Joe LeBlanc
Founder and Board Chair, BUTCH Voices
Joe LeBlanc founded BUTCH Voices after noting a lack of representation in the media and the LGBT community at large. “I did not have the meaningful connections with other masculine-of-center individuals that I wanted to have,” LeBlanc explains, “and there wasn’t an organization that was doing this work already. I started the process of pulling together a team to make BUTCH Voices into a reality.” BUTCH Voices hosts a biennial national conference—the next one is slated to take place in Oakland, Calif. in August, 2011—as well as a series of regional conferences. “Our mission is to enhance and sustain the well-being of all women, female-bodied, and trans-identified individuals who are masculine-of-center,” LeBlanc says. “We provide programs that build community and positive visibility, inclusive of and beyond our gender identity and sexual orientation. This work is important because so many of us lack the support and role models we need.”
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