Why the use of 'butch' as an insult rankles some in the LGBTQ+ community

The exchange of appearance-based insults between U.S. Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Jasmine Crockett made waves last month — including with some in the LGBTQ+ community who object to “butch” being used negatively.

Greene and Crockett got personal during debate in the House Oversight Committee last month over whether to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress over his refusal to release audio recordings of his interview with former Special Counsel Robert Hur about Biden’s handling of classified documents. Garland has released transcripts. The matter is part of House Republicans’ effort to impeach Biden. The Republican-led committee voted to do so, and now the full House must vote.

At one point during the discussion, Greene, a Georgia Republican, said to Crockett, a Texas Democrat, “I think your fake eyelashes are messing up what you’re reading.”

Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the highest-ranking Democrat on the committee, clapped back: “That’s beneath even you, Ms. Greene.” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat from New York, jumped in, saying, “How dare you attack the physical appearance of another person.”

Then Crockett got in her own digs at Greene. “If someone on this committee then starts talking about somebody’s bleach-blond, bad-built butch body, that would not be engaging in personalities, correct?” she asked Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, a Republican. Comer’s response was “A what now?”

People in the LGBTQ+ and otherwise progressive communities note that there’s much to criticize about Greene, who has embraced many wild conspiracy theories and often spewed anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric. But some are saying “butch” shouldn’t be used as an insult.

Crockett’s use of it “was derogatory to those lesbians or those communities who identify as butch,” activist Tiera M. Craig told The Advocate. Some lesbians and transgender men embrace a butch identity heartily, noted Craig, who describes herself as a masculine-presenting lesbian. She is founder of What in the L?!: All Things Lesbian, an organization based in the Washington, D.C., area that provides workshops, social networking, and community events with the goal of uplifting the voices of lesbians and preventing their erasure.

“The whole dang conversation was out of control,” Craig said. She doesn’t agree with Greene on anything, and she doesn’t think Crockett meant to offend, but she thinks the Texas congresswoman should apologize. Crockett is in her first term representing Texas’s 30^th Congressional District, which includes parts of Dallas and some of its suburbs, and she has positioned herself as an LGBTQ+ ally. “Congresswoman Crockett is determined to file and pass safeguards for the rights of the LGBTQIA+ community,” her congressional website reads.

The Advocate emailed Crockett’s office seeking comment but did not receive a response. Crockett has since defended her remarks and promoting T-shirts imprinted with them that she’s selling to raise money for Democrats.

On CNN’s State of the Union, she told host Jake Tapper she was merely asking for clarification of what qualified as a personal attack, and Comer didn’t hear her. Tapper pointed out, “She went after your appearance … and you went back at her a thousand-fold.” Crockett replied, “I did, and in a very lawyerly way.”

Tapper presses Crockett over her counterattack about Marjorie Taylor Greene's appearancewww.youtube.com

Greene, meanwhile, responded by defending her body and her exercise regimen. “Yes my body is built and strong NOT with nips, tucks, plastic, or silicone, but through a healthy lifestyle,” she posted on X, formerly Twitter, with a video of her lifting weights. “Soon turning 50 years old, God willing, I will continue to lift, run, swim, play sports, surf, ski, climb and LIVE this life to the fullest and enjoy every single moment!”