Stone Butch Blues is one of those books that came out when I was in college that people talked about so much, I thought I had read it. This winter over lunch with a student I realized that I had confused it with another book and had indeed not read it. It was time.
Over the few nights that I read it I found myself staying up later and later tearing through the pages. The compelling story is about a “stone butch” growing up in the 60s and 70s in the Buffalo, NY area. Feinberg explores gender, sexuality, class, factory unions and a little bit of love. The part that still lives in my head is the police brutality — from sweeps of gay bars to sexual assault and torture in prison — it was a vibrant reminder of the violent cruelty that exists within our own country. Leslie Feinberg is a true gender warrior.