Home » Trans People are not Gay — Except for the Gay Ones

Trans People are not Gay — Except for the Gay Ones

The Editor | Sep 26, 2016

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(Philadelphia, PA) – There is a popular conflation of homosexuality and transgenderism that is both inaccurate and can lead to misunderstandings about transgender people, according to transgender surgeon, Dr. Sherman Leis, founder of the Philadelphia Center for Transgender Surgery and a pioneer in the field. Dr. Leis notes that Transgenderism relates to gender identity while being gay has to do with sexuality.

Said Dr. Leis, “Transgender people identify as one gender trapped within the body of the other gender. As a medical professional, the course of care relates to helping bring that dysphoria into balance.” Dr. Leis notes, “Transgenderism is not a sexuality issue, therefore those who are transgender can also be gay or not.” For example, a M2F (male-to-female) transgender person, who has a female partner, could be identified as gay if there is female to female sexuality in that relationship.

Dr. Leis identifies 4 key areas of medical care for transgender people seeking to bring gender identity harmony into their lives:

hormone therapy
mental health care
transgender surgery
lifestyle enhancement

Says Dr. Leis, “Obviously these are components of a specialized medical course for transgender people, requiring dedicated, specialized training and unique sensitivities, especially in the way the medical community relates to transgender people.” Dr. Leis observes, “People who are gay don’t need this particular course of care, if anything.” He says, “It is important that our medical, political and communal leaders understand the transgender differentiation in order to create policy and procedures that will be most beneficial to the transgender community and to others.”

The Philadelphia Center for Transgender Surgery is located in suburban Philadelphia at 19 Montgomery Avenue, Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004. Phone: 610-667-1888.