Women Loving Women: Butch
(also: lesbian, sapphic, sexuality)
Table of Contents
Introduction
This page is regarding the subculture of butch lesbians. This term is at an intersection of the topics of gender and sexuality. The term lesbian describes a romantic attraction/sexual orientation. The term butch is used to describe a gender presentation. Together, these terms are used to refer to a unique subculture within the greater LGBTQIA+ community.
Clicking on underlined words/phrases/etc will lead you to other parts of The Transgender Dictionary. Clicking on links under the [External Links] section will lead you to other parts of the internet (for the most part).
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General Info
A lesbian with traditionally masculine characteristics.
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Butch Lesbian Pride Flag
The red stripe in the butch lesbian pride flag represents passion and sexuality. This meaning was inspired by both Gilbert Baker's pride flag and "the complicated yet passionate ways" butches relate to their sexualities and their lesbianism.
The red-orange stripe represents the courage needed to be butch in a world where such a thing is often stigmatized. "[i]t symbolizes the strength butches share in learning to find and love themselves."
The light orange stripe represents joy as the color is "light and soft and symbolizes the joy of being butch that comes despite the hardships."
The white stripe represents renewal as "[d]iscovering oneself as butch is a sort of rebirth and marks the beginning of a new [existence]"
The beige stripe represents chivalry.
The orange stripe represents warmth.
The brown stripe represents honesty.
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Stone Butch Lesbian
A lesbian who obtains pleasure from sexually satisfying her partner rather than being touched herself.
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External Links
The following links are not sponsored, nor endorsed. Inclusion of a link or article does not mean that all of the views/opinions/beliefs/etc inherently represent those of The Transgender Dictionary.
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Flag Resources
- itch.io - 404luxio - tiny pixel pride flags (https://404luxio.itch.io/tiny-pixel-pride-flags) - link to flag used on this page
- tumblr: butchspace: 06/27/2017: A new butch flag (https://www.tumblr.com/the-transgenda-agenda/820348291694870528/butchspace-a-new-butch-flag)
- tumblr: butchspace: 06/30/2017: i have meanings to add to each of the colors (https://www.tumblr.com/the-transgenda-agenda/820348467879739392/butchspace-based-off-of-princechaotics)
- Queer in the World: Cecilia Miller: 10/14/2023: What Exactly Is The Butch Lesbian Flag, And What Does It Mean? (https://queerintheworld.com/butch-lesbian-flag/)
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Stone Butch Resources
- The Transgender Dictionary: In Memoriam: Leslie Feinberg (https://thetransgenderdictionary.com/in_memoriam#leslie_feinberg)
- Wikipedia - Stone Butch (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_butch)
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Additional Resources
- Butch is a Noun by Bear Bergman (https://transreads.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/2021-12-23_61c4c9f64dd24_ButchisaNounbyS.BearBergmanz-lib.org_.pdf)
- LGBTQIA - Fandom - Wiki - Butch (https://lgbtqia.fandom.com/wiki/Butch)
- SAGA Tuscon: Stephanie Marchand: 02/27/2026: Am I Transmasculine or Just a Butch Lesbian? How to Sort Through the Feelings (https://sagatucson.org/transmasculine-or-butch-lesbian/)
- Them: InQueery: 08/21/2018: The REAL Meaning of the Word "Butch" (https://www.them.us/story/inqueery-butch)
- Trans Language Primer: Butch (https://translanguageprimer.com/Butch/)
- Wikipedia - Butch Mystique (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butch_Mystique)
- Wikipedia - Butch (slang) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butch_(slang))
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