I Have Been Trying For Like. Months To Explain How The Relationship Between Butch Lesbians And Trans

i have been trying for like. months to explain how the relationship between butch lesbians and trans men is not something akin to polar opposites and this is all i got. like it's not like this:

it's a venn diagram with a massive overlap in the middle. i'm not saying EVERY butch is a trans guy and EVERY trans guy is a butch dyke , i'm just saying it looks more like this:

these are not "mutually exclusive" terms- they do not mean the same thing, but we can be the same people, an very often are. there is a long history of butches who identify as FTM, trans men, drag kings, genderqueer, genderfluid, transmasculine, male, polygender, and two-spirit lesbians, and so much more. the relationship between lesbianism and queer masculinity is inseparable and the only people telling you that butches and trans men need to violently separate from one another and be at each other's throats are terfs. even if we do not share identities, we share our struggle together as heavily misunderstood and unseen masculine queers.

we stand up for each other when our identities get confused by strangers, and we get misgendered. we stand up for each other when terfs and terfpilled people tell us that transmasculine people and men can't be lesbians, when people say "butches just want to be men", when people say "butches aren't real women", when people call each of us bull dykes and trannies, when people mock the way FTMs walk and talk and look, and when people tell trans men they're "just butch dykes in denial". we stand up for each other and understand each others struggles.

whenever a butch lesbian asserts they're a woman no matter how masc they are, whenever a trans man asserts that they are a man and not a butch, whenever a butch struggles to be seen as both a man and a lesbian, and whenever a trans man returns to the lesbian community while embracing their manhood, we are part of the same community, we share the same struggles, and we owe it to each other to stay strong.

we are not enemies. we are bedfellows, lovers, family, spouses, partners, husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, siblings, friends, each others support networks, even if we don't share identities perfectly. whether you are butch and a woman, butch and a man, butch and something else entirely, a male, ftm, genderfluid, polygender, genderqueer, transmasculine, nonbinary, two-spirit or whatever else you may be lesbian, you are part of our family and your experience is worth being heard.

I love the diversity of trans people

I love how each and every one of us has our own unique experience with our queerness

It truly inspires me every time to think about it, because even if all of us are different in one way or another we’re still part of the same community, we’re still a family in a sense.

That’s why is saddens me when I see so many other queer people cast people from the community because their experience with their gender and sexuality doesn’t align with their own experiences/what they expect that person’s experience to be.

Please love other trans people, all other trans people, because we only have each other, and I think it’s very special that we all have a different experiences with expression and sexuality.

I howled with a boy last night, under the stars at college, he said first that he was scared to be loud, but he was simply scared of how people would perceive him being loud, we sat on old adirondack chairs over looking the pond, and I howled at the sky, he looked at me in awe, a woman so loud, not scared of the world, I said that if he howled I would be there too, two tones at once, but before I could even ask if he wanted that, he howled deep and loud into the sky, we did this, together.

Afterward he was full of adrenaline, I was too, we ran around deep at night, streetlights providing the light the shy moon could not.

We sat by the bell tower, on fours, and talked, he kicked a pine cone my way and I picked it up with my teeth, and set it by him. He told me somthing about love, somthing I lost in the chill of the wind.

Sometime were going to church point, to howl again, to see if the dogs on the other side of the river would howl back

Language cannot describe the experience of therianthropy, all it does is muddle it

That night I figured out what its definition was

It’s stories and poetry and love

Run fast, bite hard, bark loud

Peace, love, and gratitude

-Zith Ipeth

Turigirl blinkie! (Single)

So I decided to make a drawing challenge for systems and plural people (aka, me explaining Systember)

Systember is a lot like other drawing challenges, except instead of taking place in October like a lot of other ones, it takes place in September, and is focused on plurality and systems. (Why September? Purely because of the name. That's literally the only reason.)

If you decide to participate, please tag your works with "systember" so I can look at them all cause I'm a curious little goober :33 And please reblog this post to get the word out!

List and questions under the cut

Prompt list:

Together

Protective

Animal

Peaceful

Love

Family

Introject

Memory

Blurry

Switch

Spectator

Nonhuman

Self

Friends

Body

Sadness

Little

Happy

Glass

Headcanon

Gaming

Art

Relax

Hobby

Nature

Colors

Anger

Parent

Shiny

Your choice!

Questions you might have (and answers you might need):

"Do I have to follow the prompts?" Absolutely not, they're just a suggestion. I tried to keep them vague enough to allow anyone to participate. The plural experience is wide and varied, and this challenge hopes to celebrate that.

"Can I participate if I'm ____?" This challenge is open to all systems/plurals/multiples, no matter their origins or beliefs. If you share a body with other people in some way, this challenge is open to you. While I can't exactly stop singlets from participating in this challenge, it's not exactly meant for them. That being said, I want no syscourse to interfere with this challenge. We're here to draw, not to argue.

"What if I don't draw everyday?" That's fine! Do what you can! You don't have to make fully fleshed out pieces, you don't have to draw every single day, you don't have to participate at all, no one's holding you at gunpoint to draw these. Just have fun to the best of your ability.

"This was posted too late! I have no time to prepare!" Yeah, uh... I forgor. Sorry.

"Are you going to be doing this?" I'm gonna fuckin try! Although most of my art will probably be posted to @somewhatdailyanthrostuck since we have a lot of Homestuck introjects and I need ideas for my "daily" drawing blog.

I hate how shame is such a common factive experience. Why should we be ashamed of existing?! We're "weird"? Good! Fuck normalcy and arbitrary expectations! We make others uncomfortable? Well, that sounds like a them problem, because we're not harming anyone, and one person's discomfort doesn't override another's right to exist as themselves in peace. Besides, it's not like they're gonna get over themselves if they never have to confront their discomfort, so I'm just gonna stay here and you can tell me when you're ready to treat me with respect.

Fuck shame!! I'm proud to be a factive and I'm not gonna be ashamed of who I am!!