Transcending the Binary: Gay Men and Their Relationships with Transgender Men

• In Event: 062 - Regular Session. Masculinities and Sexualities

Abstract

Since the fight for marriage equality has now come to a close, many have wondered how the LGBT movement will move forward. Increasingly, the movement’s attention is turning to addressing the needs of the transgender community, which have been historically relegated to an afterthought. As transgender people and the transgender movement continue to gain national attention investigating how “gender normals” view transgender people as friends and possible sexual partners is important. I conducted in-depth interviews with gay men in San Francisco and asked: 1) Do gay cisgender men view transgender men as friends and as potential sexual partners? 2) How do gay men manage their identity as gay men when they have been with transgender men in romantic relationships or in sexual encounters? I focus on how gay cisgender men’s gender identity and sexual orientation influence their choice of friends and lovers. Thus, this project examines how gay men’s discourses on gender and sexuality promote the continued exclusion of transgender men from personal and political networks. I argue that examining how gay cisgender men view transgender men illuminates some of the barriers that can affect the LGBT movement’s future trajectory. Furthermore, this study provides a new lens on the ways in which members of the LGBT community intermingle socially and sexually with each other. In doing so, this study highlights the ways in which gender, sex, and sexuality are inherently intertwined and inseparable.

Author

• Thatcher Combs, University of Texas, Austin