Butch-Femme Network

From approximately 1945 to the mid 1960's, Butches and Femmes fought to meet and love in working class bars across North America. The rise of anti-Butch-Femme radical lesbian feminist ideologies in the 1960's effectively drove Butch-Femme underground, dissolving existing Butch-Femme communities, and relations of love, mentorship and support. During those underground years, countless Butches and Femmes grew up feeling isolated and at odds not only with mainstream society but also with the now predominant androgynous lesbian feminist community. Thanks largely to the persistent public speaking and publishing of well known Femme writers such as Joan Nestle and Minnie Bruce Pratt, and the TG author of Stonebutch Blues, Leslie Feinberg, Butch-Femme gender and sexual practices re-emerged with fresh dignity and passion in the 1990's.

The Butch-Femme Network was founded in Massachusetts in 1996 and quickly developed a global reach. This pioneering initiative responded to an emergent need for isolated Butches and Femmes to make community connections, and find love, support, and education. Since that time, many of the web's now flourishing butch-femme communities branched off from here to serve the diverse and developing needs of the growing web-based Butch-Femme community. We sincerely hope that this growth process will continue, and we encourage all efforts to work together in order that all Butch and Femme needs can be met.

Here at Butch-Femme.net the supportive staff of community volunteers offer the original networking resource for Butches, Femmes, StoneButches, StoneFemmes, TGButches, TransMen, and FtMs. Through this network our members are able to communicate with community members from all around the world. Connecting through our Butch-Femme Network is not restricted to cyberspace. Many of our members meet regularly for parties, birthdays, weddings and other 3D celebrations. You can find out more about upcoming face to face gatherings here on our pages and by participating on our lists. Joining our network and attending organized 3D get togethers has facilitated many Butch-Femme love matches and friendships.

Our experienced and dedicated moderators and our friendly members warmly welcome new subscribers to our email lists. We all work hard together to keep conversations lively, fun, and respectful of differences. Through the years we have developed a zero tolerance policy on flaming and other disruptive e-list behaviors. As a result, conversations rarely lag here, Butches and Femmes are not afraid to be themselves, and our topics of discussion cover a wide range. Here you will find light-hearted joking, flirting, day to day life experiences as well as discussions about philosophical and academic gender and sexuality issues.

Depending on your needs, you may join one or all of the lists. Please review our list webpages to determine which lists suit you best. Our network offers three main discussion groups. These separate email lists serve the respective needs of Butches and Femmes, StoneButches, TGButches, TransMen, and FtMs and their feminine partners. In addition, we host a private list for Femme network members, another for Leather and our newly created Femmephoria list for feminine women who love Transmen and FtM's and do not identify as "lesbian".