October 26, 2016
'Transgender People Are Not Gay, Except For The Gay Ones,' Notes Acclaimed Transgender Surgeon Dr. Sherman Leis
EDGE READ TIME: 2 MIN.
There is a popular conflation of homosexuality and transgenderism that is both inaccurate and can lead to misunderstandings about transgender people, according to transgender surgeon, Dr. Sherman Leis, founder of the Philadelphia Center for Transgender Surgery and a pioneer in the field.� Dr. Leis notes that Transgenderism relates to gender identity while being gay has to do with sexuality.
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"Transgender people identify as one gender trapped within the body of the other gender.� As a medical professional, the course of care relates to helping bring that dysphoria into balance,"�said Dr. Leis. "Transgenderism is not a sexuality issue, therefore those who are transgender can also be gay or not."� For example, a M2F (male-to-female) transgender person, who has a female partner, could be identified as gay if there is female to female sexuality in that relationship.
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Dr. Leis identifies 4 key areas of medical care for transgender people seeking to bring gender identity harmony into their lives:
"Obviously these are components of a specialized medical course for transgender people, requiring dedicated, specialized training and unique sensitivities, especially in the way the medical community relates to transgender people," observed Dr. Leis. "People who are gay don't need this particular course of care, if anything. It is important that our medical, political and communal leaders understand the transgender differentiation in order to create policy and procedures that will be most beneficial to the transgender community and to others."
Dr. Sherman Leis is one of the world's pre-eminent transgender surgeons and founder of The Philadelphia Center for Transgender Surgery, located in Bala Cynwyd, PA. It is recognized as one of the leading facilities in the world specializing in gender reassignment surgery.
The Center was founded to be a single source of information and expertise in medical care for the transgender. The Philadelphia Center for Transgender Surgery offers a uniquely supportive environment where one can connect with Dr. Leis' surgical and non-surgical team of dedicated specialists -- surgeons, psychologists, endocrinologists, aestheticians, speech therapists, legal experts, and others.
