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submitted 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) by Filetternavn to c/lesbians

So, I'm gonna preface this by saying that I know my own sexuality is for me to define, and me alone. I'm just looking to hear some outside opinions to hear more than just my own internal voice.

For quite some time, I considered myself a lesbian. I only really felt like I could be attracted to women or perhaps some enby folks; men for me felt completely out of the question. I'm demisexual (perhaps demiromantic as well, but I haven't really been in situations where I could test that out), and so I need someone that I can connect with emotionally. For me, that's always been women, as we just get each other on a level that I have never found with men, and with an emotional maturity that's lacking in the men I've met in my life.

Then I met a trans man that I really hit it off with, and after getting to know each other really well, I fell into a situationship. At that point, I considered that I must be bi, because I was having feelings and open to doing things with a man. But now that I've been out of that situationship for quite some time, I can't help but think that despite our initial emotional connection, him and I didn't really connect the way I wanted. It was more trauma bonding than anything, really. Of course, that was clouded by the fact that he was my favorite person at the time, when I didn't realize I had BPD, so any connection felt amazing in the moment. I'm not sure if anything would have ever happened if it weren't for my BPD.

I've been beginning to think that I'm not sure about the bi label anymore, because for the most part, my lack of attraction to men hasn't really changed, at least not on the emotional/romantic part. It feels like he was an exception, which feels very strange to me. I mean, I have no fear in who I'm attracted to, so I don't feel like that's a denial response, I think more than anything I'm still just figuring out who I am? Or maybe my BPD led me into a situation that defies my sexual or romantic orientation? I think the way I'm most comfortable identifying myself is that I'm romantically a lesbian, but sexually bi, though my being demisexual kind of means I don't see myself ending up in a situation in the future where the distinction matters.

Does that make sense? I just wanna hear someone else's thoughts on the matter because I've had a tough time fully resolving my thoughts by myself the past 5 months.

If anything, this is kind of just a vent post.

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[-] dandelion 3 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

A few thoughts:

First I wonder what is the purpose of this distinction: are you wondering what you are, for yourself, or are you wondering how to present and identify in the world to others?

Trans people often occupy fuzzy boundaries of gender, and concepts like heterosexuality don't even make sense given the science we have on sex and gender, the idea that humans can be perfectly divided into two categories has been debunked and it leaves a lot of questions about our sexual orientation concepts that are based on this system of "same sex" and "opposite sex" attraction. (For example: if a man is attracted to a non-binary intersex person, are they a gay or straight man?)

I strongly believe trans men are men, but that doesn't mean some trans men don't look, talk, or even behave like women for various reasons - it's not surprising that someone who is attracted to women might experience attraction to certain trans men (namely trans men who may look or seem like a woman, who are not passing as cis men). This is actually rather common as many trans men start with identities as lesbians before the transition. (See Stone Butch Blues for an example of the challenges some face between identifying as a butch lesbian woman or as a trans man.)

(As a side note, this kind of situation can raise problems for trans people, as a trans woman myself I find it disturbing when people are attracted to masculine traits of my body, or when they are attracted to the mixed gender traits, because I don't feel those parts of me are accurate reflections of who I am.)

All this to say, I don't really feel any surprise that a trans man might exist as an exception, his valid gender identity as a man doesn't necessarily invalidate your nearly exclusive sexual attraction to women - since what you might have been attracted to in him may not have anything to do with his masculine traits or male gender identity, and in fact have been enabled by his feminine traits and past.

I can't tell if you are avoiding acknowledging this possibility because it is politically incorrect or denies his gender identity, but I do think it's worth considering - we shouldn't be so judgemental for what is obviously true (that trans people are not always perceived as their gender identity, and that people are sometimes attracted to trans people in ways that aren't entirely validating to the trans person's gender identity).

Either way, it seems to me that for all practical reasons there is no motivation to identify as anything other than lesbian. The words are there to communicate, and when you identify as a lesbian you are communicating that you are attracted to women - and that's true! Your attraction to the trans man is exceptional, and maybe upon reflection it could lead you to realize that you have more flexibility in your sexuality than you previously realized, but that doesn't require you to identify as bisexual when the reality is that you are for all intents and purposes exclusively attracted to women ...

For comparison, I am solidly bisexual and usually identify as such, but it often feels like it doesn't communicate accurately the way I feel - which is that despite my undeniable attraction to men, I live as a lesbian and can't really imagine ever dating or being with a man. So even though I'm not strictly a homosexual, I still identify primarily as a lesbian because I think it communicates better to people what I am. I am in a long term, committed lesbian relationship and my bisexuality is a technicality.

Also, being bisexual is not necessarily absolute - there are shades of bisexuality, some people are only "incidentally" bisexual and primarily heterosexual (or primarily homosexual and only incidentally bisexual), etc. The Kinsey Scale is one tool used in academia to define sexuality on a spectrum - it has its problems, but at least it gives a way for someone to classify their bisexuality in a way that doesn't just imply equal attraction to men and women.

Anyway, I hope this helps ๐Ÿ˜… I can't tell if any of this was what you were looking for or not, I'm sorry if it wasn't.

[-] Filetternavn 3 points 3 days ago

This was incredibly helpful, thank you for such a detailed response!

First, I am moreso wondering how to present myself to others, because I'm fine with my own attraction being a bit fuzzy, but I'm curious how I could accurately communicate my interests to others.

As a trans woman myself, I felt uncomfortable with exploring the idea that my attraction to him was because he was trans, especially since I've only ever known him as a man, and other than his voice, he fully passes. That being said, I can't say I haven't considered that as a possibility, it's just that admitting that feels wrong in a way, and the way I prefer to think of it in my own mind is that his experiences growing up were more similar to mine, so he gained experience in areas that most men would struggle with due to societal pressures (emotional maturity being a big one, since toxic masculinity often prevents many men from exploring their emotions and the emotions of others to the same degree as women). It's kind of a strange thing for me to explore in my mind, because thinking of him as anything beyond just a man feels like I'm being disrespectful, especially given how uncomfortable it would make me feel if someone were attracted to the masculine parts of myself. But I think you have a very good point that it could be relevant. He's even told me himself he's found that he's very different than most men, and even most trans men.

I guess I should really clarify that sexually, I genuinely don't care what someone has or how they identify. The reason things feel more vague for me is that I can enjoy fantasizing about anyone, it's just the romantic part I feel is exclusive to women, mostly due to emotional connection (barring the exception). For instance, I have no problem internally fantasizing about having sex with a cisgender man, though I would not have a great time imagining a date with one. Even within sexual fantasies, I can't imagine the romantic parts of it with a man; y'know, the parts I enjoy most, being demi and all.

But I think for all intents and purposes, you're right that there's no reason I couldn't continue to identify as a lesbian. Labels are only really useful in communicating broad things, anyway. I feel like it's okay to admit there are exceptions to the rule and just continue with the label I feel more accurately describes me. Thank you, again.

[-] celeste@kbin.earth 1 points 3 days ago

i knew a demisexual lady who spent a lot of time debating if she could identify as a lesbian on dating sites since it'd been years since she was attracted to a man. with someone who wasn't demi, it would be easy to say that her sexuality was fluid and changed and now she was a lesbian but before she'd been bi. but being demi meant that maybe she just hadn't connected with a dude in the right way in years.

i guess if i was in your position, I'd find some comfort in an umbrella term like queer or sapphic. a lot of people are uncomfortable with those terms, and i get that, but that would be the direction i went. i would want to give myself permission to stop thinking about it.

but, i honestly don't see a problem with you going back to identifying as a lesbian, either. if another exception pops up, now that you better understand how bpd and trauma can confuse things, revisiting the question at that future point would make sense.

figuring yourself out is a fine place to be as well. you might be someone whose experience will be coming to terms with never fully being sure. you wouldn't be alone there.

[-] Filetternavn 3 points 3 days ago

I think identifying as sapphic makes a lot of sense, honestly. You're right in that I'm still kind of figuring myself out, but I do think I'll probably go back to identifying as lesbian now that I've had time to think about it, and come back to thinking about it if I have another exceptional experience. Besides, if I were to see someone in the near future, I'd probably eventually explain all this anyway, so the label is only there to get the broad message across. I think I still have a journey to go before I fully understand myself anyway!

Thank you for your response, it was very helpful!

this post was submitted on 30 Sep 2025
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