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Can a transgender person be gay?

by Staff writer

The answer is yes!

Gender identity is different from sexual orientation. Gender identity is a person’s internal knowledge of their gender – the deep knowledge that they are a man, a woman, or non-binary.

Sexual orientation is about who you’re attracted to. Regardless of being trans or cis, anyone can be attracted to lots of different people.

For example, a transgender man (someone who lives as a man today) may be attracted to other men and identify as a gay man.

He may also be attracted to women and identify as a straight man.

Or he may be attracted to both men and women and identify as a bi man or a queer man.

Transgender respondents to a 2015 survey self identified as queer (21%), pansexual (18%), gay, lesbian, or same-gender-loving (16%), straight (15%), bisexual (14%), and asexual (10%).


A survey of roughly 3000 trans women showed that at least 60% were attracted to women.

About Daniel Nkado

Daniel Nkado is a Nigerian writer and community researcher based in London. He documents African and Black queer experience across Nigeria and the diaspora through community-anchored research, cultural analysis, and public education. He is the founder of DNB Stories Africa. Read Daniel's full research methodology and bio here.

View all posts by Daniel Nkado →

One Comment on “Can a transgender person be gay?”

  1. The confusion never ends. So if you are born a woman and you transform to a man and you are sexually attracted to a man are you gay or straight or what?

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