ftm Butch community

Trans butch: n. a Butch lesbian who walks the tightrope between butch and trans man. Discord available upon request

[trans-butch-community]

for me finding this old tumblr alone at 3am helped reconcile something in myself that is firmly both or constantly moving between the two like an optical illusion that keeps flashing between two ways of understanding the 'same information' .... It is helpful to me. but I guess it is ultimately a small number of us then!

♥

[trans-butch-community]

i saw your ask that this blog isnt active any longer bc you feel like people dont id this way anymore. why do you think they dont? you say they seem to have gone either firmly one direction or the other

i think the answer is pretty simple and it's that you can't partially transition, you either do or you don't. so even within the community you had a binary of transitioning cuspers and not-transitioning cuspers.

also, it was small to begin with, much easier to "pick a side" and stick with it

[trans-butch-community]

Is this still active? <3

hi! not really, sorry. i think everyone that identified with this term either firmly reidentified or firmly re/transitioned

[trans-butch-community]

i will be blocking p0rn blogs even if they are lesbian centric or lesbian run btw :|

[vampirecandle-deactivated202212]

HIV/AIDS Awareness & Activism Masterpost

As a lesbian who is passionate about LGBT history (and science), and who did her dissertation partly on HIV, here is a masterpost of HIV/AIDS activism history ahead of HIV Vaccine Awareness Day on the 18th of May. 

 If you are gay, lesbian or bi, or transgender, you need to read this and know this. This is your history. 

What is HIV/AIDS?

They are two distinct conditions. HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus and is the precursor to AIDS, which is Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. 

You cannot have AIDS without contracting the virus (HIV) first. HIV is the virus - this is what you “catch”, in other words - that progresses as the virus proliferates inside the human host, which leads to opportunistic infections that make up AIDS. The S in AIDS, Syndrome, indicates that there is not just one potential disease, but rather a collection of diseases that can develop as the host’s immunity system is progressively weakened. HIV paves the way for other diseases to take over. People receive an AIDS diagnosis when their CD4 cell count drops below 200 cells/mm, or if they develop certain opportunistic infections. It is usually, but not always, these opportunistic infections that become the cause of death for untreated patients. Not everyone who has AIDS develops the same opportunistic infections; they can get just one, or a combination of many infections. Infections and illnesses that come under the AIDS umbrella include:

- Kaposi’s sarcoma: a type of cancer that frequently occurs in HIV+ people. It causes the characteristic red, itchy lesions that are commonly associated with AIDS. If someone told you to picture a symptom of AIDS, it would probably be this. It is often referred to as an AIDS-defining illness. Lesions can cause skin breakdown, fever and lymphoedema. 

- Burkitt’s lymphoma: a cancer of the lymphatic system which results in tumour growth. Can lead to death if untreated. Common treatments for all variants (including the immunodeficient variant), is chemotherapy, immunotherapy and surgery where possible. 

- Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP): a disease rarely found in healthy people. AIDS patients make up to 40% of PCP cases (the other 60% come from other immunocompromised patients such as people with cancer). Causes a progressive dry cough, fatigue, muscle weakness and can lead to organ damage, particularly of the liver and spleen. Sometimes patients with PCP become so ill they need to be intubated (where a tube is placed into the airway to allow for mechanical ventilation because patients are unable to breathe for themselves). 

- Cachexia (sometimes known as HIV Wasting Syndrome): a syndrome that is associated with progressive illness, it describes unintentional weight loss (of more than 10% of the patient’s initial body weight). Nutritional supplementation can help to slow muscle wasting but is not always effective. This is another AIDS-defining illness - think of the pictures of skeletal AIDS patients in hospital. (Don’t know what I’m talking about? Scroll to the bottom of the post for some archival footage of AIDS patients). 

- Esophageal candidiasis: an infection of the oesophagus that causes difficulty swallowing which can be very painful. It is often accompanied by thrush (white, raised lumps or spots) in the throat. It can further compound problems for patients with cachexia, as E. candidasis can lead to more unintentional weight loss. 

- Cytomegalovirus: a virus that occurs in patients who have been untreated for a long period. It causes retinopathy (damage to the retina) and is irreversible. It can cause permanent blindness. Occurs in 15-40% of AIDS patients. 

(NB: These are only a few infections that come under the AIDS umbrella - there are many, many more. All the bullet points contain hyperlinks to their sources, click to learn more.) 

Since AIDS is a collection of diseases and not just one, AIDS cannot be passed from one person to the next. HIV however, can be transmitted from one person to another which can then progress to AIDS in the other person. 

Where did HIV come from? 

HIV was first documented in America in 1960, but its existence only became more well-known in the early 1980s, when doctors noticed trends of PCP and Kaposi’s sarcoma occurring in gay men in New York, L.A. and San Francisco. HIV was first found in the UK in 1981. 

HIV is thought to have originated from chimpanzees in Central Africa as early as the 1800s. If we think about it this way, HIV can be considered as a zoonotic disease. A zoonotic disease is one that originates in non-human animals but is then transferred to the human population, either by animal populations and humans residing too closely with one another or by way of genetic mutation (interestingly, COVID-19 is another example of a zoonotic disease). Zoonotic diseases can sometimes cause no harm to the animals they come from but can go on to cause disease in humans. There is some uncertainty as to why HIV emerged in chimpanzees to begin with - it may have been passed on to chimps from another animal or it could be the result of genetic mutation and viral evolution, or even viral dormancy. The literature just isn’t there to have a definite answer, probably because science and scientific method just wasn’t what it is now when HIV first appeared. 

But however it came about, HIV/ AIDS would go on to become one of the biggest threats to the gay population in the twentieth century (and unfortunately, still is today). HIV/AIDS killed over eight million people worldwide by the early 1990s (albeit not all of them gay). It is hard to get exact figures for how many AIDS patients were homosexual; many who were closeted chose not to disclose their orientation and would instead give other reasons for their HIV+ status (such as intravenous drug use or heterosexual unprotected sex). But, to give an example, in this 1997 study at one urban hospital in Canada, 95% of HIV/AIDS deaths were attributed to gay or bisexual men. 

Although HIV/AIDS occurred worldwide during this period (and continues to occur today), the HIV crisis or HIV epidemic was specific to America. The terms are often used to refer to events in the UK too, although the UK’s epidemic was much more concentrated (though it was not any less serious). “The crisis” as it is colloquially known spans the period between 1981-1997 and was characterised by widespread HIV transmission among the gay and bisexual male population, particularly concentrated in urban areas and major cities. This urbanisation of the disease was well known, and was fictionally demonstrated in the British docu-drama series It’s A Sin, in which gay man Ritchie is spurned by a potential lover on the Isle of Wight because he is a “London Boy” whom, it is assumed, is at greater risk of carrying the virus because he lives in the city. 

How is HIV transmitted?

HIV transmission occurs can only happen if a HIV negative person comes into direct contact with certain bodily fluids that are contaminated with HIV from an infected person. The fluids of the uninfected and infected person have to physically mix in order for transmission to occur. 

This can happen through unprotected sex with a HIV+ person (both homosexual and heterosexual), needle sharing by intravenous drug users, through breastfeeding if the nursing mother is infected, and via the placenta in pregnant women if the expectant mother is already infected. It is worth nothing that, with treatment, not all bodily fluids can transmit the HIV virus. Saliva, tears and sweat can not transmit the virus if they are not already mixed with infected blood. If a HIV+ person is receiving continuous, consistent treatment (usually by taking anti-retro viral therapy drugs), they are referred to as having a viral load that is undetectable. This means that the presence of the virus in their body is so low it cannot be passed on to anyone else. Research has shown that even unprotected sex with someone with an undetectable viral load will not cause transmission of HIV. 

What was the government’s response? 

- Ronald Reagan was president from 1981 and 1989. During the first four years of the crisis, President Ronald Reagan never said a word about the disease. He chose to largely ignore the problem, and his administration was heavily criticised for refusing to allocate more funding for AIDS research later on into his Presidency, despite pleas from doctors at the CDC. This video goes some way to unveil the casual homophobia Reagan exhibited in press interviews when he was repeatedly asked about AIDS. A close confidant of Reagan, North Carolina Senator Jesse Helms, once referred to gay people as “weak, morally sick wretches.” In 1993 he attempted to block the appointment of out lesbian Roberta Achtenberg to government “because she’s a damn lesbian", adding “she’s not your garden-variety lesbian. She’s a militant-activist-mean lesbian”. In 1991, activists responded to Helms’ opposition to the People With AIDS community (PWA) by condoming his house. Activists engulfed his entire house in a 15 foot giant condom. “A CONDOM TO PREVENT UNSAFE POLITICS. HELMS IS DEADLIER THAN A VIRUS” was printed on the inflatable. The event was captured live on TV. 

- George Bush Sr. was vice-president to Reagan throughout Reagan’s presidency (1981-89). Bush was president for only one term, from 1989 to 1993. His response was largely the same as his predecessors, with some critics calling his reaction to the AIDS crisis “mixed at best or calculated indifference at worst”. Urvashi Vaid led the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force from 1989 to 1992 said this about Bush in a 2018 interview: “He did not use his voice or office as president or, for that matter, as vice president, to address what was happening to tens of thousands of Americans.” During  Bush’s term in office, 70,000 people died of AIDS. 

Social stigma and the gay response

Due to the nature of HIV transmission, HIV/AIDS was not considered dangerous by the general (heterosexual) public. Because it proliferated amongst “undesirable” social groups like homosexuals, the homeless, sex workers and drug users, there was little incentive for the rest of society to care. There were many politicians like Jesse Helms (see above) who thought that “the dirty homosexuals deserved what they were getting” (paraphrased, but you get the idea). Among the medical community at the time, AIDS was considered a “gay disease” - it was incorrectly concluded that heterosexuals were not at risk of contracting HIV (this assumption was only corrected much later on, when it was proved that heterosexuals were in fact getting HIV). HIV/AIDS was even referred to by healthcare professionals as “the gay cancer”. 

As a result, there was much resistance to the early AIDS campaigners and there was little support for the gay community. The National Institute of Health was accused by activists of under-funding and under-producing research on the disease. Through tireless lobbying of government and health organisations in the United States, the gay community made themselves known.They demanded drug research and better healthcare, and to achieve that they led hundreds and hundreds of protests for the better part of two decades. They protested outside of government buildings (even the White House), occupied churches to prevent homophobic sermons taking place, and led “kiss-ins”, protests where gay people would kiss openly in public. Activists often used their own bodies to protest - people would lie in the street, blocking roads and access to state properties. They would be forcibly removed by the police and in many cases, beaten and arrested despite peacefully protesting. 

By 1995, a number of drugs were discovered and tested in clinical trials. They showed promise, and many in the gay community felt a sense of victory that they had finally found an effective treatment. However, there was also a profound sense of loss at the time and many grieved the hundreds of thousands they had already lost to AIDS. This feeling is demonstrated in David France’s documentary How To Survive a Plague. In one scene, France is taping a demonstration where people are holding urns with the ashes of people who have died from AIDS. He interviews one young man carrying an urn, who says: 

“I think this [the demonstration] is moving, it’s like making something beautiful out of the epidemic and I felt like showing there is nothing beautiful about this. This is what I’m left with. A box full of ashes and bone chips, you know, there’s no beauty in that and I felt like a statement like this saying, look at this, this is what [George] Bush has done. This is what him and Reagan have done. Our loved ones, this is what they’ve been reduced to. We’re bringing them to the [people] responsible for their death.” 

The crowd behind him begins to chant - Bring[ing] the dead to your door! We won’t take it anymore!” 

There is another young man who opens the urn he is carrying and throws the ashes of his partner into the street: “I love you, Mike! I love you Mike!” 

Who were the major players in HIV/AIDS activism?

- Peter Staley: the founder of the Treatment Action Group and AIDSmeds.com. He was diagnosed with AIDS-Related Complex in 1985 and became quickly involved in activism. A quote from Peter in the documentary How To Survive a Plague (dir. David France): “To be threatened with extinction and to not lay down, to instead stand up and fight back. The way we did it, the way we took care of ourselves and each other, the goodness that we showed, the humanity that we showed the world is just incredible. To lose that many good people, you know, like any war you wonder why you came home.” 

- Bob Rafsky: the chief spokesperson of ACT UP who only came out as gay at the age of 40 in 1985; he divorced his wife but they remained amicable and he continued to co-parent his daughter Sara whilst taking a more active role in the gay community and AIDS campaigning. He contracted HIV in 1987 and died in 1991 at the age of 47. A quote from Rob in France’s documentary: “The names of the people who will save our lives are not Bill Clinton or Jerry Brown. The people who might save our lives are Iris Long, Mark Harrington, Peter Staley et cetera. And they are the ones who will be remembered as the heroes of this epidemic as well as those who were born before.” 

- Larry Kramer: the playwright who was well-known for his written work as well as his activism for the gay community. He co-founded the Gay Men’s Health Crisis, a non-profit that still supports people living with AIDS today. He went on to found the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) in 1987. He is quoted as saying “every single drug that’s out there is because of ACT Up. No one else got us the drugs. We - ACT UP)- got those drugs out there. It is the proudest achievement of the gay population of this world will ever claim.” He managed to avoid contracting HIV and lived long enough to see the legalisation of same sex marriage. He married his husband David Webster in 2013. They had been together since 1991; Kramer died in 2020, less than a month short of his 85th birthday. 

- Mark Lowe Fisher was an ACT UP activist who died of AIDS complications on 29th October 1992. He is quoted as saying “I want my [own] funeral to be fierce and defiant.” ACT UP protesters distributed flyers after his death that read ‘Join us as we indict George Bush with Murder. Political funeral Monday 2nd November, 3:00pm’. The funeral was video taped by David France. This footage later featured in his documentary. A procession to George Bush’s re-election headquarters followed the service at Judson Memorial Church. Bob Rafsky, the spokesperson of ACT UP, gave this speech on the street outside Bush’s offices: “This isn’t a political funeral for Mark, it is [a political funeral] for the man who killed him and so many others and is slowly killing me. George Bush, we believe you will lose because there is still some justice left in the universe and some compassion left in the American people. We put this curse on you, Mark’s spirit will haunt you so that in the moment of your defeat, you will remember our defeat. And that in the moment of your death, you will remember our death. As for Mark, when the living can no longer speak, the dead may speak for them. Mark’s voice is here with us. Let the whole Earth hear us now, we beg, we cry, we demand that this epidemic end. Not just so that we may live, but so that Mark’s soul may rest in peace at last. In anger and in grief, this fight is not over until all of us are safe.”

- Iris Long: a heterosexual housewife and chemist, Long earned her PhD in organic chemistry in 1972 and despite having no connection to people with AIDS, she volunteered to support the Community Research Initiative. Initially there to distribute experimental drugs to those in need, she later became a prominent supporter of ACT UP, teaching members about infectious disease and human biology. The knowledge she shared with the community was instrumental in their success; their proposals demanding that the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) run clinical trials for numerous drugs would not have progressed without her know-how.

Lesbian involvement in AIDS activism 

Lesbians were heavily involved in AIDS activism from the beginning. HIV/AIDS did not decimate the lesbian population as it did the gay male population, but both lesbians and gay men rallied together for their community during the AIDS crisis. Female-female HIV transmission is rare;  although we aren’t sure exactly why, it is likely to be a combination of factors, including the differing ways male-male sex occurs to female-female sex. Lesbian sex can involve a lower risk of exchanging bodily fluids (because vaginal fluids are not always produced in the quantities that semen is), and because if saliva is exchanged through intercourse it does not carry as much of a risk as other body fluids. Despite the lesser risk, there were undoubtedly some lesbians who were infected with HIV, but their transmission would’ve likely come about by other means, such as intravenous drug use, homelessness, or survival sex.  

Take a look at just some of the ways lesbians were integral to the fight against AIDS…

Fire eating lesbians: A history of arson as violence against the gay and lesbian community

Women, AIDS and Activism fighting invisibility 

The lesbian ‘blood sisters’ who cared for gay men when doctors were too scared to

Treatments and the future of HIV

HIV is no longer a death sentence thanks to the tireless work of the AIDS activists you have just read about, who brought about the drugs and treatment regimens we have today. However, it is still a major issue in the LGBT community and there is still a major stigma attached to a HIV/AIDS diagnosis. 

It is important to not get complacent of the risks this disease still poses to our community. Initiatives like safer sex campaigns and needle exchange programmes (that were also won for us by the activists) go some way to minimise the transmission of HIV/AIDS, but there is still more to be done to eradicate this disease completely. HIV Vaccine Awareness Day (May 18th) is led by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) and is “a chance to thank the volunteers, community members, health professionals, and scientists working together to find a safe and effective preventive HIV vaccine. It is also a time to educate communities about the importance of preventive HIV vaccine research”.

Where can I learn more?

Documentaries. There are literally dozens and dozens of free documentaries available right now on YouTube. Some good ones to start with are:                  

 - How To Survive a Plague dir. David France (x) 

- Life Before the Lifeboat: San Francisco’s Courageous Response to AIDS (x)

- The Age of AIDS (x)

- A Time of Change: Confronting AIDS (x)

If books are more your thing:

- David France, director of How To Survive a Plague has a book of the same name to accompany the documentary. 

- And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS epidemic by Randy Shilts (1987). 

- AIDS and It’s Metaphors by Susan Sontag (1989).

- Close to the Knives: A Memoir of Disintegration by David Wojnarowicz (1991). 

Advocacy groups and links: 

- Terrence Higgins Trust (UK only), established after the death of Terry Higgins in 1982. He was one of the first people to die of AIDS in the United Kingdom and has become famous posthumously thanks to the awareness efforts of this charity set up in his name. 

- National AIDS Trust (UK only), one of the mainstream organisations in the UK with links and information on symptoms, transmission, prevention and its own advocacy network. 

- For the science and worldwide data archives on HIV/AIDS, see the relevant pages from the World Health Organisation. 

- The Elton John AIDS Foundation funds international front line treatment efforts and campaigns to end HIV stigma. 

- The International AIDS Society is a global network and the world’s largest association of HIV professionals, known for its scientific rigour and Research for Prevention conferences. 

HIV research is ongoing. Take a look…

Are people with HIV more susceptible to COVID-19?

The four-decade quest for an HIV vaccine yields new hope

[godflex]

Its Teddy The DYKE. Get a clue wise guy

[barkkboi]

In Translation

(self portrait series, 04/04/19, color version)

[trans-butch-community]

Just wanted to share that "alltheseknots" is a lesbian webcomic! It uses anthropomorphic characterization and about autism, auditive loss and manipulation in friendships. I like that the characters aren't hyperfeminized like in mainstream stuff with the lashes and bows and wigs etc, they just look like the male coded animals tend to do, but female. You can read it on instagram.

thanks for the ref!

[genderoutlaws]

Vintage pins from the LHA button collection

[trans-butch-community]

Look up SOME GROUND TO STAND ON, old film by Joyce Warshow and SHINJUKU BOYS, film by Kim Longinotto and Jano Williams

xxx

[trans-butch-community]

this blog is epic! thanks for curating it

<3

[trans-butch-community]

Title: Toms: The Complex World of Female Love in Thailand

Date: 2015

Produced by: Coconuts TV. Producers Watsamon Tri-Yasakda, Thana Thanapornrapee, Katrina Kaufman, Alexander Hotz.

Graphic Motions by: Thana Thanapornrapee, Praewphan Tansanga.

Duration: 16 Min

In this short documentary, the viewers take a peek into the world of asian Toms. In Thailand, a "tom" (ทอม) is a female person who dresses, acts, and possibly speaks in a masculine fashion. A "dee" or "di" (ดี้, deriving from the English word lady), is a homosexual (or bisexual) female who follows outward Thai gender norms. A dee will look, act, and speak in a manner congruent with Thai female gender norms. The Tom-Dee, Tom-Tom, and Dee-Dee dynamics bear a resemblance to the more western Butch4Femme, Butch4Butch and Femme4Femme partnerships or identities respectively. Like butches, toms also share traits overlapping with ftms or transmen.

---------------------------

Transcript --in case you're disabled, the video is blocked or gone or you just find the english narrator's voice annoying lol--

People nowadays live in a less conventional society. They don't have to follow the idea that women have to like men and men like women. A Tom is a woman who dresses up like a guy, a woman who doesn't want to be like a woman and is also attracted to other women.

Narrator: Thailand is one of the most tolerant places on Earth when it comes to issues of sex and gender. The nation's capital of Bangkok is famous for its "kathoeys" or "third gender". These transwomen** are individuals who were men but now identify as female. Less well known are another non-traditional gender group called "toms". Toms are women who take on masculine characteristics but don't identify as men. Typically toms wear their hair short and dress in men clothing. While they share some traits of butch lesbians they are different and tom culture is unique to Thailand.

(**note not present in the video: the K word sometimes translated to english as "ladyman" or "ladyboy" is not exclusively used for TW, it may also be applied to non-trans gnc homosexual males or even used more loosely towards any male who expresses traditionally 'feminine' qualities).

[short footage of movie "She: Their Love Story" (2012)]

Today toms are more visible in Thailand than ever. They can be found acting in Thai popular movies. Some develop large fanbases on social media. There's even a magazine devoted solely to those who love them. We wanted to learn more about Thailand's toms so we decided to follow two of them as they prepare for Mr Tom Act, an annual talent competition with all tom contestants. We fist met up with Zom (Patcharee Anantaveerat), a semi celebrity on instagram who loves to workout.

Z: My goal is not to be the winner. All I want is to do my best. I want to feel like i've done everything that I can. I don't want to feel like I should've done better when it's too late. My hobbies? I mostly spend time in the gym. Since I was young, i've been into boyish activities and loved to play like a boy. I felt excited when i was with girls and boys were just friends. I've never dated a guy so i've never been heartbroken by any of them, I can't even picture myself going out with a man.

Narrator: Am (Chayapich Puangmalai) is another contestant in the Mr. Tom Act competition. We met up with her as she was practicing with her band:

A: I'm practicing singing a lot because I have to sing in the next show. I'm training both myself and my band.

I realized that i was a tom in primary school and i started to take it seriously around 9th grade, because i had dated a guy before and it didn't feel right. When i was in 9th grade i knew for sure that i was into girls and decided to cut my hair. I've been going out with girls since then. People will soon realize that toms can do things just like normal people. Society will recognize us more, they may try to accept us more.

Narrator: People of all genders have lived openly in Thai society for centuries but toms are a relatively new phenomenon. The roots can be traced back to the 1970s when the english word "lesbian" entered Thai conciousness. At that time being a homosexual was considered by many thai people to be a mental disorder.

Sulaiporn Chonwilai (LGBT researcher and activist): Women who loved women at that time associated the word "lesbian" with a negative image, that's why nobody wanted to use the word. So they invented a term based on the word "tomboy" which seems to fit more with their character, for women who behave in a more masculine way like a guy.

Narrator: Many toms engage in relationships with "dees", or women who look and speak in a traditional if not hyperfeminine manner. In some ways tom and dee relationships are similar to the western idea of butch and femme but that label doesn't quite fit. Munthana Adisayathepkul is one of the most prominent figures in the modern tom community. In 2000 she founded lesla.com the most popular online community for women who love women in Thailand. She also hosts the biggest party for lesbians in southeast Asia.

Lesla founder: By definition, lesbian clearly means women who love women. It implies that women take on dominant and submissive roles in bed. There are some toms who are kind of "hardcore" and feel they should only be a "giver" in bed. Some of them don't want to be categorized as lesbians (who are both dominant and submissive), so they prefer to use the label tom instead of lesbian. This only exists in Thai culture.

Narrator: For thais, lesbians are associated with feminine traits while toms are seen as more masculine. Toms tend to dress similarly and have a more distinct look.

Lesla founder: Thai toms have to conform to a pattern. You have to look manly like a guy. A tom has to be strong, someone who can take care of their partner. To be like guy firstly you have to have a flat chest. Secondly, you have to be able to protect your girl. Thirdly you have to act like a 'sugar daddy' and pay for everything for your girl.

Narrator: This adherence to clearly define social and dress codes is what makes toms different from mainstream lesbian culture.

Lesla founder:Thai toms are different from lesbians anywhere else, it could be due to our upbringing. Thais are taught that you shouldn't be yourself but what others tell you to be. Unlike westeners, who can express their individuality. Thai toms have been told that they should be a certain way, so everybody feels like they have to follow that pattern. Some might not feel like themselves while following that pattern, but they do it anyway.

[short footage of movie "Yes or No: Yaak Rak Gaw Rak Loey" (2010)]

Narrator: Despite Thailand's culture of tolerance, women identifying themselves as toms or lesbians are often viewed negatively by the society.

Sulaiporn Chonwilai: Is Thai society really "open"? Well, Thai society is open for people to be anything they want as long as that doesn't affect others. But are parents really accepting? Are their rights the same as heterosexual people? The answer is No. Yes you can see toms, kathoeys and dees walking on the street but that doesn't mean they have the same rights as straight men and women.

Narrator: It's clear that visibility doesn't mean equality, but things are changing fast and new oportunities like the Mr Tom competition are increasing the acceptance of toms.

It's the morning of the competition and toms from all over the country gather at the event's space in Bangkok to rehearse. Tom Act, a glossy magazine devoted to toms, is the main sponsor of the event.

Lapatsarin Charoenphun, dee interviewee: "@Tom Act magazine" is published for every single tom out there. The content of the magazine contains a message of "We are family". We'll go and interview parents who have a tom daughter. Some families are alright with it but some are not. People may see that there are a lot of toms and think that means all toms are free to openly be themselves, but a lot of them are still hiding. They like girls but they can't tell anyone or even wear short hair because their parents wouldn't approve. But now that we've established the magazine, they can encourage their fathers to read it or put it somewhere that their parents can easily see. When adults see the magazine, they'll realize that toms are just human beings.

I'm actually going out with a tom right now. In my school years she played basketball just like i did. I felt more comfortable talking to her. It was kind of exciting, it was like... I like it! But i didn't know that it was love. At first i didn't say i was into toms because i didn't want to limit my love life. Now I know for sure that i like being with girls, I love to look at beautiful and cool girls.

While many toms date dees like miss Lapat, not all do. Another interesting aspect of toms is that many of them prefer "one way" relationships, but that doesn't apply to all of them.

Lesla founder: In Thai culture, there are gender identity labels for women who love women. Tom, dee and les are the primary ones. There are also sub-labels which classify roles in the bedroom, which are "one way" (either only giver or receiver) or "two way" (both giver and receiver). There's tom one way, tom two way, dee one way, dee two way, les one way, and les two way. Women can be classified by the person they are attracted to. There are toms who love dees. There is "tom gay", which is toms who love toms, they are attracted to the same personality. Dees are just dees. There are "les kings" and "les queens", which can be seen in their style: Les kings dress up like typical women but more sporty, smart and a bit manly, les queens dress up like typical women.

Narrator: Needless to say, unless you're part of this community, understanding the relationship dynamics is complicated, what's clear though is that there are many different types of tom relationships out there.

[On screen: One hour before the competition]

Zom: It's almost show time, I'm so excited! My heart is beating so fast but i'll do my best.

Am: I'm excited because this is my first performance and i'm backstage. So exciting!

[Show Scenes]

Narrator: About halfway through the competition, each tom contestant wades into the crowd to collect stickers from fans in the audience. Each sticker is a vote in favour of that tom. Within this packed house these toms enjoy the sort of reception usually experienced by pop stars. After five hours of dancing and singing it was finally time for the awards.

Unnamed show presenter, also a tom: Let's start by giving the first award of tonight, "Aphrodite Idol". The award goes to "Zom" Patcharee Anantaveerat. ...

Here's another special award, "I Fesh Up Idol". The award goes to "Zom" Patcharee Anantaveerat.

Narrator: Zom ended up winning three awards, the biggest of which is the "Smart Tom" award, that is given to the best all-around contestant.

Z: I was glad to see all my fans and supporters who came here today. I feel so great. Some fans even flew from Southern Thailand. WIthout them, i wouldn't be here today.

Sulaiporn Chonwilai: Traditionally sexuality is seen as binary masculine and feminine. If you're a tom or a man who is masculine, you are expected to be attracted to someone feminine, either a woman or a dee. However, there's another way of thinking about sexuality, that believes it's changeable or fluid.

Lesla founder: In the community of women who love women, you shouldn't pay much attention to labels. whether they're tom or dee or lesbian. The only thing that matters is that they love women and they're part of a community that makes them happy.

[Credits]

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Other terms that are related are "ying rak ying" (หญิงรักหญิง, women who love women, WLW) and "rak pheet diaw khan" (same-sex love)

If you're further interested in reading more about this subculture, these can help:

https://web.archive.org/web/20170130233914/https://nextshark.com/thailand-18-different-gender-identities/  -  There's a chance this was mistranslated from japanese considering the original image in the tweet.

Lady Boys, Tom Boys, Rent Boys: Male and Female Homosexualities in Contemporary Thailand (Gerard Sullivan, Peter Jackson - 1999)

https://www.goodreads.com/book/234467/get_a_copy

https://www.worldcat.org/title/lady-boys-tom-boys-rent-boys-male-and-female-homosexualities-in-contemporary-thailand/oclc/231791993?loc=

Toms and Dees: Transgender Identity and Female Same-Sex Relationships in Thailand (Megan J. Sinnott - 2004)

https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt6wqw5m https://muse.jhu.edu/book/8152

https://www.goodreads.com/book/9208160/get_a_copy

https://www.worldcat.org/title/toms-and-dees-transgender-identity-and-female-same-sex-relationships-in-thailand/oclc/731268888?loc=

Gay women in Thailand push boundaries (Jocelyn Gecker - 2011): https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna42783926

The Gender Issues and Identities of the Young Tomboy and Lesbian in Chiang Mai and Phitsanulok of Thailand (Rajabhat Journal of Science - 2019)

https://ph01.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/psru/article/view/165948

https://www.academia.edu/40230046/THE_GENDER_ISSUES_AND_IDENTITIES_OF_THE_YOUNG_TOMBOY_AND_LESBIAN_IN_CHIANG_MAI_AND_PHITSANULOK_OF_THAILAND

Toward the Complexity of Identity: “Being and Not Being Lesbian” in Contemporary Thailand (Nuntiya Doungphummes, Nitida Sangsingkeo - 2020): https://www.researchgate.net/publication/346800934_Toward_the_Complexity_of_Identity_Being_and_Not_Being_Lesbian_in_Contemporary_Thailand

💖 LONG LIVE LESBIANS 💖

[trans-butch-community]

Would you make a review of The Swashbuckler by author Lee Lynch??? it's an old fiction book of butch x butch love.

will put it on my to read list !

[femaleuncles]

These are a handful of paintings from the series “Butch Heroes,” by artist Ria Brodell. The concept was based on her meticulous research, digging up historically forgotten figures from all over the world from between the 1400s and the 1800s, of people who were assigned female, had documented relationships with women, and whose gender presentation leaned towards the masculine – passing as men or dressing and working in typically “male” ways for the time. She grew up Catholic, and so drawing from that, the depictions are reminiscent of saint cards (and pretty heavy on the martyrdom, warning for that). She doesn’t use pronouns for any of them because there is no way to know how they would have self conceptualized then, let alone now – the only thing we have is the descriptions of how they lived their lives, and how they died. A lot of them – in particular, the “non martyrs” – were “deathbed discoveries,” a phrase used often in old newspapers and writings about people who passed until after dying. There is something so powerful to see depictions of people like us as revered saints… particularly as these stories have been hidden from history.  More paintings, along with detailed descriptions of these peoples’ lives: (x) More in depth information about the series and her process: (x) To buy the book (I have it, its gorgeous): (x)

[mumshie]

every day i am filled with love and adoration for lesbian masculinity

[trans-butch-community]

check out the book " If You Could Be Mine" by Sara Farizan.

goodreads here

[naiadpress2]

hey yall, i was doing some research today and i found out the lgbt voices section on jstor has a whole TON of back issues of lesbian / feminist periodicals 🤩🤩🤩 here’s a few:

lesbian tide

lesbian connection

sinister wisdom

common lives / lesbian lives

amazon quarterly

lavender woman

big mama rag

most of them are open access and free to download too!!! we luv it!!!!!