"I was surprised. I thought you were a straight man."
So said one of my then-coworkers not long after I came out. Other people, I'm sure, had the same reaction. A couple of years earlier, had I met someone like me, I would have been just as surprised as my old co-worker.
It was, in fact, one of the reasons why I didn't transition sooner: I thought that if I were really a woman, I'd feel more attracted to men.
Mind you, I have been in relationships in men, as you know if you read some of my early posts. But throughout my life, I have felt more attracted to women than to men. I did not disclose this fact to some friends, acquaintances and co-workers until I'd been living as Justine for a couple of years.
When they expressed consternation, I said something along the lines of "You've heard of lesbians, haven't you?"
Now, I know transsexual women whose feelings are similar to mine. I know other trans women who have been attracted only to men, and others only to women.
But I'd never before heard of a transsexual female who never had any attraction to a female before her transition or surgery, but felt such an urge afterward. On top of that, the woman I am about to mention completely renounced men.
The woman in question is Britain's first openly transgender parliamentarian: Nikki Sinclaire. She revealed recently that her change in her feelings resulted from a rape she endured in London some fourteen years ago.
What's really interesting is that she fits into a narrative I heard often in my youth (but hadn't heard in a long time) : that of the female who becomes a lesbian after a bad experience with a man. I'll bet there are still some people who believe that's the biggest cause of lesbianism.
I'd be very interested to know what reasearchers who claim there is a "gay gene" say about this story.
So said one of my then-coworkers not long after I came out. Other people, I'm sure, had the same reaction. A couple of years earlier, had I met someone like me, I would have been just as surprised as my old co-worker.
It was, in fact, one of the reasons why I didn't transition sooner: I thought that if I were really a woman, I'd feel more attracted to men.
Mind you, I have been in relationships in men, as you know if you read some of my early posts. But throughout my life, I have felt more attracted to women than to men. I did not disclose this fact to some friends, acquaintances and co-workers until I'd been living as Justine for a couple of years.
When they expressed consternation, I said something along the lines of "You've heard of lesbians, haven't you?"
Now, I know transsexual women whose feelings are similar to mine. I know other trans women who have been attracted only to men, and others only to women.
But I'd never before heard of a transsexual female who never had any attraction to a female before her transition or surgery, but felt such an urge afterward. On top of that, the woman I am about to mention completely renounced men.
The woman in question is Britain's first openly transgender parliamentarian: Nikki Sinclaire. She revealed recently that her change in her feelings resulted from a rape she endured in London some fourteen years ago.
What's really interesting is that she fits into a narrative I heard often in my youth (but hadn't heard in a long time) : that of the female who becomes a lesbian after a bad experience with a man. I'll bet there are still some people who believe that's the biggest cause of lesbianism.
I'd be very interested to know what reasearchers who claim there is a "gay gene" say about this story.
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