ABSTRACT
Though it is often widely stated today that gender nonconformity during one’s youth is causally related to adult homosexuality, it is a thesis that is very difficult to document from historical data. In the medieval period, both nonconforming boys and girls had an out in the monastery or convent. They could enjoy the camaraderie of their own sex and avoid what might be regarded as stereotypical homosexual behavior in the secular world. Richard Green believed that gender discordant boys might well become transsexuals since he believed that gender dysphoria and homosexuality were not necessarily the same thing. Most information about childhood gender discordance does not come from longitudinal studies such as Green’s, but rather from recollected memories of those in psychotherapy or respondents to research studies. Although homosexual and bisexual youth, as well as transvestites and transsexuals, often report feeling different from other males in their boyhood and adolescence, some have better success than others in conforming to outward ideals.
