of place, a home within the past few years to where I am today. Coming into Butch hasn’t been something that happened overnight. It also continues to be a struggle and an evolution for me.
I’ve attended and presented at conferences looking to find tribe and build community. I’ve attended transgender conferences and also attended other queer conferences as an ally to others. The spaces I’m hoping to create with Butch Voices are for self identified Butches, Studs, and Aggressives.
The organization and conference are centered in the same vision, to create space to allow for shared personal experiences to mingle with theory, support, and entertainment in an effort to evolve identities beyond just being visual stereotypes.
