Description

When divorce moves young R/B Mertz away from rural Pennsylvania and their abusive father Mertzs life is torn in two Mertzs mom and new stepdad dive headfirst into conservative Catholic homeschooling entrenching themselves in a world dominated by saints prayers and having as many babies as possible just as Mertz is starting to realize they might be queer

Trying to stave off the inevitable Mertz later enrolls in a conservative Catholic college in Ohio Coming of age in the early aughts they grapple with flirtations sexual encounters and confusing relationships with students and faculty as they try to figure out how to live a life in a world hellbent on making them choose between their community and their identity

At turns rebellious charming and selfeffacing Mertz struggles to navigate this oppressive environment questioning whether or not there is a place for them inside or outside of the Catholic Church whether they can be themselves on the left or the right whether they can be conservative or liberal or whether they can be at all Ultimately Burning Butch is the courageous story of a trans/nonbinary butch on a quest to survive with their authenticity intact