Futch

Futch is a term use to describe a lesbian, bisexual, or otherwise sapphic female (or feminine-aligned non-binary individual) who presents with a mix of feminine (femme) and masculine (butch) traits. They typically dress and present themselves in a way that is gender neutral or androgynous, not going too far towards masculine or feminine, or they may present more strongly femme sometimes and more strongly butch other times. Futch individuals can be cisgender, transgender, or any other gender modality.

Futchfluid
Futchfluid is a lesbian, bisexual or otherwise sapphic women who is futch and fluid. This means they either switch from masculine, to feminine, to androgynous in their presentation, though futchfluid can also be applied to someone who's gender is best described as futchfluid and female.

Other Terms
The term "chapstick lesbian" is typically synonymous with futch, and is based on the term "lipstick lesbian".

Lipgloss Lesbian
Someone who is in between butch and femme but leans more towards femme.

Stem
A stem (sometimes spelled "stemme", from "Stud-fem" ) is a form of futchness that is specific to black women. It is in between femme and stud. Stud is a term dedicated to black women in particular, and is seen as cultural appropriation for non-black individuals to adopt the term.

History
Although some incorrectly believe that the term futch was created for "futch scale" meme as a joke, there are urban dictionary definitions of "futch" matching the current definition from at least 2007, several years prior to the meme.

Additionally, in an issue from the Advocate from August 20, 2002 a 41 year old lesbian identifies as "futch", defined as "a feminine butch".

"Futchfluid" was coined by an anonymous user through an ask sent to the tumblr blog beyond-mogai-pride-flags on April 4th, 2018.

Flag and Symbol
The first pink and brown futch flag was created by tumblr user spencerhastings (now tumblr user wellick) on Nov 29th, 2017 It is a combination of the Femme flag by Tumblr user noodle and the Butch flag by tumblr user butchspace.

The Futchfluid flags were made by tumblr user obscure-dare on April 5th, 2018. The first design is an original idea, with the pink, traditionally feminine, fading into the lavender, the “middle ground” between pink and blue, then the blue, traditionally masculine, fading into the lavender. Plus, the repeating circle with only pink and blue, symbolizing moving directly from feminine to masculine.

The second one is based on the genderfluid flag, except the middle magenta is replaced with the futch lilac, and the pink and blue–femme and butch–are on the outside of the gradient, symbolizing the outward presentation rather than a standalone gender identity.

The Nonbinary Futch flag was made by tumblr user beyond-mogai-pride-flags on August 7th, 2018. It has no known meanings.

The Bi and Pan Futch flags were created by now-deactivated Tumblr user queer-experiences on or before July 28th, 2018. They were made by combining spencerhastings/wellick's Futch flag with the Bi and Pan flags.

The futch flag by Tumblr user arco-pluris was created on April 16th, 2020. The flag was a result of four flags, butch and femme by disasterbisexual, femme by mogaimom and butch by xeno-aligned. There's no known meaning.

An alternate futch flag was created by Mermista of the Tumblr blog plurgai on Jun 27th, 2020. It was made using colors from the butch and femme flags (unclear which versions). The top color came from mixing the heavy femme and stone butch colors.

The Trans, Transmasc, Transfem, and Intersex Futch flags were made by tumblr user mogaimom on July 21, 2020. The Transneutral Futch flag was made by mogaimom on July 22nd, 2020. The Transxenine Futch flag was made by mogaimom on Jul 27th, 2020.

Another alternate futch flag was created by genderqueer-dream on July 28th, 2020. There is no known meaning.

The "horizon futch" flag or "all-inclusive" futch flag was created by kenochoric on or before December 23rd, 2020. Purple represents the inclusion of all futches, including POC, disabled, fat, GNC, and all other futches. Blue represents the butch and femme roots and history. Futch has roots from both, but it is also it’s own whole identity. Green represents support for femmes, butches, other futches, and the wider community. Yellow represents inclusivity and tolerance. Orange represents autonomy and independence. Red represents futch history and culture. Red-pink represents LGBTQ+ history.

A third alternate futch flag was created by wiki user Bdarcy2 on July 26th, 2021. It was a combination of the butch and femme flags by Tumblr user nbgender.

The Lipgloss Lesbian flag was made by tumblr user Demilesbian on February 4th, 2021.

The Black Futch Community Flag was made by tumblr user the-gender-thieves on Apr 13th, 2022. The colors were inspired by "the the dyke flag (you don’t need to have reclaimed dyke to use this flag), and a variety of futch flags". The meanings are "Black - black history and black sapphic history", "Light red/pink - lesbian and sapphic history, love of women and non-men, sapphic power", "Fuscia - inclusivity of all sapphics, including trans, non-binary, mspec, aroacespec, and other sapphics", "Light pink - futchness, unity, non-conformity", "Brown - androgyny and neutrality in gender expression", "Light brown - futchfluids, stems, and futches that lean towards butch or femme", and "Sun, moon, and labrys axe - the sun is associated with masculinity, and the moon femininity, representing androgyny, and the axe represents strength, liberation, and rebellion".

A proposed futch symbol is a combination of the butch and femme symbols, which were both created on October 4th, 2014 by a group of non-binary Brazilians.