This Portland-Based Zine Pays Tribute to Queer Butch Women

"Butch Is Not a Dirty Word" puts the spotlight on everyday butch queer women, as well as trans and nonbinary people who identify as “masculine of center,” collecting photos and stories covering topics from family and work to love and sex.

When she first came to Portland from Australia, Esther Godoy says she finally felt accepted as a queer butch woman.

Up to that point, Godoy had sought media depictions of women like her but found that most queer media centered around people who present as feminine. So in 2016, Godoy published Butch Is Not A Dirty Word, a one-off collection of photos and essays depicting masculine-presenting women like her in a loving and powerful light.

Response to the anthology convinced Godoy she should turn the project into a semi-annual not-for-profit print magazine. In the five issues published so far, Butch has put the spotlight on everyday queer people who identify as “masculine of center,” collecting photos and stories covering topics from family and work to love and sex.

“We recognize that it is the butch folks in less queer-friendly countries that require the most care, visibility and community, so we try and diversify our contributors as much as our financial capacity allows,” Godoy says. “We also attempt to center the identities of those at the margins, even within community.”

Issue 6, focusing on mental health, goes to press in September, and the local launch parties feature standup comedians and live readings by people presented in the issue, both from Portland, where Godoy now lives, and elsewhere.

“Folks will tell their truths and stories,” Godoy says, “and the experience of being in a room and hearing a window into the lives’ of these folks is almost impossible to put into words.”

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