Are there gay transexuals?

[CookingWithGas]

Are there (pre-op) transexuals who are attracted to the opposite sex? That is, a man who is attracted to women but wants to have a sex change because deep inside he really feels that he is a lesbian?

[WhyNot]

Yes.

[Giles]

I know of a man who was married to a woman and changed sex, hence becoming part of a legal same-sex marriage in Ohio. (I believe that his/her wife had problems with the situation, so the marriage didn’t last, however).

[Lemur866]

I don’t have any statistics, but it seems to me that MTF transsexuals are much much more likely to be attracted to women than genetic females.

[CookingWithGas]

On revisiting the thread and reading the two responses above, one of which was informative, I decided to mention that the reason I asked is that I do not know how transexuality is “diagnosed” (I hesitate to use that word, because I don’t want to imply it’s a disease, but I can’t think of a better one). It seems that the attraction to the opposite sex would confuse the issue and make a determination harder.

[Eve]

Goodness, yes. “Who you are” and “who you’re attracted to” are two different subjects entirely. That old wheeze about “I’m a lesbian in a man’s body” ain’t so funny to a lot of people.

[Ensign_Edison]

@CookingWithGas

On revisiting the thread and reading the two responses above, one of which was informative, I decided to mention that the reason I asked is that I do not know how transexuality is “diagnosed” (I hesitate to use that word, because I don’t want to imply it’s a disease, but I can’t think of a better one). It seems that the attraction to the opposite sex would confuse the issue and make a determination harder.

Not at all. Sexuality and gender are completely separate things. Perhaps at one time this was true, but there are plenty of non-straight trans people, and as far as I know it is not considered a factor in diagnosis.

[The_Chao_Goes_Mu]

Yes. Sexual identity and sexual orientation are not the same thing.

[WhyNot]

The diagnosis is not of “Transexualism”, but of “Gender Identity Disorder”, and it is a valid and diagnosable condition listed in the DSM-IV. To qualify for diagnosis, the following criteria must be met:

1. There must be evidence of a strong and persistent cross-gender identification.
2. This cross-gender identification must not merely be a desire for any perceived cultural advantages of being the other sex.
3. There must also be evidence of persistent discomfort about one’s assigned sex or a sense of inappropriateness in the gender role of that sex.
4. The individual must not have a concurrent physical intersex condition (e.g., androgen insensitivity syndrome or congenital adrenal hyperplasia).
5. There must be evidence of clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.

Note that nothing there refers to who, if anyone, the patient is attracted to sexually.

[The_Chao_Goes_Mu]

@CookingWithGas

On revisiting the thread and reading the two responses above, one of which was informative, I decided to mention that the reason I asked is that I do not know how transexuality is “diagnosed” (I hesitate to use that word, because I don’t want to imply it’s a disease, but I can’t think of a better one). It seems that the attraction to the opposite sex would confuse the issue and make a determination harder.

I know quite a few transgendered people and it certainly wasn’t all that confusing to them regarding who they are and to whom they are attracted. Gender and sexual orientation are very fluid things, it isn’t all black and white. Unfortunately there are too few of us willing to accept that there is a geat big grey area.

[elfbabe]

Sure are. A friend of mine is an mtf lesbian. She liked women before she started transitioning and she likes women now. Unfortunately, a rather feminine guy has a much larger dating pool than a lesbian with a penis…