Butch & Femme

Butch and femme are gender expressions rooted in lesbian and queer culture: butch draws on masculinity, femme on femininity, and both are identities in their own right rather than copies of straight roles.

Flag

Butch & Femme flag

Distinct flags exist for butch and femme identities, though neither has a single universally adopted version.

Stripe	HEX	RGB	CMYK	Pantone	Meaning
Dark orange	`#D2691E`	210,105,30	C:0 M:50 Y:86 K:18	n/a	Earth; strength
Orange-brown	`#C47D28`	196,125,40	C:0 M:36 Y:80 K:23	n/a	Community and warmth
Tan	`#D4AA70`	212,170,112	C:0 M:20 Y:47 K:17	n/a	Solidarity
White	`#FFFFFF`	255,255,255	C:0 M:0 Y:0 K:0	n/a	Femmes and non-binary people within butch community
Dark blue	`#002366`	0,35,102	C:100 M:66 Y:0 K:60	n/a	Masculinity; depth

Full flag history →

History

Butch/femme as a visible social dynamic emerged in working-class lesbian bar culture in the 1940s–1950s in the US and UK - survival strategies and community structures for women who had no other visible queer identity framework. The Daughters of Bilitis (founded 1955) initially discouraged butch/femme expression as it drew police attention; 1970s lesbian feminism also criticized it as replicating heterosexual gender roles. The 1980s–1990s saw a reclamation and celebration of butch/femme as authentic expressions of queer gender culture.

Notable people

Leslie Feinberg (1949–2014) - Author of Stone Butch Blues (1993); foundational text exploring butch lesbian identity
Joan Nestle (1940–) - Co-founder of the Lesbian Herstory Archives; essays on femme identity and butch/femme culture in A Restricted Country
Amber Hollibaugh - Femme activist and filmmaker; advocacy for femme visibility within feminism