From 'butch' lesbian to 'straight' jock dude: What transition taught trans athlete about orientationhttps://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nba/from-butch-lesbian-to-straight-jock-dude-what-transition-taught-trans-athlete-about-orientation/ar-AA1GTcSr?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=ff028ac4ea1b4e80d48b0decf1e52d73&ei=93Story by Jay Robinson (17 June 2025)
When I was younger, people saw me as a butch lesbian. I didn't exactly feel like a woman, but I didn't have the words for what I was feeling either.
What I did know was that I was attracted to women — and that wasn't going to change. For a long time, "butch" was the closest label I could find that made sense of how I moved through the world: masculine, protective, a little rough around the edges.
Now, people see me as a straight man. And technically, I am. But when people say I "went from butch lesbian to straight guy," it flattens everything in between. It suggests something fundamental changed about who I am — when in reality, the most consistent part of me has always been who I love.
Coming out as trans gave me the language — and the life — I'd always wanted. But it also meant that some people suddenly saw my sexuality as something totally different. They assumed I must now be into men, as if one coming out automatically necessitated another. Others figured I'd always been a straight man in disguise. The truth is more complicated. I never "became" straight. I just kept being who I'd always been, and my gender finally caught up.
