Mags!

YES. Yes I do.
I was nearing the end of my rope in 2019, I didn't feel femme but I felt like a woman. I was struggling with how to reckon with this.
then it's corny as hell but I read stone butch blues.
I finally experienced stories that felt like mine, I found a shared kinship in butchness.
Butch has always been a gender identity.
I still struggle with it a lot, gender is complicated.
In 2022 I read Avery Lake's book of poetry Horrible Dance.
I sob at many of these poems, I hadn't had this experience before.
it's because these poems were also written by a trans butch. even though they're not written about my experiences I feel a deep kinship with what's being expressed.
being butch and trans is hard, but none of us are alone, we have each other and we have history.