Sexuality in transgender individuals encompasses all the issues of sexuality of other groups, including establishing a sexual identity, learning to deal with one's sexual needs, and finding a partner, but may be complicated by issues of gender dysphoria, physical, physiological, and emotional effects of hormone replacement therapy and/or surgery, psychological aspects of expressing sexuality after medical transition, or social aspects of expressing their gender identity.
Gender identity and being transgender are distinct concepts from sexuality and sexual orientation. Sexual orientation is an individual's enduring pattern of attraction, or lack thereof, to others (being straight, lesbian, gay, bisexual, asexual, etc.), whereas gender identity is a person's innate knowledge of their own gender (being a man, woman, non-binary, etc.). Transgender people exhibit the same range of sexual orientations as the general public, but are much less likely to identify as straight. Studies of trans people in Europe, North America, and China have found that 33-53% identify as queer, pansexual, or bisexual, 18-37% identify as lesbian, gay, or same-gender-loving, 8-27% identify as straight, and 4-13% identify as asexual.
For much of the twentieth century, being transgender was understood through the lens of sexuality. Despite early advocates such as Magnus Hirschfeld promoting an understanding of sexuality and gender identity as different phenomena, the dominant view in Western psychoanalytic and medical fields was that heterosexual sexual roles were an inherent part of gender, meaning that for someone assigned male at birth, being attracted to men and identifying as a woman were both functions of the same "disorder." As standards of care for trans people were developed in the mid- to late twentieth century, sexuality played a prominent role in terms of which trans people were judged as deserving of gender-affirming care. Anyone who didn’t fit the strictly fixed, binary, and heterosexual framework of providers was denied transition care. In the early twenty-first century, after decades of advocacy by trans people, the diversity of sexuality among trans people began to be recognized within the medical field.
Sexual orientation Being transgender or gender nonconforming and having same-sex attractions are often conflated, despite being different attributes. Transgender people can have any sexual orientation. The sexual orientation terms trans people use generally correspond with their gender identity; for example, trans women exclusively attracted to other women commonly identify as lesbians, and trans men exclusively attracted to women identify as straight. Many other trans people use identity terms that don't rely on gender at all, such as queer and pansexual. Studies have found that trans people are more likely than cisgender people to use more than one sexual orientation label for themselves, showing that sexual orientation for transgender people is complex.
Confusion about the distinction between gender identity and sexual orientation makes it harder for trans people to be understood and believed about who they are, and can also make it harder for people to understand themselves as trans. Sentiments such as “if you’re attracted to women, why would you transition from male to female?” are common, and a common explanatory phrase is “gender identity is who you go to bed as; sexual orientation is who you go to bed with.” In a 2025 study, researchers found that non-heterosexual trans men with internalized heterosexism (i.e., the belief that desiring men means you’re a woman and desiring women is a prerequisite of being a man) were likely to go through a period of confusion about their gender identity.
Transgender people exhibit the same range of sexual orientations as the general public, although trans people are much more likely to be sexual minorities than cisgender people. A 2023 study found that 89% of trans respondents to a survey in thirty European countries had a sexual minority identity. A different 2023 study, published in BMC Public Health and based on a national probability sample of United States (U.S.) data, found that 82% of trans people had a sexual minority identity as compared with 10% of cisgender people.
The same study found that 21% of trans people identified as lesbian, gay, or same-gender-loving, 19% as bisexual, 18% as queer, 18% as straight/heterosexual, 12% as pansexual, 5% as asexual, and 7% as some other sexual identity. The 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey, which surveyed a much larger sample of transgender people, found that 21% identified as queer, 18% as pansexual, 16% as lesbian, gay, or same-gender-loving, 15% as straight, 14% as bisexual, and 10% as asexual.
The 2023 European study above found that 37% of trans people identified as lesbian or gay, 34% as bisexual, 11% as straight, and 18% as "other" (no other identity labels were offered as options). A 2019 survey of trans people in Canada found that 51% of respondents identified as queer, 31% as pansexual, 28% as bisexual, 18% as gay or lesbian, 13% as asexual, 8% as straight, 4% as two-spirit, and 9% as unsure or questioning (respondents could select multiple answers, and many did). A 2017 survey of trans people in China found that 33% identified as bisexual or pansexual, 27% as heterosexual, 26% as homosexual, 4% as asexual, 7% as undecided, and 4% as "other."
Transgender women The 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey found that trans women were most likely to identify as lesbian, gay, or same-gender-loving (27%), followed by bisexual (20%), straight (19%), pansexual (16%), queer (6%), and asexual (6%). The 2023 study published in BMC Public Health found that trans women were most likely to identify as bisexual (29%), followed by straight (23%), lesbian or same-gender-loving (16%), pansexual (10%), queer (6%), asexual (4%), and "other" (7%).
Transgender men The 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey found that trans men were most likely to identify as queer (24%) or straight (23%), followed by pansexual (17%). They were less likely to identify as lesbian, gay, or same-gender-loving (12%), bisexual (12%), or asexual (7%). The 2023 U.S. study published in BMC Public Health found that trans men were most likely to identify as straight (28%), followed by gay or same-gender-loving (20%), queer (15%), bisexual (13%), pansexual (11%), asexual (1%), and "other" (11%).
Non-binary people The 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey found that non-binary people were most likely to identify as queer (34%), followed by pansexual (21%) and asexual (17%). They were less likely to identify as bisexual (10%), lesbian, gay, or same-gender-loving (8%), or straight (2%). The 2023 U.S. study published in BMC Public Health found that non-binary people were most likely to identify as queer (35%), followed by lesbian, gay, or same-gender-loving (21%), pansexual (16%), bisexual (13%), asexual (12%), straight (less than 1%), and "other" (3%).
A 2021 U.S. study of almost 9,000 non-binary youth ages 13-24 found that 28% identified as bisexual, 27% as pansexual, 22% as queer, 20% as lesbian or gay, 2% as questioning, and less than 1% as straight.
Hijra Hijra of South Asia are usually feminine individuals who were assigned male at birth and are officially recognized as a third gender in a number of countries.In Their Own Words: The Formulation of Sexual and Reproductive Health Behaviour Among Young Men in Bangladesh , Shivananda Khan, Sharful Islam Khan and Paula E. Hollerbach, for the Catalyst Consortium. Hijra most often partner with heterosexual or bisexual men and usually play an exclusively receptive role during sex. Some hijras are asexual, and some do not define themselves by a specific sexual orientation but rather by renouncing sexuality altogether.
Sexual practices
Mira Bellwether's self-published 2010 zine Fucking Trans Women was a landmark work in its focus on the perspectives and experiences of trans women. It focused in particular on sex acts possible with flaccid penises and on the innervation of the genital areas for trans women who have not had feminizing genital surgery. It both named and popularized the act of muffing, or stimulating the inguinal canals through an invaginated scrotum, which can offer those with genital dysphoria a way to be penetrated from the front.
The quarterly magazine Original Plumbing, which ran from 2009-2019, was the first magazine for trans men made by trans men. Dedicated to the sexuality and culture of trans men, as well as representation of the full diversity among transmasculine people, the magazine presented and celebrated a wide range of sexualities.Deputy, Ellis (2025). Nonnormative embodiment and systems of control: Transgender bodies and punitive societal structures in literature and the real world [Dissertation]. Iowa State University. It also celebrated transmasculine people with all sorts of bodies as attractive and sexy, in stark contrast with dominant medical and media narratives of trans people.
The groundbreaking book Trans Bodies, Trans Selves, first published in 2014, offers information for trans people on health and wellness, including sexuality and sexual practices, and the many ways that trans people "leave behind cissexist, homophobic ideas about sex.""There are as many ways to be sexual as there are people. How we have sex is not determined by our gender or sexual orientation. No matter how we identify, we choose the kinds of touch we enjoy, decide whether we enjoy penetrating or being penetrated (or both, or neither), and how we want to work and play with our partners to have satisfying, fulfilling sex lives."
Sexual partners A 2023 study based on a national probability sample of U.S. data with a sample size of 274 transgender adults and 1,162 cisgender adults analyzed questions about respondents' sexual behavior and attractions. 72% of trans people reported having sex in the last 5 years, compared with 80% of cisgender people. Among trans respondents, 52% reported having sex with cis women, 43% with cis men, 17% with trans women, and 20% with trans men (the survey did not ask about sex with non-binary people). In terms of attraction, 74% of trans respondents said they were attracted to cis women, 58% were attracted to cis men, 52% were attracted to trans women, 60% were attracted to trans men, and 60% were attracted to non-binary people.
Among trans men, 57% reported having sex with cis women in the last 5 years, 34% reported sex with cis men, 15% reported sex with trans women, and 19% reported sex with other trans men. 75% reported being attracted to cis women, 55% were attracted to cis men, 50% were attracted to trans women, 47% were attracted to other trans men, and 56% were attracted to non-binary people. 58% of trans men reported being attracted to three or more of these gender categories.
Among trans women, 43% reported having sex with cis women in the last 5 years, 53% reported sex with cis men, 14% reported sex with other trans women, and 12% reported sex with trans men. 68% reported being attracted to cis women, 66% were attracted to cis men, 50% were attracted to other trans women, 43% were attracted to trans men, and 50% were attracted to non-binary people. 57% of trans women reported being attracted to three or more of these gender categories.
Among non-binary people, 56% reported having sex with cis women in the last 5 years, 39% reported sex with cis men, 22% reported sex with trans women, and 29% reported sex with trans men. 79% of reported being attracted to cis women, 52% were attracted to cis men, 72% were attracted to trans women, 69% were attracted to trans men, and 76% were attracted to other non-binary people. 78% of non-binary people reported being attracted to three or more of these gender categories.
Naming the body