Transpeople have long been depicted as more or less asexual. The doctors treating Christine Jorgensen -- America's first famous transsexual -- found "the sexual requirements ... subordinate to the transvestic impulse," and therefore recommended removing her penis and resculpting her genital region for "a completely feminine appearance," without actually creating a clitoris or vagina (Hamburger, Stürup and Dahl-Iverson 1952, quoted in Meyerowitz 2002:61-2). One early clinical study even characterized transsexualism as "an escape from ... sexual impulses" (Worden and Marsh 1955, quoted in Meyerowitz 2002:108; the same conclusion is drawn in Pauly 1965, cited in Meyerowitz 2002:174). No surprise then that, according to historian Joanne Meyerowitz, transsexuals in the 1950s and since have been reticent to express any interest in sex to doctors.

Clinical researchers continued to insist that disinterest in sexuality was common and even characteristic of transsexuals. Harry Benjamin asserted that "Many transsexuals have no overt sex life at all, their sex drive being low to begin with and, in the case of MTFs, diminished sometimes to zero by estrogen" (1966:49). Lewins (1995) noted that "low sex drive" as considered a good "prognostic indicator" by clinicians and categorized over a fifth of his sample as "asexual," a label that, while described by Lewins himself as problematic, is used by at least some transsexuals to describe themselves (e.g. Taft 2001). A contemporary medical expert on transsexualism has this to say:

Defining transsexuals as having a low sex drive is only logical from the clinical point of view. Before transitioning is complete, sexual engagement may be seen as a sign of accepting one's gendered body. Furthermore, since (clinical optimism notwithstanding) the physical processes of transitioning often have negative impacts on capacity for arousal and orgasm, and since, out transpeople have traditionally had trouble finding accepting partners, sexuality may be viewed as something that must be sacrificed in order to live in one's chosen gender. In this vein, Califia argues that "Too many transsexuals still feel that if they are 'allowed' to live in their gender of preference, they have won an enormous victory, and ought not to demand or expect anything more," namely sexual pleasure (1996:218). McCloskey puts a more positive spin on this in her autobiography: "losing the ability to have male sex [due to prolonged hormone use] did not seem much of a loss beside the joy of being" (McCloskey 1999:37). One study of personal advertisements showed that MTF transsexuals were more likely than gay men, straight men or straight women to be seeking friendship rather than sexual partners (Child et al 1996).

The transitioning process especially has been seen as an asexual period, a "cocoon" stage where the individual who is neither man nor woman avoids intimacy completely (Brown & Rounsely 1996, Lewins 1995, Bolin 1988, Devor 1997). For many it is as simple as this: "I abhorred the idea of a sexual relationship with a woman unless I was a man," or a woman as the case may be (Rees 1996:40). Even after transition is complete, however, many either do not succeed in finding satisfying relationships or consciously abstain, as in Lawrence's study of post-op women, wherein "only 4 of the 13 women reported having sex regularly, while three had given up on sex," to which she adds that "Neither of these results is particularly remarkable" (Lawrence 1997). It seems that as in Devor's study, there is a substantial group of transpeople who are not interested in or do not pursue sexual relations during transition, and a much smaller but distinct minority who choose long-term celibacy.

Part II: My Study

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