The Gallery
Featuring works from our second issue, Renewal!
Spring '23 Contributors
All participants from our Spring '23 issue, Renewal!
@swordinthestonebutch (he/she) is a Mexican-Okinawan/Japanese-Filipino-Vietnamese stone butch lesbian transman.
Contributor
@swordinthestonebutch (he/she)
narcissus (daffodil)
Is a reflection on floral transformation, exploring sobriety and stone lesbianism toward indulging in transmasculinity.
Alex is a latino butch creative who has many pieces that center around butchness and being stone along with the intersection of religion and colonization
Contributor
Alex Rodriguez (he/they)
the dahlia
My femme emulates the beauty of the black dahlia and when I see her all I see is beauty, and when she sees me she sees the same thing, even in a world that views butches as undesirable and ugly.
Alyssa Mei Ungacta Chau is a queer femme indigenous pålao'an (woman) with roots in Taipei, Taiwan and village ties to Kañada, Otdot, Dedidu, yan Malesso on the island of Guåhan. Her work explores ideas of guinaiya (love), belonging, queerness/femme-ness, and the tangled messiness of existing within our own complexities.
Contributor
Alyssa Mei Ungacta Chau
(she/her)
Formations of Spring
This piece is an exploration of spring and all its forms. Its cycles of renewal, love, healing, intimacy, and rebrith. This spring in particular has been a season of creation for me, as I grow into myself and shed what I've grown out of. I recognize that I make love, intimacy, femme form, growth, tenderness, and all the sacred parts of my body.
Belén is a lencha, a dyke and a high femme lesbian. Based in Mexico city studying sociology but born and raised in Veracrúz. She enjoys to draw, dance, listen to music, arts and crafts, think about bella ramsey, and she is interested in all things related to love, community, the body, trauma and relations.
Contributor
Ana Belén Ornelas (ella/they)
Momentos de Stone Butch Blues
I made this in a date with my boyfriend. it was a way for me to process the emotional rollercoster that has been reading stone butch blues for the first time, it actually feels exactly like renewal and spring. When i think of spring i think of flowers growing, rebirth, and life. inevitablly i also think of death, to die and to be born again, i think of pain and sorrow and wounds healing. These are all also what reading stone butch blues was like. I felt alive for the first time and still my heart ached in every page.
in my defense, spring
These pictures are of myself, taken by my boyfriend. I intervened them by making them collage. I was inspired by the poem of Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz, which reminded me of fucking with my boyfriend for the first time as a high femme"So in my defense, when he touched me, the lights of my body came on. In my defense, the windows were thrown open. In my defense, spring."
Femme Lesbian illustrator based in Glasgow, Scotland. My work primarily focuses on themes of Lesbian sexuality or gender. I also love to draw silly comics about my Butch and I :) You can find me as annamacdonaldart on Insta, or bananaanna1 on tumblr <3
Contributor
Anastacia MacDonald (she/her)
Butches on a picnic
I don't have much to say about this piece, I just wanted to draw two butches in love while experimenting with different brush textures :)
Butch gf...<33
Inspired by my love for my gf wearing literally anything , and then going absolutely crazy as soon as her upper arms are visible
Redraw of Gerard's "Psyche Receiving the First Kiss of Cupid"
This was a project from my third year of uni. The brief was to make a modern version of a painting from an “old master”. I initially thought that Gerard’s painting was of two women, so I re-imagined it that way. The lesbian identity has faced a lot of negativity and sexualisation throughout pop culture, so I wanted to represent a romance reflective of my own, to show that lesbian love is worthy of a narrative that is light hearted and realistic.
nice biggies
spring time..."taps aff" weather... boobies and silliness
Anesu is a Femme writing the occasional love poem in their room. This is a beautiful mess of life, they're just happy to still be living it.
Instagram:@anesukmtowa
Twitter: @ulster_afro
Contributor
Anesu Khanya Mtowa (she/they)
you brought the springtime
Spring has become my favourite season (though that might just be the Aries speaking). The earth comes back to life and watching that process brings me so much joy. I wrote this poem while thinking of lavender. I thought about lavender and I couldn't stop thinking about love that flowers after the cold.
angie is a femme lesbian from Canada studying English and creative writing at university. she is a 3x published poet and a defender of butches everywhere.
Contributor
Angie N.
(she/her)
golden hour.
this piece is about quiet summertime butch/femme love. it's about growing into healthy, comfortable routine with your partner and having someone who understands you effortlessly. it's about loving them for the little things they do, and for all their traits, good or bad.
my name is anto, and i'm a femme lesbian from chile. i love writing, all heart shaped things, and the color red (and not because i'm a communist). my writing is heavily influenced by the landscapes of the place i live in, and also by vivid imagery and queer analogies. i like to write as if you were watching a film, so that you can imagine the scenery in your mind however you'd like. i also write with a lot of nostalgia in my mind. other hobbies include: films, cooking, cats, and lesbianism. my twitter account is: @leninistfemme, poetry instagram account: @poetisadeloslagos
Contributor
Anto
(they/she)
Solsticio de Invierno
this piece is about being reborn when finding your identity. i explore that through the lense of femmebutch relationships, but also about me finding myself in being a femme. the imagery is all of native flora found in chile. in contrast to monoculture, native flora is diverse, unique, and natural, just like femmebutch relationships, and to me it represents fully the beauty of a land —or an identity, in this case—. i also wrote this piece originally in spanish, since it's my mothers tongue, because i wanted to show that femme and butch dynamics are not only found in the imperial core, as they replicate themselves in the entire world..
Ardith is a queer, non-binary, Jamaican and Canadian writer and editor from amiskwacîwâskahikan (Edmonton, Canada). You can follow them on Instagram @ard.ith
Contributor
Ardith Wilson
(They/she)
Shave The Grass
Growing up I was praised for my long, chemically straightened, hair and I was not allowed to cut it short. I always yearned for short hair, and when I cut it all off a huge weight was lifted. In many pre-christian cultures it was customary to shave pubic hair after birth. I saw this removal of hair as a renewal, a rebirth. Sometimes I imagine my mind as a garden. It takes contant management–weeding, pruning, buckets and buckets of water–to ensure your plants thrive. In the garden of my mind shaving the grass, cutting my hair, was something I had been putting off for years. It was one of the vast vestiges of my femininity I wanted to get rid of. Once it was taken care of, shaving my hair became a part of my self care regimen. It makes me look more like myself. I think living authentically is infectious and gives others the permission to express themselves.
Aub is a Graphic Designer and Illustrator based in Salt Lake City UT. They enjoy working with independent zines designing editorial pieces and creating merchandise designs for bands. This is the first time they have submitted anything of their own to be in a zine! Very exciting.
When they aren't designing, you can find them watching reality tv with their girlfriend, cuddling their cat, or taking care of their many plants.
Follow them on instagram at @baddesignerr or @aubreycalapp.
Contributor
aub calapp
(they/them)
Buzzcut Baby
I love journaling, writing notes, and drying flowers. Combining those forms of preservation for the love I have for myself and the love I have for my partner, with the non-committal feeling I get when using a disposable film camera, made for the perfect way to express both how I feel about my butchness and how my partner helps uplift and support my self expression. They are the fucking best. I am so damn lucky. She is also the most beautiful being to ever walk this earth, so how can I not make a whole photo spread expressing our love and the gratitude I have for my femme??
Being butch was not always easy for me, I was often scared before I had the words to explain who I was. Now that I do, I love to share that experience with others and interact with my community. My Twitter handle is @bigstrongbutch
Contributor
August Alexander
(They/he)
Butch Joy
Butch joy is about my experience coming into the butch label. The things that helped shape me, the opinions I hold on what the butch label means to me, and how I felt pre-butch.
Bailey is just a working class butch lesbian who loves to write in his free time.
Contributor
Bailey & Valentine (He/him) (They/them)
Butch Lonnie and the Bar
Butch Lonnie is about the small moments in a young butch's life.
Teddy (@bearybutch) is a butch hobby artist who loves to express butch/femme dynamics through the lens of reimagining media couples or drawing himself and his fiancé. Romance, devotion, and self-love are the central themes they draw upon.
Contributor
bearybutch
(he/they)
Private Picnic
This is a secluded moment between a bug-loving femme and her floral butch on a date. I love the idea that femmes are often delightfully quirky and interested in specific, detailed subjects, and usually there's a butch tailing them hanging off their every word. I wanted to capture that moment of a butch feeling their love renewed all over again as they listen to their femme.
Bee (he/they) is a latino butch lesbian that works in many different mediums, with an interest in printmaking. They co-write The Anthill Zine with their femme; the zine can be accessed online at anthillmuseum.wordpress.com.
studiouslyconvalescing@gmail.com
Contributor
Bee
(he/they)
Ofelia
This piece, a traditional linocut, was inspired by TMG's "Broom People", depicting themes of intimacy, devotion, and longing.
Sett Buenaventura (they/she) is a pseudonym of “Sofia,” a 23-year-old baby butch non-binary lesbian residing in Metro Manila, Philippines. They only “came out” during the pandemic, and then butch after college graduation. They have previously locally published literary pieces regarding Filipina political prisoners’ rights, activism, mental health, and fights against corruption. These are written in a mix of Filipino and English.
Sett also likes the color pink, Hello Kitty, magical girl anime,and Loona. Additionally, to no one’s surprise, she’s also a huge “Billie and Emma” enthusiast. They also aim to promote Philippine sapphic writing, as there is an obvious lack of it. She currently works as a researcher and writer. If anyone’s curious, Sett is a Scorpio sun, Taurus moon, Gemini rising and Virgo venus. Hit them up on Twitter @lesbianymous, where she posts about her current favorite media!
Contributor
Bernice Navarro (they/she)
Braiding hair, swapping clothes, illicit underwear
This piece was about my first time experiencing what a lesbian friendship felt like, much more between a non-binary butch (me) and a trans woman femme (my friend). This piece also goes out to my butch and femme friends, whom I will always love dearly. We find ways, everyday, to live our truth. I love every single one of you. I am happy I continue to exist because of you. Special mention to my masculine-of-center, gender non-conforming, androgynous or trans sapphic peers. I see you, you see me. Our experiences may be different, and I move in a world far different from yours, but I'm here because of you all
Bianca is a Puerto Rican, disabled, communist, lesbian who loves to complain and yell. He struggles with his personal identities, and tries to achieve a deeper understanding of himself through poetry. He hopes to one day be himself and happy with his partner and their cat, Momo, who he loves very much. You can follow him @biancaxblue on instagram.
Contributor
Bianca Valle (he/they)
right.
I hope others with religious moms who call them gross for not shaving relate to this one :)
Castle Pascasio is a Filipino femme lesbian. Ve likes to write poems about all sorts of life experiences. Ve also occasionally posts vir art and writing to @stelrush on Twitter.
Contributor
Castle Pascasio
(ve/vir/virs)
to love a butch is to love the working class
This poem is a love letter to the Philippine National Democratic movement through the lens of a butchfemme activist couple. It talks about how revolution arises from the farms/countrysides and is brought to the city, how the fight for freedom of lesbians must come with the fight for freedom of the masses, and how revolution is a force of renewal that begins with the self and the people we are surrounded with.
%20-%20Rachael%20Sharp.png)
My name is Biz and I'm a soft butch dating a wonderful femme. You can find me @bizzybeewrites on twitter, or in the forest on a warm spring day.
Contributor
bizzybee (they/it)
beauty.
I wrote this for my wonderful girlfriend, who I love very much. With her, every day feels like a new life.
I’m Chase, a proud midwesterner and transbutch(for both) dyke illustrator whose work focuses on butchfemme culture and relationships and hopes to provide some of the representation I needed growing up. I love learning about Queer history, all things art and fantasy, collecting graphic novels, and overusing emdashes. I’m currently in school studying graphic design and hope to go into graphic novels and children’s illustration.
Contributor
Chase (she/he)
summer sweetness
I made this piece near the end of last summer, after finally embracing my butch identity. I found the online butchfemme community earlier that year, largely due to Lottie's videos defending butches. I found so much love and healing through learning more about butchfemme culture, but still felt something was missing. I only ever saw fem4fem lesbian representation and the rare, occasional butchfemme piece, but never any butch4butch. I made this piece as a love letter to butches, as well as something to try to represent my community. TLDR: I love being butch, I love butches, and we need more butch art.
Charlie Stetson is an internationally published poet studying English, Gender Studies, and Film at UCLA. She is a transmasculine butch dyke from Oakland, California working to become a high school English teacher, and makes poetry for women and lesbians everywhere to write about what makes them free.
Contributor
Charlie Stetson
(She/he/they)
Black Swan
This piece is about the struggle of finding my transmasculinity, and figuring out how much butch lesbian identity intersects with my transgender one. This piece follows my journey of repression and denial, anger, depression, and finally a hopeful acceptance amid the fear and judgement of society. This piece means to detail the life of the "Black Swan" who fails at womanhood, gender, presentation, and even sexuality and takes these tumultous feelings inside. But while the Black Swan is not an ugly duckling, she finds beauty and hope in her journey
Coco (they/them) is a potter, folksinger, fisherman, historian, and rabble-rousing butch lesbian from Cape Cod. They enjoy bugs, Star Trek, sea shanties, and long walks in the mud.
Website: www.coco-clay.com
Instagram: @coco_clay_
Contributor
Coco Raymond
(they/them)
Wild Mountain Thyme
Wild Mountain Thyme is a love letter to the rich and vibrant joy that is rural butch culture and rural butch4butch love. We are as deeply rooted as our thick grasses, as vast and wild as our seas, and as powerful and immovable as our mountains. Always, our summer comes, and we bloom for each other.
Cindi is a screenwriter/fiction writer from Las Vegas, Nevada. As of writing this she is graduating with a degree in Film from UNLV in May 2023. She has written several completed short films, several uncompleted feature-length screenplays, and several semi-completed chapters of her unfinished novel (respectfully, writing is hard y'all). Her most recent writing work is the short horror-comedy-satire film "The Awesomely Gruesome Murder of Sara Mackenzie (Not Clickbait!!)" , where she also starred as "Bria." As well as writing she enjoys musical theater, painting, reading books, and photography. She is a slave to the free version of FadeIn on her laptop, has a love/hate relationship with the French language (mostly hate, it's very toxic), and thinks that all media would be drastically improved if you just added dykes. <3 Her art/book insta is @cassius_lee_
Contributor
Cindi Redus (she/they)
Shooting Practice
In a friend's short film I once played a cowboy and I've been mildly obsessed with them ever since. "Shooting Practice" was originally going to be a short film but I quickly realized that it belonged in a different format. This was written for a creative writing class I was in (and absolutely loved) with some adjustments added after the fact. This is also my official delve into the historical and romance genre as opposed to my usual comedy/drama/horror.
Dani Cordero is a writer and illustrator from Costa Rica.
IG: @authordani // TWITTER: @idkwhosdani
Contributor
Dani Cordero
(she/they)
through our love we will be sanctified
Growing up, I was told there would only be perdition in the kind of love I craved. I was told a heterosexual marriage was the only way to be a saint. At eighteen, I was ready to join a convent, knowing no other escape from my God-given desires. Through much hardship, I have come to know something different. This piece is a reclaimation of both my relationship with God and my relationship with butchfemme lesbianism. Love, camraderie, community, companionship: that is how we are sanctified.
Im a femme lesbian artist, in couple with a wonderful butch. I post illustrations and paintings on the_flying_snail on instagram and snailillu on tiktok.
Contributor
Constance Perez
(she/her)
How Cal love
This drawing is depicting the dynamic in my butchxfemme relationship and how we express our love for each others. Tulip is my favorite flower and represent how I love my gf and the butterfly umbrella represent how she protect and care for me. This piece show the intensity of the tenderness we have for each other.
"Dot." is an afro-caribbean dougla and transmasc femme lesboy from Jamaica, Queens (NYC). Outside of loudly being a himekaji genderfuck enthusiast, fae spends most of his time either drawing or writing sappy love poems. Otherwise, he's cooking, infodumping, and playing games with, or spending time with faer loved ones.
Contributor
Dot.
(He/Fae)
Journal Entry
This one was a little rougher, but I'd wanted to convey that feeling of seeing the light at the end of a tunnel. I went through a couple old journal entries and condensed them into one, going through what it felt like to finally stop repressing; Through surrounding myself in nothing but pride, and through having support and coming out again. To slowly easing into being myself again.
High Femme is Healing
A number of people as of late have been quite cruel about stone identities, arguing that stone butches and femmes are boring, or incapable of truly loving or pleasing their partners. I decided to write about my own experience as a stone femme, and my sexual relationship with my (service top) butch wife. How freeing, loving, and reassuring it can be.
My name is Deoraín Judas, DJ for short, I am going to school for Astrophysics and Cybersecurity.
Contributor
Deoraín Judas, Her Irishman
(He/him/sí/í)
The Light In Every Shadow
I made this at work one day, missing my femme. She had a project to tell love stories and asked me to write mine and I tried to but ended up writing what she means to me instead every time.
jasper (they/she) is an east coast dyke with a theater degree and a judas tattoo. their favorite activities include embroidering, singing, and turning male characters into butches. please ask them about star trek.
Contributor
Emmanuelle Chen
(they/she)
I come alive in spring
Dyl is a part-time poet and full-time femme. They fell in love with the butchfemme community after reading the cornerstone novel "Stone Butch Blues" by Leslie Feinberg. All of their lukewarm takes can be found at transgenderpirates.tumblr.com. Dyl resides in south Florida with their dog and four cats.
Contributor
Dyl B.
(they/them)
Bar Napkin Love Story
I wrote this piece to reflect the beauty of fluidity within the butchfemme community. I wanted to celebrate the ways in which identities can grow and change.
Jerakah Greene is a dyke from Tulsa, Oklahoma. Their work has been published in Crabfat Magazine, Impossible Archetype (Issue 6), the F(r)iction Log, and Hair Trigger. A two-time Pushcart Prize nominee and Best of the Net nominee, Jerakah was named a PEN America Emerging Voices fellow in 2021. Currently, they are pursuing their MFA in Fiction at The New School. You can follow them at @jerakahs on Instagram for an inappropriate amount of Lord of the Rings memes.
jerakahgreene.com
Contributor
Jerakah Greene (they/them)
DYKES FOR PEACE
This poem is an exploration of the kind of dyke I want to be. It took me years to become comfortable with calling myself a lesbian, and even longer to find my place within lesbian communities. Eventually I realized that my definition is the only one that matters.
Kay is a working class butch from England, with a penchant for Doctor Who, enthusiastic unskilled dancing, and puns. He also writes poetry and prose, and doesn't know how to flirt.
Contributor
Emmy Clarke
(she/they)
Discovery
Kae is a black lesbian artist based in the Midwest. They’re a full time college student, and they love playing instruments, writing, playing animal crossing, reading, and baking!
Contributor
Kae(they/he/she)
I Dream Of Studs
A lot of times in media, studs and butches are demonized and not viewed in a positive light so I wanted the femme to be dreaming of the stud.I specifically used the label “stud” to reference aave. I decided to give the femme a double chin and darker skin to shine a light on plus size lesbians and dark skin femmes. I wanted to use a more simple illustration to represent black lesbians, and plus size lesbians.
Lauren Ring (she/her) is a perpetually tired Jewish lesbian who writes about possible futures, for better or for worse. She is a World Fantasy Award winner and Nebula finalist, and her short fiction can be found in venues such as F&SF, Nature, and Lightspeed. When she isn’t writing speculative fiction, she is most likely working on a digital painting or attending to the many needs of her cat, Moomin.
Contributor
Lauren Ring(she/her)
The Hunt of the Unicorn, Displayed in Reverse
This piece is about two of my favorite things: butches and unicorns. As a femme, I feel that I am more similar to butches than I am to lesbians who are neither butch nor femme, and I wanted to illustrate that similarity and solidarity using elements of myth.
Keaton grew up on the prairies but always wants to live by the sea. They love dinner parties, collecting beach glass, and everything about butches. They are an MFA student currently working on a thesis novel about gay rodeo princesses.
Contributor
Keaton(they/them)
Eden
"Eden" was the first short story I wrote and workshopped in my undergrad, and is a distillation of that time, with all my love of capital "R" Romanticism, art history, and of course, Keats. It's incredibly nerdy. It's also the queerest thing I'd written at the time, and a celebration of butchfemme aesthetics. Natasha, Willa, and Eden are lesbians who find themselves naturally centred among the romantic, the tragic, and the sublime.
Leila is a disabled femme lesbian musician, composer, writer and artist from Australia. Their art primarily focuses on womanhood, queerness, disability and anti-capitalism. Leila is particularly fascinated by the monstrous feminine and mad women. One of their recent projects is a feminist gothic horror opera titled Plain Bad Heroine - a retelling of the Faust legend which deals with women’s hunger for power, knowledge and love. Amongst several other projects, they are currently working on their debut album. When not creating, she can be found looking after rescue cats, knitting/crocheting, drinking copious amounts of tea and reading a lot.
Contributor
Leila Harris(they/she)
Nine Mirrors from the Periphery
“Nine Mirrors from the Periphery” is a collection of nine poems that reflect different stages of coming to terms with and sharing my sexuality, gender and love. From conversations, intimacy, internal dialogues and protests, the poems are a celebration of a growing pride in my own queerness and community. It asserts that we, as lesbians, will die old, assured that we lived and loved as we could.
The Hunt of the Unicorn, Displayed in Reverse
This piece is about two of my favorite things: butches and unicorns. As a femme, I feel that I am more similar to butches than I am to lesbians who are neither butch nor femme, and I wanted to illustrate that similarity and solidarity using elements of myth.
Lee is a Boricua-American Butch4Butch writer and cartoonist who loves to create worlds through their hands and words. You can find them leaving kisses all over their butch, taking long walks, and reading new books.
Contributor
Lee Rosado(he/she/they)
Musings at a Stovetop
Food is a way I have connected to my heritage for a long time and I love to share it with others that I love especially as a special form of intimacy and softness.I think cooking is not something that is typically viewed masculinely, so taking it into my hands as a butch gives it a very special meaning to me, especially when it comes to cooking food from my culture.
Little Dog is a Canadian illustrator and butch lesbian. Their art explores about the human experience and topics such as love, grief, growth, and connection - as seen through the eyes of a butch lesbian.
Contributor
Little Dog(they/them)
BUTCH4BUTCH
This print is a love letter to butch identity and to other butches. It is rare to see butch4butch representation, so I'm doing it myself. The stamp was carved from lino and printed on newsprint. My goal was to create a simple, timeless design.
Lily is an an American artist and illustrator currently attending Carnegie Mellon University.
Contributor
Lily van Veen(she/they)
Untitled (Drawing for Me)
Lily is an artist who loves to simplify composition and complicate color. They hope to showcase moments important to them in their body of work.
Lottie is an OFOS high femme lesbian with a background in zine making, mural painting, and butch defending. They have lived all over America but currently reside in NYC, working as an art teacher part time and for a publishing company full time. When they're not starting unnecessarily ambitious new projects, Lottie can be found painting her nails, writing love letters, sewing, gardening, visiting cemeteries, leaving lipstick ALL over her butch, making educational ButchFemme videos on Tiktok, and baking heart shaped treats.
Team Member + Contributor
Lottie Valiente (they/elle/she)
Lottie is the Head + Editor-in-Chief of Beloved,
They drew both the front and back cover to the zine, as well as various pieces of spot art inside.
Loree is a femme artist with too much on the mind.
Contributor
Loree Chung(she/he/they)
Artist Statement
Maddie is a non-binary lesbian artist who currently lives and works in Minneapolis, MN. Using acrylic painting as a form of journaling about their own lived experiences, their work focuses on all things intimate, personal, and queer. Maddie is a big fan of fluorescent colors, staying caffeinated, and always finding new ways to connect with the people around her.
maddiestumbaughart.com
Contributor
maddiestumbaughart
(they/she)
fruitful love (lesbian is not a dirty word)
This piece was created in response to current discourse surrounding the word "lesbian" and how there are many members of the LGBTQ+ community who avoid using the word because of its stigma of being a dirty word. I'm a strong believer that lesbian is one of the most beautiful words to exist, and I created 'fruitful love' to combat the negative feelings surrounding the word and to celebrate any and all individuals who find love and solace in the word lesbian.
M. Christina is a lesbian writer and nerd currently attending school for classics. She enjoys reading, history, nature, and museums. Her favorite vegetable is broccoli and her creative works focus on the interconnections of gender and sexuality as well as lesbians and queer women in history.
Contributor
M. Christina(she/her/any)
on swords.
My piece came about when I started my yearly listen of Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker. Memories of yearning and an undefinable euphoric feeling flooded before my eyes and I was swept to my younger years as a ballet dancer who performed in The Nutcracker until the age of fourteen. Now as someone who has insight on my sexuality and why on Earth I was blushing so damn much around my fellow dancers as they treated me like their knight or husband rushing to save their lives, I created this poem to connect pasts and presents. This poem focuses specifically on one of the roles I played: a toy soldier. Images of swords, chivalry, masculinity, romance, and my sexuality are intertwined with one another, and this is the poem where I explore such a concept.
hiii, about me.. i’m a 19 year old butch brown mexican lesbian film student. my pronouns are He/She. im currently based in mexico city, training to become a DOP (director of photography) then make the butchest most femme lesbian films ever :) you can find more of my work on @mariam_vila (insta) or @hunk697 (twitter)
Contributor
mariam vila(he/she)
Retrato de una mujer en llamas
a collection of 35mm portraits i took of my beautiful femme girlfriend, belén (she/her) (20) who i love and adore sm <3
euforia de género
a 35mm photograph of myself near the urinal on the ‘mens’ bathroom in a coffee shop on my little hometown. this ones about my gender identity, my gender expression and gender euphoria.
lesbianas en día de muertos
butch/femme lesbians on día de muertos. this is me & my lovely girlfriend of 3 years. <3
L., also known as Mahovina, is a bosnian butch lesbian living in Germany. She's a full time student and occasionally an artist. Her stories and art center lesbians and the variety of the lesbian experience, while also focusing on themes of gender and religion.
Contributor
Mahovina(she/he)
the instinct to be held
A beautiful part of butchfemme dynamics is the absolute adoration that both partner have for each other. The subtleness of a gaze, or the placement of a hand on your partner can express so much. There's something very intimate about the femme holding her butches head, having complete control over them, and the butch letting her. Trusting someone like that, can be terrifying, but you can tell they are both completely in love with each other. Butches are often portrayed as these tough protectors, but butches can be just as vulnerable and soft as they are tough. And I think a butch being held by their partner and looking up at her completely open and vulnerable is something that needs to be shown more.
Marley Stokes is a femme lesbian hobby writer who studies black and queer history and anthropology in the blue ridge mountains of southwest Virginia. They like folk music and early 2000's hip hop, and butch lesbians who will drive so they don't have to. They love the process of aging, the beauty of humanity, and the joy of their respective communities. You can find them as @mar777ey on Instagram, and @banjobeetle on TikTok.
Contributor
Marley Stokes(they/she)
Johnny Star
Growing up in rural Appalachia with little-to-no representation of anything Black or queer is a very lonely experience. I love my femme identity and my blackness more than anything, so I wanted to give little me, and other dykes in training in my same position something to have and hold. This story is an amalgamation of both of my grandmothers' experiences growing up here along with some of mine. Johnny Star is me, and I am him. So are you! Be proud always.
Mars is a lesbian artist located in Austin, TX.They mainly use their art to express their love and adoration for other lesbians, especially black lesbians but they also use their art for drawing silly things like bugs and snoopy.
Contributor
Mars(they/them/ze/zir)
Spring is here
Drawing inspiration from vintage ads but adding a twist to it by depicting two black lesbians. An overarching theme of my work is showcasing black lesbians being loved and adored because that is something that many black lesbians get to experience nor see themselves in such a light.
Marvin is a transmasc butch artist from Athens,Greece. He is a full time English student but usually spends their free time drawing stuff with the main subject being lesbian relationships and dynamics. They are also a bird parent and oolong tea enthusiast
Contributor
Marvin (he/they)
A delicate hand
This piece is meant to portray the tenderness of all lesbian dynamics, wether that be butch4femme, femme4femme or butch4butch, focusing on the aspect of touch. In a society that resents us for being who we are, we will keep touching and feeling and loving; because there is nothing purer for me than lesbian love.
Max is a trans masculine dyke living in Austin, Texas. He loves biking around town, watching horror movies, getting high with friends, and dancing his heart out. He believes in anarchist praxis and fighting for queer futures. Catch him at the local coffee shop, fiending for lesbian eye contact!
Contributor
Max Hman (pronouns)
Same for Same
Same for Same is about the beauty of butch for butch love. The poem relates how freeing it is to be with someone who deeply understands and sees you for who you are. Relationships with people who share parts of my identity have been transformative, expanding my capacity for love and self-expression. That extends to many types of relationships, including lesbianism, t4t, and butch love. On top of that, this piece is a love letter to butches everywhere- you have my heart.
Mel Jayne is a femme British artist and writer. She is the author of the (free) webcomic 'Summer of Seoul' and several unpublished novels. Her work mainly focuses on the lesbian experience of twenty somethings. She also spends her time watching queer cinema, reading, and baking.
Contributor
Mel Jayne(she/her)
Gentle Lover
“Gentle Lover” is a love letter to the often overlooked butch identity and relationships through the eyes of a university student in the late 1960s. Grounded in the experiences and culture of queer women at this time, I centered this story around the Gateways, an infamous London lesbian bar. In this way I have attempted to pay homage to the queer women who came before us and the rich hidden history they have left behind.
Micah is a butch photographer and theatre artist based in Boston. You can find them proudly carrying on the lesbian traditions of working at a bookstore, being in a union (shoutout UAW Local 1596!), community organizing (with the Party for Socialism & Liberation!), and never shutting up about their girlfriend.
micahfong.com
Contributor
Micah Fong(pronouns)
Brokeback Butch
When my dear friend Cassidy came up with a butch4butch reimagining of Brokeback Mountain, I knew we had to bring this to life somehow. With the passion and skills of our friends, I had the honor to capture this beautiful recreation of a truly iconic piece of gay media. Featuring Anna Kraffmiller & Ana Luisa Brady-McCullough, with costumes by Tamir, props by Soren, lighting by Isaac Roussak, and direction by Gabriella Garcia.
Mia is an autistic butch lesbian from the UK. They are currently studying for their A Levels. As well as art, she enjoys reading, baking, and admiring femmes and other butches. He is also very passionate about socialism and cats.
Contributor
Mia(they/she/he)
Waistcoat
This is a pencil drawing of some photos of myself wearing a waistcoat and feeling very handsome. I drew these in the style of old photos, to try to emulate the ones I’ve seen of butches from the past. I drew this piece as a celebration of my own newly-discovered butch identity, and the beauty of butch and femme identities in general.
Nat is a femme creative based in New England. They primarily write science fiction, but have also been known to knit, paint, and wax poetic about their butch. Their chief goal in life is to delight little girls with their fancy outfits.
Contributor
Nat(they/them)
butch2femme 4 femme2butch
"butch2femme 4 femme2butch" is a reflection on my gender journey, my love for my partner, and the inherent connections between them. My gender is not easily defined -- being femme is a foundational part of me, but having spent my formative years as a butch has also left an indelible mark on my sense of self. The one person I know truly understands the wholeness of my identity is my partner, who found their own identity as a butch while I found mine as a femme. As we grew together, the ways we understood each other's paths and the interactions between our related identities were deeply healing. For me, this mutual understanding of one another's experiences -- this intimate knowledge that simultaneously informs and is informed by our dynamic -- is butchfemme existence in its purest form.
Van (He/they) is a non binary masc lesbian based in Southern California. He is a multimedia artist whose specialties include songwriting, filmmaking, and writing poetry/prose. He is also a full time certified personal trainer.
Contributor
Naro(he/they)
SIN/SUAN
SIN/SUAN film is a project that is meant to encapsulate my journey of self-discovery as a non-binary lesbian while simultaneously healing familial and generational trauma. It is an artistic amalgamation of the complex experiences throughout my transition journey.
noquisi, or Emerald (English name), is a Cherokee and Mvskoke lesbian poet and beader out of Santa Fe, NM. She loves writing about lesbians, the water, and the words they collect from other writers. When they aren't writing, beading, or learning another artform, noquisi spends her time with her girlfriend and two cats making fun of bad movies and cherishing the domesticity of lesbian life.
Contributor
noquisi inadunai (they/she)
Rabbit and Hare
"Rabbit and Hare" is a love poem to my girlfriend and to femme/butch relationships. While my girlfriend and I do not fit the femme/butch dynamic, the crux of this piece is about lesbian identities, how they intersect, their love for each other, and the beauty in their vastness. Hare answers their own question of transformation as they find belonging in Rabbit, and they begin to change because of the domestication within their relationship. Rabbits are also an important being in my cultures, so their place in the poem establishes this as a specifically Native piece. Originally an imitation poem of Ilya Kaminsky's Deaf Republic, this piece has morphed into something much more sacred to me and represents all my identities in its own way.
Nell is a 21 year old femme lesbian based in South Carolina. She enjoys wandering, writing in the notes app (a little too much) and finding colors to base their life and joy around every other month. She is always in a mood of orange and pink, loving their queerness through and through. You can find her @noelleanneliese on Instagram, steeping in her dismay of capitalism, and trying to catch time by the tail.
Contributor
Noelle (Nell) Anneliese(they/she)
The Persistence of Idolatry
This piece catalogues the developing relationship between the speaker and their object of admiration (now, their butch). It weaves between lust and fearsome longing, willing themself to bravely admit their crush. Above all, it is about hope, the distinct want and lonely that drives lesbians (like the speaker) to great lengths of adoration. The persistence of idolatry is the persistence of hope. This piece was inspired by the month of my budding romance after a year of flirtation and silent watching eyes. It ends with the speaker accepting this love, just a few months after I realized I was in love, that I was still persistent in this desire, my muse and my butch.
poof is an arab femme lesbian who loves history, vintage trinkets, art and reading. their art deals with themes of love, melancholy and heartbreak all with an underlying homoerotic tone. poof has very ambitious dreams and hopes to become a renowned artist in illustration and animation someday. their favorite hobbies include doing her henna, redecorating her room and having movie nights with their friends.
Contributor
Poof(they/she)
Artist Statement
Nora Armânâ (pen name) is a femme lesbian student, translator and aspiring writer from Serbia.
Contributor
Nora Armânâ(she/her)
A full table
A full table is a short essay that takes a closer look at the gendered role of cooking within a patriarchal society, through a lens of lesbian and queer life.
Reese Adelio has been writing about their hyperfixations since the age of twelve, when she first discovered erotic fanfiction and her own ability to imagine outside the confines of a fairly religious upbringing. Love, lust, sex, relationships, masc+femme identity, and romance became the ultimate fascination for him, and have inspired the last ten years of writing, performance, photography, and film. Reese was born and raised in rural Ontario, so-called Canada, to a large family of musicians, and currently works and resides on the unceded territory of the Wendake-Nionwentsïo, Mohawk, and Haudenosaunee ("Ottawa").
Contributor
Reese Adelio(pronouns)
We Belong In There
This piece is a small attempt at honouring the ginormous, thundering, beautiful, and terrifyingly confusing feelings of identity, and the magnetism one can feel when they connect with someone that reflects only their truest self. It's a tribute to the most beautiful relationships I've ever seen, read about, or prayed for.
Pascal is a bisexual butch from Italy. He spends much of her time in an occupied community space in Milan - whenever they have time, though, they write. Poetry has been his favorite form of art since she was a kid. They like collecting physical memories, taking pictures and making people gifts.
Contributor
Pascal(he/they/she)
loveology
For a very long time, I struggled with my sense of identity. This was mostly related to my then untreated OCD - it turns out it's incredibly hard to call yourself anything at all when you spend your days trying to convince yourself you are not secretively evil or unintentionally ruining people's lives. In this piece, I tried to write about what being butch means to me, especially when it comes to trusting that my love won't be harmful. The title comes from the song Loveology by Regina Spektor.
Finchie is a femme lesbian artist and merchandise designer whose previous projects include clients such as Neon Hemlock Press, Graveyard Goods, and the Classics But Make It Gay artbook, among others. She loves science fiction, the color pink, and love.
Contributor
rosefinchie (pronouns)
I Love You On Purpose
I wanted to capture the way femmes look at butches, they way they always have and always will: calm, confident, intentional love.
Ripley is a femme (for butch) illustrator based in Austin, Texas. Her personal artwork subverts vintage and historical aesthetics to depict lesbian love. Aside from art, she enjoys baking, gardening, sewing, and comics!
Contributor
Ripley Larue(She/they/he)
Pillow roller princess
There’s something so tender and intimate about styling your lover’s hair.
Avalon is a butch lesbian artist and former cowboy from Texas currently in school for concept art. Her personal work weaves together her complicated religious upbringing with her butch identity & love for other butches. She adores star-shaped things, earl grey lattes, Sonic the Hedgehog, oxford commas, & anything related to Mary or Joan of Arc
Contributor
Avalon(she/he)
My Knight
Every time I see my butch, he kisses my hand just like a knight from a fairy tale. We always say he's my knight & I'm his prince, & that's what inspired this little drawing. Love between butches is filled with so much mutual understanding & tenderness, & sharing bits and pieces of it whenever I can is so very important to me.
reuben q. is a bigender dyke, writer and photographer located in central florida. his interests include LGBT history, jewish theology, alternative music, sustainable living, and the natural world.
Contributor
reuben q.(he/she)
doing it butch
my poem encapsolates butch resilence and is a love letter to my partner and all the other butches in the world living as their true self.
Sentwithakiss is a sapphic illustrator based in Canada who's body of work is fun, colorful and expressive. She specializes in digital art, printmaking and merchandise design, and has an especially soft spot for works depicting intimacy and homoeroticism.
Contributor
sentwithakiss(she/her)
choking on you
Ruth is a genderfluid lesbian and reader/writer/drawer from the Oregon Coast. A rural queer, she enjoys farmwork, backpacking, campfire coffee, swimming in the ocean, and identifying local plants and fungi. Find her hawking illustrations at the Yachats Farmer’s Market this summer and look out for a comic book in the future!
Contributor
Ruth Hale (she/they)
Self-Portrait
Across my 20s I noticed an inverse relationship between myself getting butcher and the kind of rigorous self-portraiture I used to indulge. This photo represents a moment defying that pattern: a burst of self-love and self-acceptance; glittering butch joy.
Sophie Elsa Eikli is a femme lesbian living in Trondheim, Norway. She has a background in creative writing, and spends most of her time studying History and obsessing over book series. She also loves looking out for the butches in her life, and is deeply fascinated in the legacy of queerness (and particularly lesbianism).
Contributor