Research on the sexual orientation of transwomen (male-to-female transsexuals) is sparse. Many studies on this issue have suffered from reporting bias, since many transsexuals feel they must give the "correct" answers to such questions in order to increase their chances of obtaining hormone replacement therapy. Patrick Califia, author of Sex Changes and Public Sex, has indicated that this group has a clear awareness of what answers to give to survey questions in order to be considered eligible for hormone replacement therapy and/or sex reassignment surgery: Sexual orientation describes the direction of an individuals sexuality, often in relation to their own sex or gender. ... Transwomen or trans women are transsexual or transgendered people who were assigned male sex at birth (or, in some cases of intersexuality, later) and feel that this is not an accurate or complete description of themselves. ... Patrick Califia (formerly known as Pat Califia; born 1954 near Corpus Christi, Texas) is a writer about womens sexuality and of erotic fiction. ...

"None of the gender scientists seem to realize that they, themselves, are responsible for creating a situation where transsexual people must describe a fixed set of symptoms and recite a history that has been edited in clearly prescribed ways in order to get a doctor's approval for what should be their inalienable right".

Therefore, there is a considerable difference between what most of the few scientific papers dealing with the subject claim and what most support groups, help lines etc. report. Both however report that the number of transwomen who consider themselves lesbians or bisexual or asexual is higher than it is in the general female population (at least in studies done from the 1980s on). Most sources from within the transgender community report that the number of lesbian transwomen roughly equals that of transwomen who prefer male partners, and many also consider themselves bisexual or asexual. Scientific papers on the other hand usually report a higher number of heterosexual-identified transwomen.http://hivinsite.ucsf.edu/InSite.jsp?doc=2098.461e Bisexual redirects here. ... Asexuality is a general term or self-designation for people who find sexual behavior unappealing. ... MacGyver - 1980s hero The 1980s decade refers to the years from 1980 to 1989, inclusive. ... A lesbian is a woman who is aesthetically, sexually, romantically and/or emotionally attracted to other women. ... Bisexual redirects here. ... Asexuality is a general term or self-designation for people who find sexual behavior unappealing. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

A few transsexual activists claim the orientation of transsexual women corresponds to that of the cisgendered female population; however, these claims so far have not been substantiated and appear to be politically motivated rather than based on facts. Others point to evidence that same-sex attraction may be common within the cisgendered female population, so perhaps a large proportion of lesbian and bisexual transwomen is nothing that should evoke surprise. Cisgender, pronounced [sɪs. ... Cisgender, pronounced [sɪs. ... A lesbian is a woman who is aesthetically, sexually, romantically and/or emotionally attracted to other women. ... Bisexual redirects here. ...

A number of transwomen have reported that their sexual interest shifted from one gender to the other during the course of their transition. Effectively, their sexual orientation remained unaltered: they were hetro - or homosexual - both before and after transition. There appears to be little or no research either on the prevalence or the cause of this phenomena. Transitioning is the process of ceasing to live in one gender role and starting to live in another, undertaken by transgender and transsexual people. ...

Some people look upon transwomen as either effeminate gay men who took their effeminacy to an extreme level (if they are attracted to men, compare drag queen) or otherwise straight men with an abnormal fetish (if attracted to women). Compare autogynephilia, also homosexuality and transgender. Homosexuality is a sexual orientation characterized by esthetic attraction, romantic love, or sexual desire exclusively for another of the same sex. ... Drag queens Luc DArcy and Jerry Cyr and friend at Montreals 2003 Divers/Cité pride parade. ... In psychology and sexology, paraphilia (in Greek para παρά = besides and -philia φιλία = love) is a term that describes sexual arousal in response to sexual objects or situations which may interfere with the capacity for reciprocal affectionate sexual activity. ... Look up autogynephilia in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Autogynephilia (from Greek auto (self), gyno (woman) and philia (love) — love of oneself as a woman) is a behavioral model proposed in 1989 by Ray Blanchard, who defines it as a mans paraphilic tendency to be sexually aroused by the thought... Homosexuality and transgender are two separate concepts. ...

See also

• List of transgender-related topics

Transgender is a very complex topic, where consensual and precise definitions have not yet been reached. ...

External links

• Annie Richard's page on sexual orientation of MTF transsexuals, containing some statistics

• Sexuality in Transsexual and Transgender Individuals

• Transsexual Orientations

• Transgender Community Health Project, San Francisco, survey