Trans individuals who are attracted to people of the same gender are often on the receiving end of ignorant comments, discrimination, and outright rejection by friends, family, and potential romantic partners. Transgender people who do not identify as heterosexual can also benefit from the experiences of coming out and living authentically. One example is author and activist Lou Sullivan. He was an early pioneer whose work helped bring about better understandings of sexuality and gender.

Teenaged Writings and Inner Discoveries

Born in Milwaukee in 1951, Sullivan grew up in a religious Catholic family. During his adolescence, he wrote in his journals about his developing romantic attractions. They detailed Lou’s conflict between his identity and the gender he had been assigned at birth. Some of these writings were excerpted by author and academic Susan Stryker and published in a 2007 article in FTM San Francisco’s organizational newsletter. “I want to look like what I am but don’t know what some one [sic] like me looks like,” he disclosed in an entry penned when he was 15 years old. “I mean, when people look at me I want them to think — there’s one of those people…that has their own interpretation of happiness. That’s what I am.”

“You Can’t Be a Gay Man — You’re a Woman”

As an adult, Sullivan sought access to medical assistance to align his body and outer appearance with his actual gender. However, the young man encountered many roadblocks. The Advocate reported in May 2017 that medical professionals during the 1970s repeatedly turned Sullivan away. Most of them cited his attraction to men as the reason.

Sadly, Sullivan’s experience is not anomalous. Even today, transgender individuals still encounter gatekeeping when attempting to access transitioning treatments. As Slate contributor Evan Urquhart related in a March 2016 piece, this gatekeeping requires trans individuals to attend extensive talk therapy sessions. It places the decision to allow access to medical transitional healthcare in the hands of a therapist. However, more providers are moving towards an “informed consent” system. This system educates transgender persons about the health benefits and risks of transition. With this information, the transgender person can decide for themselves whether to obtain treatments.

Fortunately, Sullivan eventually discovered a group of doctors and therapists who accepted both his gender and sexual orientation as valid. He then began physically transitioning in 1979. During his own struggles to access medical treatment, he campaigned for greater access to therapies for gay and lesbian transgender people, as well as more medical resources for trans men.

An LGBTQ Historian

Throughout the 1980s, Sullivan also contributed to a body of growing work on LGBTQ history. He was a founding member of the GLBT Historical Society in San Francisco and served on its board of directors. He wrote for several publications while also adding a significant body of work to the Society’s archives. By the time of his death from AIDS-related complications in 1991, he had authored three books: “Female to Male Cross Dresser and Transsexual,” “Information for the Female to Male Cross Dresser and Transsexual” and “From Female to Male: The Life of Jack Bee Garland.”

A Figure Nearly Lost From History

Dr. Brice D. Smith is one historian making sure that Sullivan’s tale, along with his place in LGBTQ history, is not forgotten. Smith’s book “Lou Sullivan: Daring to Be a Man Among Men” tells the story of the late author, activist and trailblazer. In addition, the Lou Sullivan Society in San Francisco continues to dedicate itself to keeping his story alive while providing support and resources to transgender men. Because of pioneers like Lou Sullivan, there is a greater recognition and validation of gay, lesbian, bisexual and pansexual orientations among trans people today.