stylelikeu:“As a child, I was completely and utterly in love with the girl next door. I talked to my
stylelikeu:“As a child, I was completely and utterly in love with the girl next door. I talked to my sister about it, and she said that I shouldn’t talk about it. That’s the standard Catholic thing: if you ignore it, it will go away. At the time, being gay was still considered a mental disease. I hated myself for not being normal. I ate a lot (as a comfort situation) and I was exasperated. I was cowering in the closet, terrified that someone would know my dirty little secret. I didn’t have Modern Family or Will and Grace. I thought I was the only one. It was difficult to accept that I was this person. But when I got my fake ID and went to my first gay bar, I felt like I was home. There was a big old monster dagger butch sitting at the bar who screamed at me, ‘Hey, baby butch, come here!’ Her name was Al, and she raised me. The media portrays butches as fat and stupid – we beat our wives, cause fights, and drive trucks. My entire life has been trying to put a positive spin on what it is to be butch. Butches do everything – we cook, we clean, and, of course, we take care of our femme. With the younger generation, there’s more feminism attached to what it means to be butch. At 57, I still do old-school stuff, like opening doors for my finance. But when I open a door for a woman, I’m not implying she’s weak. To me, it’s a matter of politeness and respect. I’ll a open a door for a man! When it gets down to brass tax, I think the point of feminism is to not be so influenced by what other people think. I don’t put up with shit with anyone and I never have.” - Lea DeLeria in our new episode of the What’s Underneath Project. For her full story, watch her video! -- source link