You've Changed

Lesbian women who partner with female-to-male transsexuals (FTMs) are all but invisible in the literature. They have been scarcely depicted in published work, very few research studies have considered them an interesting population, and there are few support organizations dedicated to their aid. My work is about these women. I conducted research and wrote an evocative novella as a way to convey my findings. The main theme is the challenge of invisibility and marginalization experienced by lesbian women who find themselves partnered with trans men and must decide how to navigate a new identity while living with a mate who is experiencing the biggest life change possible and often has little energy left to support her. A secondary theme is the depiction of the experience of conducting such research in a cautious academic climate. The outstanding difference, other than the rarity of the subject matter, is the readability of the work. I used autoethnography as a methodology and wrote in an engaging way, using poetry, narration, and imaginative fictionalized accounts of true experiences.