Fast forward to the mid- 80s. So I came out as lesbian in 1986. I started off as your garden variety lesbian, and then I became self-identified as butch, and then stone butch in the early 90s. But Sennett didn't feel quite right as a lesbian, or as a woman, period. Still, Sennett rejected the typical transsexual transformation process, if such a thing exists, and shunned the idea of completely realigning his gender.
Surgery is very expensive.
And it's a very intrusive procedure. I don't need to have a penis to feel like a guy. Some transsexuals do, though. There are other transsexuals who feel, absolutely, they have to have it, and I feel, as an activist, it's my role to support them. And that support centers on removing the barriers to surgery.