History Main / TransEqualsGay

* In ''Series/{{Friends}}'', Chandler's father is supposed to be a gay drag queen but he's played like a trans woman. (Being played by Creator/KathleenTurner further complicates things.) He stars in a show called "Viva Las Gaygas." Drag queens who perform professionally are very, very good, and some have had plastic surgery on their faces, and get waxed. Chandler's mother specifically notes that his father still has a penis, so he hasn't had reassignment surgery. It's true that professional drag performers don't usually dress as women in their personal lives, but it's possible to interpret dressing as a woman at Chandler's wedding as a snipe at his mother. As for dressing as Hollywood starlets in front of his friends, it's hard to fathom why he would want to embarrass his son, but he probably had some reason other than being emotionally abusive, but the treatment justifies Chandler's refusal to talk to him later in his life, without making Chandler seem homophobic.

In RealLife, being transgender has nothing to do with homosexuality, as they relate to two entirely different concepts. Being gay or lesbian relates to ''sexual and romantic attraction'', and means "being attracted to others of the same sex". Being trans relates to ''gender identity'', and means "having a gender identity which is different to the one assigned at birth".[[note]]The exact causes of this are hotly debated, but the general consensus is that a given person has an internal sense of gender that doesn't necessarily match the one which would be associated with their body.[[/note]] This is often simplified as being "a woman trapped in a man's body" or vice versa, though this is not necessarily the case for ''all'' transgender people, as some might not feel "trapped" or other forms of distress/gender dysphoria, and others don't even identify with a binary gender ("man" or "woman"). Not all transgender people are straight, and can identify with any romantic and sexual orientation that a cisgender person can. There are still many transgender people who are gay/lesbians, bi, pan, aro/ace, etc..

One key point that confuses many is the fact that many trans people who ''are'' attracted to others of their birth-assigned gender may initially come out as gay, bi, or what have you, and live as such for some time, either as a deliberate stepping stone toward coming out as trans, or genuine confusion towards their true identity before figuring things out later in life. An uninformed outsider may believe this person simply kicked things up a notch when in reality they were never homosexual in the first place (or worse, believe that trans people are just "confused" members of that identity).

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBros'', sheltered teen Hank believes the gay man Al to be transgender -- in unusual inverse of stereotypes, he speaks as if Al is a transgender ''man''. Al corrects Hank by telling him that although he is gay, he still has a normal "dingus."

* Although the anime version of ''VisualNovel/SteinsGate'''s Urushibara [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Luka/Ruka]] is heavily coded as transfeminine, the visual novel version leans toward them being a very effeminate gay man. Both versions are in love with the main male character, Okabe Rintarou, but while the anime version says (in the English dub) that she always felt like she should have been born a woman, the visual novel one feels like the only way he could be with Okabe is to become a woman, as he feels it would otherwise be taboo, but otherwise fully identifies as male.

** In "Eeny Teeny Maya, Moe", Dr. Nick mixes up Moe's surgery (he wants to become a little person for his GirlOfTheWeek) with Mr. Largo, Lisa’s music teacher, who wanted to look like "a beautiful woman" (Julie Newmar, specifically). Largo is consistently portrayed as gay before and after this episode, with no hints of being transgender.

In RealLife, being transgender has nothing to do with homosexuality, as they relate to two entirely different concepts. Being gay or lesbian relates to ''sexual and romantic attraction'', and means "being attracted to others of the same sex". Being trans relates to ''gender identity'', and means "having a gender identity which is different to the one assigned at birth".[[note]]The exact causes of this are hotly debated, but the general consensus is that a given person has an internal sense of gender that doesn't necessarily match the one which would be associated with their body.[[/note]] This is often simplified as being "a woman trapped in a man's body" or vice versa, though this is not necessarily the case for ''all'' transgender people, as some might not feel "trapped" or other forms of distress/gender dysphoria, and others don't even identify with a binary gender ("man" or "woman"). Not all transgender people are straight, and can identify with any romantic and sexual orientation that a cisgender person can. There are still many transgender people who are gay/lesbians, bi, pan, or aro/ace.

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'', sheltered teen Hank believes the gay man Al to be transgender--in unusual inverse of stereotypes, he speaks as if Al is a transgender ''man''. Al corrects Hank by telling him that although he is gay, he still has a normal "dingus."

The mistaken belief that a UsefulNotes/{{Transgender}} person is just a gay person that "leveled up." This trope was very common in works from the 2000s and earlier when the general public was still in the dark about trans issues. As such, it often appeared even if the writer meant well and [[FairForItsDay the character was portrayed sympathetically]]. It's much less prevalent nowadays thanks to trans visibility campaigns, but it still warrants discussion for cisgender writers wishing to accurately portray a trans character (i.e., this is how ''not'' to do it).

* ''Manga/AyakashiTriangle'': Matsuri [[GenderBender was changed from male to female]], and his [[GenderBenderAngst still-male gender identity]] is often treated as equivalent [[DiscountLesbians to his continued attraction to Suzu]]. Suzu treats her worries that Matsuri is falling for Soga as a sign he's becoming more feminine. When Matsuri considers staying a girl, being aroused by Suzu convinces him he's "really a guy". During an AmnesiaEpisode where Matsuri thought he ''was'' always a girl, he shows no attraction to Suzu and almost immediately falls for Soga--both of which he casually brushes off after his memories return. [[spoiler:Ultimately, Matsuri's gender identity does shift toward feminine, [[AmbiguousGenderIdentity if indefinitely]], but that doesn't make them any less in love with Suzu. Matsuri even decides they can ''only'' date Suzu a girl for now, though they based this on "readiness" rather than sexual orientation.]]

* ''Manga/AyakashiTriangle'': Matsuri [[GenderBender was changed from male to female]], and his [[GenderBenderAngst still-male gender identity]] is often treated as equivalent [[DiscountLesbians to his continued attraction to Suzu]]. Suzu treats her worries that Matsuri is falling for Soga as a sign he's becoming more feminine. When Matsuri considers staying a girl, being aroused by Suzu convinces him he's "really a guy". During an AmnesiaEpisode where Matsuri thought he ''was'' always a girl, he shows no attraction to Suzu and almost immediately falls for Soga--both of which he casually brushes off after his memories return.

* Another OlderThanFeudalism roman example: Apuleios' ''Golden Ass'' has the hero ([[ForcedTransformation who has been turned into a donkey]]) bought as a beast of burden by a group of wandering priests of the pagan goddess Syria. Said priests are described as [[CampGay extremely effeminate]] to the point of referring to each other in feminine terms, performing their ritual ceremonies wearing makeup and dresses and the description their [[AllGaysArePromiscuous sexual habits]] emphasize that play the passive role. Again, this could be a TakeThat at the cult of Syria, an oriental religion seen as decadent by the Romans. It's also possible they are based on the eunuch priests of Attis who have been a subject debate about whether in modern terms they'd be gay men or trans women (opinion usually favors the latter, given the castration and their apparently using feminine pronouns exclusively).

In RealLife, being transgender has nothing to do with homosexuality, as they relate to two entirely different concepts. Being gay or lesbian relates to ''sexual and romantic attraction'', and means "being attracted to others of the same sex". Being trans relates to ''gender identity'', and means "having a gender identity which is different to the one assigned at birth".[[note]]The exact causes of this are hotly debated, but the general consensus is that a given person has an internal sense of gender that doesn't necessarily match the one which would be associated with their body.[[/note]] This is often simplified as being "a woman trapped in a man's body" or vice versa, though this is not necessarily the case for ''all'' transgender people, as some might not feel "trapped" or other forms of distress/gender dysphoria, and others don't even identify with a binary gender ("man" or "woman"). Not all transgender people are straight, and can identify with any romantic and sexual orientation that a cisgender person can. Many transgender people are be gay/lesbians, bi, pan, or aro/ace.

In RealLife, being transgender has nothing to do with homosexuality, as they relate to two entirely different concepts. Being gay or lesbian relates to ''sexual and romantic attraction'', and means "being attracted to others of the same sex". Being trans relates to ''gender identity'', and means "having a gender identity which is different to the one assigned at birth".[[note]]The exact causes of this are hotly debated, but the general consensus is that a given person has an internal sense of gender that doesn't necessarily match the one which would be associated with their body.[[/note]] This is often simplified as being "a woman trapped in a man's body" or vice versa, though this is not necessarily the case for ''all'' transgender people, as some might not feel "trapped" or other forms of distress/gender dysphoria, and others don't even identify with a binary gender ("man" or "woman").