#192 Rob, Northampton Stone Butch

Robin, our East Coast Butch Sighter, writes:

"Rob, a stone butch of Northampton, MA, escorted Butch Sightings to Chelsea, NYC art openings. At a photojournalism show of WeeGee, we saw this image of two butches -- so I made it three."

#191 Rebecca, Photographer Butch at Chelsea Art Opening

Robin, East Coast Butch Sighter, writes:

"Last night was a night of Chelsea gallery openings. I had my eye out for butch sightings. At the last gallery of the evening, I spotted Rebecca. I asked her if she was a butch and she looked puzzled so I told her about the project. Ariella said Rebecca just cut off all her facial hair. I asked if she was trans and she said no, she was a butch with facial hair. Rebecca is a photographer who's been with her femme of 13 years, Ariella, a film curator. They live in Fort Greene, Brooklyn with their 22-month-old daughter"

Shelly and Robin (Butch Sightings NYC) at a rock and roll Hanukkah show

Robin, butch sighter in NYC, says:

"Me and my pal Shelly Weiss of OUTmedia. Shelly talks me into going to events in which our collective age is more than everyone in the place put together. Here we're at a dive, Southpaw, in Brooklyn for a rock and roll Hanukkah party with kickass bands and some butch sightings but also the phenomenon that prompted Jenny's post about 'genderqueers." (see our facebook page for more details)

#183 Eli Rock Violinist from the Shondes

Robin in NYC says:

"When asked if he is butch, Eli said, uh ... no. I smiled politely and said, okay, I'm with Butch Sightings, just wondering. Shelly (see above) said, 'hang on, isn't Butch Sightings about female masculinity left of center? What if Eli is trans?' 'Shelly, we've had this conversation before,' said I, sighing. As Shelly and I argued (lovingly) over who is encompassed in Butch Sightings, Eli quietly said, 'I think I qualify...' :)

Eli is a rock violinist in a happening Brooklyn band called the Shondes. Shonde in Yiddish means a disgrace -- which is appropriate for a group of Jewish queers playing intense rock."

#182 Sam of the incredible pompadour

From Robin in NYC:

"I almost broke my neck getting up the stairs to Sam, camera in hand, before she got away. What a cutie! When asked if she was butch, Sam sort of gave me a wide-eyed, "what?" look and Jessica Halem, adorable radical queer femme comic extraordinaire, said, "It's for Butch Sightings! You are butch! Please."

#174 Boxers Off: Butch Burlesque - Suri

"This is Suri who goes by Best Bites on FB and in the queer performance scene. Suri and Suri's partner are a hot couple ... of performers and young queers totally into one another! Lovely to watch. Suri strongly IDs as queer but is 'closer to the butch end of things.'"

#173 Boxers Off: Butch Burlesque - Judy

Robin reports, "Judy here says she is butch but really believe everyone is yin/yang and yin/yang is fluid. She owns a really cool housewares store in Brooklyn and travels the world stocking it. She gets called "sir" often enough and thinks that is just ridiculous but her friend pointed out that it's her butch vibe. She is a cool customer."

#172 Boxers Off: Butch Burlesque - Suzanne

Robin says, "Suzanne is a research librarian and she doesn't mind if I tell everyone that she is really shy. Shy butch librarian. It's a femme top porn story in the making. She came out in the 90s and knew she was butch soon afterward and has been a plaid button-down pocket protector butch every since."

#171 Boxers Off: Butch Burlesque - Lisa

Robin sighs, "Lisa, earnest butch into good things like veganism and environmental causes, recognized me ... from OkCupid. (I have to get off of that thing and lend myself an air of mystery.) Lisa lives in Brooklyn and is butch to the core, never been anything but, she says."

 

#170 Boxers Off: Butch Burlesque - Nicky

Robin laughs: "Asked Nicky, 'are you a butch?' She says, 'yeah but I prefer to ID as prince.' She performed at the butch burlesque that night and I have one word, HOT."

#169 Boxers Off: Butch Burlesque - Ariel Speedwagon

"Miss Robin loves Ariel Speedwagon. This is a butsch mensch if there ever was one. Ariel loves Butch Sightings and when I said that it's run by Jewish femmes, Ariel said, 'only Jewish femmes would have the chutzpah to do it!' cute."

#168 Boxers Off: Butch Burlesque - Drae Campbell

"Drae Campbell is a stage, film and solo performance actor. Drae stars in and wrote the award winning short queer film, 'You Move Me.' Drae also is this year's 'Miss Lez,' but agreed that 'Mister Lez' would be more fitting."

#167 Boxers Off: Butch Burlesque - Rudi (and Robin, NYC Butch Sighter)

"Asking Rudi, 'are you butch?' would be asking the obvious so I said, 'have you heard of Butch Sightings?' Rudi had not, (though many people at butch burlesque had) so after an explanation, Rudi said, 'well the femme has to be in the picture...for context' I said it was not necessary. Rudi insisted and then as our photo was being taken said, 'it's a chance to put my arm around a hot femme.' ::blush:: god. I love butch confidence!"

#166 Boxers Off: Butch Burlesque - Kelli Dunham

"Robin swoons over Kelli Dunham. Kelli is a standup comic, she says. But it's comedy with poignancy and the self-flagellation that comes from being an ex-nun. Kelli asked me what I thought of the shirt -- plaid and all. I was confused since a plaid shirt is a butch uniform. Someone in Montreal wrote in a performance review that Kelli had on a plaid 'flannel' shirt. She shuddered (in a butch way). She is no flannel-wearing butch but a very dapper one. I gave a big thumbs up to that shirt... and Kelli."

#165 Boxers Off: Butch Burlesque - Lea Robinson

Robin, our intrepid NYC Butch Sighter did us proud last night when she went to Boxers Off: Butch Burlesque, NYC. Here come all her sightings!

"This is Lea Robinson, the very masterful Master of Ceremonies and butch/queer event promoter. Lea ids as both butch and genderqueer and is a big fan of Butch Sightings (gave me a press pass! I love being so official)."

#161 Sam

Robin, ever the sighter, even in the winter when most butches seem to have gone underground, says:

"This is Sam. I was walking in the bank as Sam was walking out and she backed up and held the door for me. I gave her a big smile and thanked her (love butch manners), and then we both said, 'hey wait, I know you?' Turns out we both lived in Northampton, MA around the same time. We both moved to Brooklyn last year too. Sam said a femme found her as soon as she moved here. I said, well I guess you ID as a butch then. She does and I told her about Butch Sightings. 'Way cool!' was her response."

#155 Cora, Soft Butch

Robin went out to the Transgressive show the other night and met Cora. She had this to say,

"Got a butch sighting. Cora. Photographer and curator. Soft butch. Straight guy best friend (who's an interior decorator!) said she's a stallion. LOL. They like the same girls.

#146 Eliana - Screenwriter, Director, Butch

Robin says,

"I was leaving a brunch in a trendy new apartment building where Eliana was waiting to see an apartment. She gave me a raised eyebrow when I asked if she was a butch probably because my socially self-conscious friend yelled, 'Robin, what are you doing?' After explaining Butch Sightings to both of them, Eliana gave her card (she's a screenwriter/director) and happily posed for our project, pulling over her 12 year old dog saying, 'this is my femme.'"

#129 Renee at the Salsa Party

Lauren, butch sighter in NYC, likes to dance. Salsa specifically. Yesterday she went to a party and got busy, not dancing, but butch sighting. Thank you Lauren!

Here's what she has to say:

"Renee was my first sighting at the salsa party.  I told her about the project and she grinned.  'Wow, I can't believe I've been sighted.  My girlfriend's going to love it!'"

#128 Michelle at the Salsa Party

Lauren, who must not have had time to dance, with all her work getting butch sightings, says:

"Michelle, at the salsa party in NYC.  Michelle enthusiastically agreed to be photographed when I told her what the project was all about."