ABSTRACT
What can we learn about the sexual orientations of the 97 MTF transgender people who were studied? As mentioned previously, several aspects or life circumstances of the participants were selected for comparison with sexual orientation, to look at the possible correlations between them. Th ese categories were selected because they appeared to be the ones most likely to have potential bearing on sexual orientation. (Details about the basis for these selections and the fi ndings can be found in Appendix D.)
Each of these factors was infl uenced by the others in one way or another, and were also infl uenced by some additional common determinates. Th ese included the initial availability and means of obtaining information about transgender and the available options for taking action, the level of stigma the person had to overcome before being able to face her transgender issues, the degree to which she had invested in a male gender role before becoming ready to address her transgender, the possible losses and other sequelae to her exploring her transgender identity, how far she might ultimately decide to go with gender role transition, and her fund of coping skills to face the potential challenges associated with coming to terms with her transgender identity.
