After her self-imposed period of abstinence she says she had ‘a great deal of trouble’ figuring out who she was.
Josephine (who is studying for a PhD in gender studies) tried to make sense of her body, her self. ‘I fantasised that I had a different body. I tried to work out how to wed my body to my sexual gender ID. I was female-identified with a traditionally non-female body. I had to work out how to adjust my thinking.’
Another part of the struggle was trying to figure out who her potential sexual partners might be. ‘It was a conundrum. I thought lesbians wouldn’t be interested in me because I was a woman who looked a bit like a man. I thought straight women wouldn’t be interested because in their eyes, I was a man who looked like a woman. Gay men thought I looked like a woman, and straight men certainly wouldn’t be attracted to me. I thought only bisexuals would be interested in trans people. Actually, I just felt sexually repellent to other people. I thought, “I’ve had the one relationship I’m ever going to have”. I was very sad about it.’
But as Josephine’s self-acceptance deepened, things started to change. ‘I realised that if I knew I was a woman, other people would see it that way too. People are attracted to people. We give names to different ways of being, but ultimately we’re attracted to the person.’
Some awkward dating followed – Josephine was hotly pursued by several non-trans women and ran scared. ‘If someone was attracted to me, I was suspicious. Were they attracted to me, or to a fetish I represented?’
She recalls her thoughts about one woman’s pursuit of her: ‘I didn’t know what to do. I wondered what she’d think of me, who she’d think I was. Would she change her opinion of me when I had my clothes off?’
Josephine met a non-trans woman, an occasional drag king. Inhibitions were thrown to the wind when they got ‘monstrously drunk’ at a party, shared the same bed, and had sex the next day. ‘It was a very difficult experience. I freaked out. I can’t believe she stuck it out.’
Another time, Josephine had sex with a very good friend – again, a non-trans woman. ‘She was very confused about who I was. She reacted badly to it. She said, “I don’t know if I see you as a woman any more”. It was utterly disastrous, and I was nervous after that. It’s funny – it’s like it’s a step too far for most people, to see me for me sexually. But they saw me as female-gendered, no problem.’
Josephine started learning to have sex in a relationship that lasted a year. ‘There were some wonderful moments; and other times it was difficult to learn to have a body that wasn’t how you’d presume a female body to be. But that girlfriend of mine started a process for me. She showed me that someone could be genuinely attracted to me as a woman, with this body – and that I could enjoy sex that way. It was a real revelation to me!
part of my body happens to be dildo-shaped
‘Then I got involved with places like Club Wotever – that was my first real trans community. It was a crowd that was a true mixture of people – trans males and females, lesbian-identified non-trans people, straight and gay people. No-one seemed to mind that I was different – I was celebrated.’
She rediscovered BDSM and began a period of sexual experimentation. ‘I found that people could be attracted to me, and I developed a bit of a reputation – not one I’m unhappy about. I reverted to the hormonal teenage years that I’d never had.’
She laughs; ‘I quickly realised that acting that way wasn’t for me. It was nice, but it taught me that you have to be picky even if you’re a raging slut. There are still difficulties in our community with people understanding transsexuality. It’s more open, but people are still learning. They might be curious about trans people or don’t know how to interact – sometimes that can be quite hurtful if you’re a trans person.’
When it comes to being seduced, Josephine likes the open, honest approach. ‘I’m not good with the gamesmanship, if you will, of courting and relationships. I never learnt it. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, though. A lot of people have to unlearn things that aren’t helpful when they become lesbian, bisexual, gay and trans. I never picked up bad habits, so I love honesty, confidence, respect and openness.’ She giggles; ‘Even raging tops can do friendly and sweet – as long as they get to be evil later.’
Both Josephine and her Stockholm-based girlfriend Sofia engage in non-sexual BDSM play with others, but they’re monogamous with each other in sex and love. And they’re having a very hot time with each other.
‘Let me tell you a story that’ll explain that. When I first met Sofia, we started talking about things. We agreed that neither of us did penetration. Previously, I’d not had very good experiences with it – people freaking out on me. I’d learnt that there are lots of other ways to have sex.
‘One day, we were lying around, and she said, “Shall we try it?” We did – I penetrated her. It was very weird for me. She’d always had very bad pain from being penetrated; and for me the whole gender issue had been uncomfortable. I presumed she’d freak out.
‘But it was wonderful; and it didn’t change how Sofia saw me afterwards. We both enjoyed it. I was shocked it had gone so well – it was a revelation for both of us.
‘Now, I just think, “Part of my body happens to be dildo-shaped, and I can’t remove it. Why not use it?” We’ve learned to enjoy this other form of sexuality together. We’d happened on something that so many people think of as “normal” sex. But it’s kinky and cool to us.
‘It broke down barriers as to what else we could try. She penetrated me with a dildo; we tried the Hitachi Magic Wand. It was lovely. I learned to come three different ways!
‘It’s amazing to open up the possibilities of what you can do. Sex is much more full, exciting and wonderful now. There’s a lack of fear because we accept each other, and we can talk about it.
‘I said to her, “I’m afraid you’ll see me some other way”. One day, she was stroking my body, and she said, “I love your muscles. Is it OK to say I like the things that are considered masculine? I wouldn’t call them masculine”.
‘I said, “If you enjoy it, I’m flattered and happy”. It’s so beautiful to be attractive to the person you love.’
Josephine says it’s rare to meet open trans women in the lesbian community. ‘It’s a shame. I’ve had discrimination. On the positive side, that’s changing – it’s certainly changed over the last couple years. It’s got a lot better very rapidly. Door policies and membership policies haven’t always been so good, and they certainly aren’t like that everywhere yet.
‘But it feels good to be able to claim the ID of “lesbian”, even if some people feel I shouldn’t or can’t. By inhabiting it myself, I change the ID. We don’t have to have rigid boundaries.
‘IDs are useful tools but they shouldn’t stop us. A lot of strife comes from people trying to define rigidly who is and who isn’t a lesbian; a woman. It can damage and hurt people – and it can hurt communities, too.
‘And then no-one has good sex!’