In a 2017 article, sexologists J Micheal Bailey and Ray Blanchard wrote,
in Western countries in recent years, including the United States, autogynephilia has accounted for at least 75% of cases of male-to-female transsexualism.
Autogynephilia is a male’s sexual arousal by the fantasy of being a woman. That is, autogynephilic males are turned on by thinking about themselves as women, or behaving like women. The typical heterosexual adolescent boy has sexual fantasies about attractive girls or women. The autogynephilic adolescent boy’s may also have such fantasies, but in addition he fantasizes that he is an attractive, sexy woman.
The most common behavior associated with autogynephilia during adolescence is fetishistic cross dressing. In this behavior, the adolescent male wears female clothing (typically, lingerie) in private, looks at himself in the mirror, and masturbates. Some autogynephilic males are not only sexually aroused by cross dressing, but also by the idea of having female body parts. These body-related fantasies are especially likely to be associated with gender dysphoria.
In general, adolescent boys are unlikely to divulge their sexual fantasies to their parents. This is likely especially true of boys with autogynephilia. Furthermore, many boys who engage in cross dressing feel ashamed for doing so. The fact that autogynephilic fantasies and behaviors are largely private is one reason why autogynephilic gender dysphoria usually seems to emerge from nowhere. Another reason is that autogynephilic males are not naturally very feminine. An adolescent boy with autogynephilia does not give off obvious signals of gender nonconformity or gender dysphoria.
In past decades, when autogynephilic males have transitioned, they have most often done so during the ages 30-50, after having married women and fathered children.
Recently autogynephilic males have been attempting transition at younger ages, including adolescence.
Caitlyn Jenner, Rachel Levine, Jennifer Pritizker, Jan Morris, Renee Richards, Martine Rothlbatt, Zoey Tur, Kirsten Beck, Jennifer Finney-Boylan, Grace Lavery, Joss Prior, Debbie Hayton, Jane Fae, Morgane Oger, Kellie Maloney, Anne Lawrence, Andrea Long Chu, India Willoughby, June Eastwood, Lia Thomas, Linsey Hecox, the YouTuber Contrapoints, Amy Schneider, Eddie Izzard are among the legions of white "transwomen" in the US, UK and Canada who are sexually attracted to women - eg, heterosexual males. Nearly all of the older ones have fathered children and been married to women; some have had multiple wives. After "transition," these males describe themselves as lesbians or "transbians."
Terry Miller, Andraya Yearwood, Cece Telfer, Kat Blaque, TS Madison, Laverne Cox, Shea Diamond are among the minority of "transwomen" in the USA who are attracted to others of their own sex, eg, homosexual males. The persons I named are all black and grew up in very homophobic households and conservative church communities. Due to the homophobia they have internalized, these males look down on other homosexual males and on their own sexual orientation. They adopt a trans identity because their families and communities will accept them as straight women, but not as gay men - and also because they tend to grow thinking that girls and women lead much easier, cushier lives. Most important, they adopt a woman gender identity because they are attracted to straight males, and they have a deep, abiding desire to date, bed, seduce and marry straight men.
In countries like Samoa, India, Pakistan, Thailand, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the Philippines, Jamaica, much of Central and South America, homophobia is rife and deeply rooted. In several of these countries, homosexual sex acts are still illegal and carry heavy penalties (the death penalty in Iran). Due to social, cultural and familial pressures, homosexual boys and men in/from those places, or whose families come from those places, often find it much easier to adopt a trans identity or adopt their culture's "third gender" than to live openly as out, proud gay men.
In the USA and other Western countries, there long have been lots of prominent out gay men living happily and achieving success and admiration as out gay men like Anderson Cooper, Don Lemon, Jonathan Capeheart, Andrew Solomon, David Sedaris, Glenn Greenwald, Andrew Sullivan, Larry Kramer, Matt Bohmer, Neil Patrick Harris, Luke Macfarlane, Zachary Quinto, Nathan Lane, Wilson Cruz, Anthony Rapp, Robin De Jesús,
Lee Pace, Robert Gant, Andy Cohen, Lee Daniels, Victor Garber.... and many more.
But in other countries - and in certain subcultures and locales in the US and other liberal Western democracies - gay males are still scorned and stigmatized, and there are few to no RL positive gay male role models for boys to look up.
Of course, some white gay guys in countries like the US of course decide to become "transwomen." But if you look into their backgrounds, I think you'll find they almost always come from families, communities that were very homophobic, sexist and narrow-minded. As a result, these males grew up not realizing that living openly as gay guy who likes to appear "feminine" and "girly" was an option for them. This has especially been the case in the current century, when due to the influence of the internet, the popularity of transgenderism, online porn - including "forced feminization" fetish porn and "sissy porn" aimed at males - more and more same-sex attracted male youths are getting the impression growing up that there are a lot more advantages to being a "trans girl" than an ordinary gay guy.
