I don't consider butches the opposite gender.
I am poly by nature if not always in practice. I assume that people have a sexual interest in one another and that that is fine. But I also assume that people will respect themselves and one another when making these connections happen, if they do.
But to directly answer the question, yes, I can be friends with butches -- or femmes. I can even be friends with people I find sexually attractive. If they are unavailable, or I am, or if it would be a bad idea for other reasons, then that interest recedes. Occasionally something will happen to remind me that damn, she is fine. But it's not a constant or even frequent distraction. (Maybe I am old.)
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