rest in peace to mira bellwether, a powerful presence in the trans community. her work is still going to be resonating within the trans community for years, decades to come.
some excerpts from “Yang Deficiency, And Milky Residue” 🌀written in frustration and care for the bodies that carry our precious history with us for better and worse + the process of understanding illness and change in a society that doesn’t take care of us
“There is a lack of representation of butches and studs in all aspects of mainstream society. I think the reason for that continued invisibility is linked to consumerism, that our identities are not seen as marketable.”
“I know what butch is. Butches are not beginner FTMs, except that sometimes they are, but it’s not a continuum except when it is. Butch is not a trans identity unless the butch in question says it is, in which case it is, unless the tranny in question says it isn’t, in which case it’s not. There is no such thing as butch flight, no matter what the femmes or elders say, unless saying that invalidates the opinions of femmes in a sexist fashion or the opinions of elders in an ageist fashion. Or if they’re right. But they are not, because butch and transgender are not the same thing with different names, except that butch is not a trans identity, unless it is; see above.”
-“I KNOW WHAT BUTCH IS”, Butch is a Noun, Essays by S. Bear Bergman (2006)
