# Alec Butler

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**Alec Butler** (born **Audrey Butler**; 1959) is a Canadian playwright and filmmaker.[1]

## Life and career

Butler was born in 1959, and is [non-binary](/source/Non-binary_gender) and [intersex](/source/Intersex).[2] Butler uses [*they*/*them*](/source/Singular_they) and [*he*/*him*](/source/He_(pronoun)) pronouns.[3] [Assigned female at birth](/source/Assigned_female_at_birth), he initially presented as a [butch lesbian](/source/Butch_lesbian) before [coming out](/source/Coming_out) as [transgender](/source/Transgender) the late 1990s.[2] Before he came out, his work was published under his birth name.[4]

He was a nominee for the [Governor General's Award for English-language drama](/source/Governor_General's_Award_for_English-language_drama) in 1990 for his play *Black Friday*. He has also worked on artistic projects with [The 519 Church St. Community Centre](/source/The_519_Church_St._Community_Centre) as their first artist-in-residence. He was named one of Toronto's Vital People by the Toronto Community Foundation in 2006.[5]

He identifies as [two-spirit](/source/Two-spirit) and has [Miꞌkmaq](/source/Mi%EA%9E%8Ckmaq) heritage.[2][4]

## Plays

- *Shakedown*
- *Cradle Pin*
- *Radical Perversions: 2 Dyke Plays* (1990)
- *Black Friday* (1990)
- *Claposis* (1990)
- *Hardcore Memories* (1993)
- *Medusa Rising* (1996)
- *Trans Cab* (2005)

Books:

- *Radical Perversions: two Dyke Plays by Audrey Butler* published by [Women's Press](/source/Women's_Press), 1991
- Novella called *Rough Paradise* published May 31, 2014 by Quattro Books

## Films

- *Trans Mission: Get Yer Motor Runnin'* – One-man show at A-Space, Toronto, 2003.
- *Misadventures of PussyBoy: First Love / Sick / First Period* – Screened at many queer film and video festivals, *First Love* won the Charles Street Award for emerging video and film makers in 2002 at the InsideOut Festival.
- *Audrey's Beard* – Named one of the top ten films about transitioning by Curve magazine.
- *5 Seconds of Fame* – Commissioned by Toronto's Pride Committee for Pride Toronto, 2007.
- *My Friend, Brindley* – Works in progress; experimental doc about human rights activist and painter, Kathleen Brindley.
- *Darla's Goodbye* – Short film based on a short story of the same name published in *Red Light: Superheroes, Saints and Sluts*.
- *Trans Cabaret: The Video*

## References

1. Helkio, Raymond (January 18, 2017). ["Alec Butler's "Rough Paradise" – Living Life Shamelessly"](http://thebuzzmag.ca/2017/01/alec-butlers-rough-paradise-living-life-shamelessly/). *The Buzz*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20200919212641/https://thebuzzmag.ca/2017/01/alec-butlers-rough-paradise-living-life-shamelessly/) September 19, 2020 at the Wayback Machine.

1. Butler, Alec (2016-04-22). ["At 12 I grew a beard and had a period"](https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-36092431). *[BBC News](/source/BBC_News)*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20201108095741/https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-36092431) November 8, 2020 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2020-12-26.

1. Noyes, Jenny (2016-04-25). ["Playwright on growing up intersex: 'At 12 I started growing a beard and had a period'"](http://www.dailylife.com.au/dl-people/playwright-on-growing-up-intersex-at-12-i-started-growing-a-beard-and-had-a-period-20160425-goe3p7.html). *Daily Life*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20190713045445/http://www.dailylife.com.au/dl-people/playwright-on-growing-up-intersex-at-12-i-started-growing-a-beard-and-had-a-period-20160425-goe3p7.html) July 13, 2019 at the Wayback Machine.

1. ["Why be just one sex?"](https://web.archive.org/web/20100613195234/http://www.macleans.ca/article.jsp?content=20050912_112043_112043&source=srch). *[Maclean's](/source/Maclean's)*. September 8, 2005. Archived from [the original](http://www.macleans.ca/article.jsp?content=20050912_112043_112043&source=srch) on 2010-06-13.

1. ["Announcements « The Centre for Women and Trans People @ University of Toronto"](https://womenscentre.sa.utoronto.ca/announcements/page/11/). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20210402072917/https://womenscentre.sa.utoronto.ca/announcements/page/11/) April 2, 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2021-04-02.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Alec Butler](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alec_Butler) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alec_Butler?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.