University of Louisville ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository Electronic Theses and Dissertations 8-2016 Sex, sexuality and sexual practice for trans individuals and their romantic partners. Kinton Rossman Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.library.louisville.edu/etd Part of the Counseling Psychology Commons Recommended Citation Rossman, Kinton, "Sex, sexuality and sexual practice for trans individuals and their romantic partners." (2016). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 2487. https://doi.org/10.18297/etd/2487 This Doctoral Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository. This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has retained all other copyrights. 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SEX, SEXUALITY, AND SEXUAL PRACTICE FOR TRANS INDIVIDUALS AND THEIR ROMANTIC PARTNERS By Kinton Rossman B.A., University of Louisville, 2007 M.Ed., University of Louisville, 2010 A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the College of Education and Human Development in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Counseling and Personnel Services Counseling Psychology College of Education and Human Development University of Louisville August 2016 Copyright 2016 by Kinton Rossman All rights reserved SEX, SEXUALITY AND SEXUAL PRACTICE FOR TRANS INDIVIDUALS AND THEIR ROMANTIC PARTNERS By Kinton Rossman B.A., University of Louisville, 2007 M.Ed., University of Louisville, 2010 A Dissertation Approved on July 15, 2016 By the following Dissertation Committee: __________________________________ Patrick Pössel, Dr. rer. soc.: Dissertation Co-chair __________________________________ Stephanie Budge, Ph.D.: Dissertation Co-chair __________________________________ lore m. dickey, Ph.D. __________________________________ Jesse Owen, Ph.D. ii DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to our beautiful community of queers, trans folks and radicals for your guidance, love and support. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to begin by thanking Dr. Stephanie Budge for all of her support throughout the course of my training. Your example of openness, support and advocacy as a mentor is something that I carry with me. I would also like to thank Dr. Patrick Pössel for his kindness and support to me. You openly took me in and helped me through some of the more challenging times in my doctoral program. I would also like to give my thanks to my parents and brother for their support and care. I would like to thank Morgan Sinnard for all of her help and guidance with this project. You are the best coding partner a qualitative researcher could ever want. I would like to acknowledge the members of the TSTAR lab who have grown to be my community- Jayden, Sebastian, Meg, Danielle, Jake, Yen, Radet, Amanda, Yasmeen, Cheré, Patty, Jesse, and Joe. Y’all have helped me grow to be a more thoughtful and caring person and a better community member. I love you all. Most of all I would like to thank my partner, Clare Gervasi. Clare, you have seen me through this entire process and I am so grateful for all your support and love. You are truly amazing and you and Frank have made my life incalculably richer. I am very much looking forward to taking off my backpack and being a family. iv ABSTRACT TITLE: SEX, SEXUALITY AND SEXUAL PRACTICE FOR TRANS INDIVIDUALS AND THEIR ROMANTIC PARTNERS Kinton Rossman July 15, 2016 Summary: (211 words) Transgender populations demonstrate significant sexual diversity, with over three-fourths (77%) of transgender individuals identifying as sexual minorities (Grant et al., 2011); however, a majority of research on sex, sexuality, and sexual practice has focused exclusively on cisgender and heterosexual individuals and, perhaps more importantly, addressed these issues a heteronormative and cisnormative perspective (Nichols, 2014). Such frameworks have created significant gaps in research about sex, sexuality, and sexual practice for trans individuals including understanding how gender transition influences sex and sexuality and how trans individuals and their partners engage in sexual practice. The current study addressed these omissions in the literature through a feminist, grounded theory qualitative inquiry into sex, sexuality, and sexual practice for trans individuals and their partners. A sample of sixteen individuals (eight total couples) participated in in-person interviews about sex and sexuality. The transcribed interviews were analyzed using Charmaz’s (2006) approach to grounded theory and results yielded four themes: Internal Level, Change Processes, Relationship Level and Outside the Dyad. Findings revealed that the participant experiences of sex, v sexuality, and sexual practice occur on multiple levels, including the individual, the couple and, for some participants, outside of the couple. Changes/transitions in gender impacted both trans and cis partners and influenced understanding of sexuality, sexual behaviors, and even relationship structures. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION……………………………………………………………………………iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS..................................................................................................iv ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................................v LIST OF TABLES………………………………………………………………………...x INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………………...1 Definitions And Terms……………………………………………………………1 Gender and Sexuality……………………………………………………………...8 Current Study…………………………………………………………………….11 CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW….……………………………………………..14 Early Sexology: Roots of Trans Identity and Sexuality………………………….14 Putting the Trans in Transsexual…………………………………………………19 Trans Sexual Minorities………………………………………………………….24 Modern Conceptual Framework of Trans Sexuality Research………………..…26 Transsexual Model Approaches to Sexual Diversity in Trans Individuals………29 Qualitative Examinations of Trans Sexuality……………………………………33 Sexual and Romantic Partners of Trans Individuals……………………………..40 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………….45 CHAPTER 2: METHODS….…........................................................................................47 Recruitment………………………………………………………………………47 Sampling…………………………………………………………………………48 Participants……………………………………………………………………….49 vii Researchers………………………………………………………………………52 Positionality, Assumptions and Biases………………………………………..…52 Measures…………………………………………………………………………55 Procedure………………………………………………………………………...56 Analytic Method…………………………………………………………………57 Validity…………………………………………………………………………. 58 CHAPTER 3: RESULTS ..................................................................................................61 Figure 1: Model of Experiences of Sex, Sexuality and Sexual Practice for Trans Individuals and their Partners……………………………………………………61 Model of Sex, Sexuality, and Sexual Practice…………………………………...62 Theme One: Internal Level………………………………………………………64 Theme Two: Change Processes………………………………………………….77 Theme Three: Relationship Level………………………………………………..88 Theme Four: Outside of the Dyad…………………………………………...…113 CHAPTER 4: DISCUSSION ..........................................................................................119 Internal Level…………………………………………………………………...119 Change Processes……………………………………………………………….121 Relationship Level……………………………………………………………...122 Outside the Dyad………………………………………………………………..124 Strengths and Limitations ……………………………………………………...125 Clinical Implications............................................................................................126 Clinical Interventions…………………………………………………………...130 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………...132 viii REFERENCES ...............................................................................................................134 APPENDICES ................................................................................................................145 A. Cis Partner(s) Demographic Questions…………………………………145 B. Trans Partner(s) Demographics Questions…………………………......148 C. Trans Identified Partner Protocol……………………………………….152 D. Cis Identified Partner Protocol………………………………………….154 CURRICULUM VITA ...................................................................................................156 ix LIST OF TABLES TABLE PAGE 1. Self-Identified Demographics of Participants…....................................................51 2. Internal Level Themes, Subthemes and Higher Order Categories..……………..65 3. Change Processes Themes, Subthemes and Higher Order Categories..................77 4. Relationship Level Themes, Subthemes and Higher Order Categories.................89 5. Outside of the Dyad Themes, Subthemes and Higher Order Categories…...…..114 x INTRODUCTION Terms and Definitions Asexual - A sexual identity label used by individuals who are not sexually attracted to others. Asexual individuals may or may not be involved in romantic relationships with others and may or may not engage in sexual behaviors (Bigio & Tucker, 2011; Gender Equality Resource Center, 2012). BDSM- A term that encompasses a range of sexual practice including bondage and discipline, dominance and submission, and sadism and masochism (Wiseman, 1996). Bisexual - A sexual identity label that describes people who are attracted to two or more genders. Historically