Have you heard the tragic news? Apparently, butch lesbians — like rare pandas — are in danger of going extinct. I have to say, when I first learned that I was soon to follow in the fateful footsteps of the dodo, it did come as something of a surprise. We’ve been packing out the Royal Vauxhall Tavern lately to such a degree that my favourite club night, Butch Please, has had to double its frequency due to popular demand, but I’ll bet that the dinosaurs never saw being wiped off the face of the earth coming either.
And the cause of this crisis, you might reasonably ask? Imagine me dramatically dimming the lights and talking in scare-quotes for this bit: why, it’s the Trans Mob invading our sacred spaces and recruiting innocent young same-sex attracted female sapphics to their sinister and villainous alphabet mafia, of course!
The idea that the trans community somehow threatens to erase lesbians is not a new myth — back in 2018, a group called Get The L Out barged their way to the front of the London Pride parade in a bid to stand up bravely for butch women like me who apparently feel frightened and intimidated. Also news to me.
This year, a group called The Lesbian Project was founded to “stop lesbians disappearing into the rainbow soup”. Their aim? To become “a professional body to be consulted whenever lesbian interests are being discussed”.
Counter-protesters founded the trans-inclusive Dyke Project and threw a huge party outside The Lesbian Project’s first meeting. I certainly know which gang I’d rather join.
The Lesbian Project does not speak for me, a butch lesbian who wholeheartedly supports the trans community with solidarity and love
The Lesbian Project does not speak for me, a butch lesbian who wholeheartedly supports the trans community with solidarity and love. A vocal minority, they don’t even reflect the views of the very group they claim to be defending: young lesbians are the most pro-trans cohort of the entire LGBTQ+ community, with one survey reporting that 96 per cent support trans people.
Though our experiences are wildly different, our paths overlap; we know flickers of each others’ pain even if our lives have taken us to different places. Anti-trans campaigners who so keenly want to divide the LGBTQ+ community into single strands are deluded if they believe that butch lesbians in particular are exempt from suffering at the hands of the same narrow and rigid definitions of womanhood that so often underpin transphobia.
What on earth do they think is going to happen next time somebody mistakenly starts having a go at me for being in the “wrong” toilet; “Ah, apologies, m’lady, my mistake! As you were, adult human female!” Dream on, lads.
The truth is that transphobia is simply good old-fashioned gender policing wearing a different coat, so if you come for the trans community you are coming for me too. That’s why this Pride, and every Pride, I’ll be standing shoulder to shoulder with trans people.
Ryan Gosling takes Barbie tale to a new level
As he takes on the role of capitalism’s most famous himbo, Ryan Gosling has put in a heroic shift on the press circuit, thoughtfully outlining his approach to portraying Barbie’s bleach-blond accessory boyfriend Ken in the same manner you might use to discuss doing justice to a Nobel Peace Prize winner in a biopic.
Gosling agreed to the role after reading Greta Gerwig’s script and finding his daughter’s Ken doll discarded face down in the mud immediately afterwards.
“I shall be your Ken, for this story must be told,” he texted the director. This week, a Time magazine cover piece featuring Barbie’s star-studded cast revealed that Ken embarks on a surprising journey of self-discovery in the film. Although storyline specifics haven’t been revealed, he almost “steals the show”, apparently.
This Barbie is a new obsession: may the fuchsia-pink countdown to its release on July 21 commence.
