Sexuality

[myles]

Always dated women, been with my SO over 15 years. Came from the 'Lesbian" community.
Myles

[Chamillion]

I identified as a butch lesbian for a while. I was attracted to women then, and am still attracted to them. But.. I guess I'm the minority here? D:

Nah that was me too.  At first I was uncomfortable with being seen as a lesbian but I eventually started to embrace that identity.  Only been with women, some gay, some straight

[Jamie-o]

I was always attracted to men, and still am.  Interestingly enough, before T I was primarily attracted to feminine men, and now I seem to be attracted to very masculine men.  Before T I also thought that I might be interested in women if I were male, but now I have absolutely no interest in them at all.  Who knows.  That might change in the future, but at this point, no thanks.

[k_tech]

also coming from a lesbian community, i have always been attracted to women. particularly heterosexual, feminine women. to think that that could possibly change were i to start hormone therapy is a little bit startling. it's occurred to me before...what if i'm really just a straight guy?
weird. this is all such an adventure.

[Mark]

i never thought about T changing your sexuality, very interesting!

Mark

[tekla]

i never thought about T changing your sexuality, very interesting!

It doesn't, neither does E.  They only make it an option to change.

[tekla]

No more than I believed my deadhead friends when they told me they had found 'god in a pill.'  There is no evidence that changing that chemical pattern will change the thought patterns, most of which are hardwired in.  That it makes people more open to another way, I'm sure, but I'm also sure that's a result of lifting repression, not changing chemistry.  If it really worked that way, there would be no homosexuality if you think about it. 

[Lachlann]

I agree that in most cases it is probably a matter of them opening up to their true desires, but while repression may explain gaining attraction to men or to women, it does not really explain when someone goes from being attracted to a gender, to no longer being attracted to that gender once they have been on T or E for a while.

Along with that, I definitely think a change in a person's hormone levels can alter their attraction to different features, if not genders/sexes. An example of this is how straight cis women who are ovulating prefer men with more masculine features, while those who are on the point of their cycle furthest from ovulation prefer men with more feminine features. Birth control pills cause them to constantly prefer the feminine features. This hormonal interplay has been well-documented by many studies. Their orientation itself is not changing, but then, the level of difference in their hormones is quite a bit smaller than the change we go through.

I've also heard that women tend to be more bisexual not because of their hormones but because of their genitalia along with said hormones. I remember a study being done that found that women tend to pick their partners based on mental relationship, not so much sexual, although it is a factor, but it tends to be more fluid than say a man. They also did this study on MTFs who had surgery and HRT and said that it matched up with genetic women and the same result occurred. I think it'd be a little more complicated than just hormones anyway, and is probably because someone is more comfortable with themselves but I wouldn't completely out rule it.

Denial is a powerful thing and it's very easy to trick yourself into thinking something that isn't true, plus you're going through another puberty, the proper puberty.

[owl]

I feel the same way, But i find you are who you are, i don't care whats in your pants.

[Hazard "AJ"]

OMG. iv had the same thing going on with me... And i never really asked this Q, when i was young 12 to about 14, i was fricking obssesed with eminem. and i always thought i had a crush on him. But i soon relised, I didnt have a crush on him, I wanted his lifestyle i wannted to be him, i dressed like him ect, and it was also the same before with other so called crushes,  i edded up copying them. Now i now that im pretty sure into women. I love em. LOL. I have never really been with a man. i mean as a kid i had boyfriends but not 4 very long and nothing really hevy. But i never felt right having a boyfriend, And at about 13. i had a expereance with a girl and then i was pretty sure i was into women. Now i pretty much now that, I dont copy anyone else. I just go with my own, style. But always hip hop. The one thing that does confuse me. Is people keep saying how do u now. when im still a vergin. How can i now 4 sure who im into intill i have sex with a women or man. But i dont think it has anythink to do with that, I look at a man. an i want to look like that man. But i look at a women. and im like wow i want that women LOL. thats how i can set here andbe pretty sure I am into women, I am a straight man!

[icontact]

You know, when people tease straight men who take offense at being called feminine because they're insecure about their manhood, it's totally true. As I became more secure about my manhood, and realized how well I passed, I began to allow myself to let go of any societal norms and have feelings for men. Being a straight female is wildly different than being a gay man, just like having feelings for women as a woman is wildly different than having feelings for them as a man, and it's quite possible your sexuality may change during transition.

[Ryuu]

Actually I am in a somewhat similar situation. Though I still do like men, I am finding myself more and more attracted to women after I came out. I think it's pretty normal.

[Cowboi]

The sexuality thing does seem to be something that changes more in transsexuals from my personal experience and from watching friends as well. I myself identified as a lesbian until I was 15 and began identifying as a straight male. Now I'm 25 and engaged to a MTF woman. We've talked about sexuality a lot and both identify as bisexual. However growing up I never had an interest in men sexually, one thing I have learned is that a lot of my issues with attraction to men though were about myself and my body. I didn't want someone to treat me like their "girlfriend" and men who I felt were attractive just seemed to spark more jealousy in me than anything else.

I still don't get along with other guys well but have come far from where I was even in having friendships, and I have noticed that since I began T two years ago I have become more comfortable with identifying as bisexual and with "checking out" guys and seeing that they are or can be sexually attractive to me. It is actually one way my fiancee and I both lucked out, being bisexual and both being post op but undergoing HRT gave us both a chance to explore our sexuality with one another, given the physical changes in appearance but still being capable of having heterosexual sex and things like that. They were things neither of us had ever explored before or really thought about, so from that point of view it has been interesting and educational for both of us in discovering our sexuality and the changes that have come on since we began transitioning.