Autoandrophilia Overlaps with Female Nonheterosexuality

There is substantial overlap between autoandrophilia and female nonheterosexuality, to the extent that nonheterosexuality might be more common than exclusive heterosexuality.

"A life history approach to the female sexual orientation spectrum" describes different phenotypes of female nonheterosexuality: (1) "butch" (2) "femme" (3) "bisexual" (4) "mostly heterosexual". To be specific, it is the "bisexual" and "mostly heterosexual" phenotypes which overlap with autoandrophilia.

In a sample of 328 autoandrophiles, approximately 75% reported at least some attraction to women, and nearly 50% identified as bisexual: 

"A total of 328 natal females reported at least some sexual arousal to acting or dressing like a man...Regarding correspondence between external and internal target responses, about half (55.5%; n = 182) reported predominant attraction to men (either occasionally or more than occasional attraction to women) ["mostly heterosexual"], 17.7% (n = 58) reported equal attraction to men and women ["bisexual"], and 10.4% (n = 34) reported exclusive attraction to men. With respect to sexual orientation identities, 34.1% (n = 112) of natal females identified as heterosexual, 47.6% (n = 156) as bisexual, 3.4% as homosexual (n = 11), 1.5% as asexual (n = 5), and 13.4% (n = 44) as other."

Bracket text adopts the language from "A life history approach to the female sexual orientation spectrum." The rates of nonheterosexuality are similar to the rates described in the 2015 US Trans Survey.

Compare with the 522 autogynephiles from the same sample. About the same report "predominant" opposite-sex attraction ("mostly heterosexual"), but fewer report "equal attraction to men and women" ("bisexual"). The percent of autogynephiles who identify as "heterosexual" is much higher (62.8% vs. 34.1%) and the percent who identify as "bisexual" is lower (30.3% vs. 47.6%):

"A total of 522 natal males indicated arousal to the thought or fantasy of acting and/or dressing like a woman and to the thought or fantasy of having sex with a woman...Regarding correspondence between reported arousal to external and internal erotic targets, we looked at Kinsey scores. Of the initial 522 males, 501 (95.9%) reported having at least equal attraction to men and women (a Kinsey 3 or more). Specifically, 4.8% (n = 25) said their attraction was equally to men and women ["bisexual"], 56.1% (n = 293) reported their attraction to be predominantly to women ["mostly heterosexual"], and 35.1% (n = 183) reported exclusive attraction to women. Most of the 522 males (62.8%) (n = 328) identified as heterosexual, 30.3% (n = 158) as bisexual, 1.5% (n = 8) as homosexual, 0.2% (n = 1) as asexual, and 5.2% (n = 27) as other."

Autoandrophilia was also associated with "Autism scores", possible evidence of cognitive masculinization.

Lou Sullivan, the textbook case of autohomoerotic gender dysphoria, was probably "mostly heterosexual". His diaries describe predominant attraction to men, but occasional sexual fantasies of women.

This first excerpt is from January 1961 - June 1969, before any testosterone use:

"At work things went so slow I had to masturbate. Yup. Nice goin, hey? While pagin thru a magazine I came to a pix of 3 girls in bikinis. That’s what excited me. Homo? Sounds like it."

This second excerpt is from February 1977 – June 1981, after testosterone use:

"I lay in the sun on the weekend, my skin becoming rich + golden. My body is vibrant with sexuality + tingling with sensation, electrified by every touch. (A new woman at work—she always calls me “he”—often puts her hands on my arms or shoulders, the feeling lingering long after she’s left.) I see a small woman I find pretty, fantasize her arms around my neck, my mouth on her throat, and then a tall lean youngman boldly swaggers into view and warm passion fills my body"

The overlap between autoandrophilia and nonheterosexuality is overlooked in the study of female sexuality. 

Edit: Lanei M. Rodemeyer (2018) describes more of Lou Sullivan's diary entries that are not included in We Both Laughed in Pleasure.

This excerpt is from July 10th, 1977 during a phase when Lou had decided to give up cross-dressing: 

"Last week had a very explicit and erotic dream of me having sex with a female. We were both naked and I sucked her tit and rubbed her inner thigh with my hand. It was one of those super realistic dreams. Since then I’ve just about all but made up my mind to have sex with a female. It’s about time. But how the fuck do you pick up a female when you are a female? I can be a boy and do all the things boys do to pick up a girl, but that doesn’t go with the gay women …. I’m sitting in a bar getting blasted and realizing I’m not invisible and that everyone sees me and draws an opinion about me, and thinking of the difference that one transvestite group draws between themselves and the drag queens: that the DQ’s are sexual-signaling by their dress and the TVs are only expressing their “female sides.” I wonder which I do by cross-dressing. (I am now able to comfortably wear a man’s suit and a bra at the same time.)" 

Lou Sullivan did not start testosterone until November 16th, 1979. 

References

Brown, A., Barker, E. D., & Rahman, Q. (2020). Erotic target identity inversions among men and women in an internet sample. The Journal of Sexual Medicine, 17(1), 99-110. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsxm.2019.10.018

James, S. E., Herman, J. L., Rankin, S., Keisling, M., Mottet, L., & Anafi, M. (2016). The Report of the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey. Washington, DC: National Center for Transgender Equality. https://transequality.org/sites/default/files/docs/usts/USTS-Full-Report-Dec17.pdf 

Luoto, S., Krams, I., & Rantala, M. J. (2019). A life history approach to the female sexual orientation spectrum: Evolution, development, causal mechanisms, and health. Archives of sexual behavior, 48(5), 1273-1308. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-018-1261-0

Rodemeyer, L. M., Rodemeyer, L. M., & Ohmer. (2018). Lou Sullivan Diaries (1970-1980) and theories of sexual embodiment. Springer International Publishing.

Sullivan, L., Martin, E., Ozma, Z., & Stryker, S. (2019). We both laughed in pleasure: the selected diaries of Lou Sullivan, 1961-1991. Nightboat Books

Further Reading

Autoheterosexual

https://surveyanon.wordpress.com/2018/03/17/lesbian-autoandrophilia/ 

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