c o v e r s t o r y
Transgendered Butches and FTM's: a uniquely Femme Perspective
by Sonya Bolus

f e a t u r e s
Transgendered Lesbian
by Arlene Istar Lev
Passing as the Pope - the Story of Joan English
by Alison Phipps

c o l u m n s
Health
by Dr. Lipstick
Wealth
by Ms. Moneygrrl
Sex
by SexySuzi
Advice
by Victoria
Femme Perspective
by DeAnna
Butch Perspective
by E.T. Turner

Publisher's Note
Contribute to Femme

by E. T.

As an older butch who came out in the sixties it has been interesting, enlightening, and sometimes alarming, to see the myriad varieties of the butch gender in the queer world today. In the “old days” butches basically identified as just that, butch. There was rarely any discussion in the butch-femme circles I inhabited of any varieties of butch. Female-to-male transsexuals were rarely heard of and I didn’t know anyone who knew anyone who had ever taken male hormones or had their breasts removed or male sex organs constructed. For the butches of today there are so many choices, almost too many. Soft butch, butch, stonebutch, TG butch, FTM. To transition or not to transition, to pass or not. Constant questioning of who you are and where you fit in. "Am I butch enough?" Is there a butch hierarchy? And you worry about other butches accepting you as you are if you're not just like them. And maybe you think you need to be the kind of butch other butches are, but you're so confused. It IS a struggle to be a butch. To find out who you are, and how you are. To face the rejection of family and friends, and even lovers, if you find that you're a TG butch or FTM, or just simply a butch who has a very masculine identity.

There has been a lot of talk over the past year or two among my circle of online and real-life butch and femme friends about “butch flight”, the increasing number of butches who are choosing to transition, who become FTMs, take hormones, have breast removal and begin living their lives as men. The goal is to “pass” as male. The goal for some butches who id as TG or transgendered is also to pass as male though generally without the use of male hormones and breast surgery.

Why are there more young butches choosing to transition these days? Partly it’s because of the increased availability of male hormones and breast removal surgery which just weren’t readily available to the butches of yesteryear. Maybe there were many butches in earlier decades who felt they would be happier living as males, but the tools to achieve this just weren’t available. Some of the reasons I’ve heard in discussions are that it’s hard to be a very masculine butch in society, to find acceptance, both in the queer community and in the heterosexual community. That it’s difficult to find partners who understand, accept and validate the butch’s masculine identity. That it would be easier to meet women if one were a male, that it would be easier to have the job/career one wants. That they wouldn’t have to wonder which bathroom to use out in public. And for some, that they truly have always felt male, and felt that they were born into the wrong body. That they have struggled with their female body and have never made peace with it. And, that being a butch just isn’t enough for them, they need to be a man.

What I have found alarming is the quickness with which some have reached the decision to transition and then completed it. I have been concerned about a few butches I've known or heard of who went from being straight to being a lesbian to being a butch to being a TG butch to being FTM in a year or two. That seems like an awful lot of changes in a relatively short time. The decision to transition, to make such a radical life-changing and body-changing decision is one which, to my way of thinking, should be a lengthy process. I do believe that FTM is definitely the right decision for some people, especially those who have had a strong male, not just masculine, identity. And for whom butch was the closest identity to who they felt they were. It just didn’t fit for their final identity, they needed more. It was a stopping point in their journey, but not the end of their journey.

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