Hi Jessica,
Nice to hear from and about you. Indeed there are many anecdotal stories of trans people's finding their sexuality changing (morphing?) during/after transition. It's good you're keeping an open mind. After all, now that we're finally becoming our authentic gender there's no profit in maintaining hard lines in our sexuality!
I found that I remain only interested in women as partners. Men can be fun and all that but they just don't float my boat the way women do. I love the deeper connection that women have between each other and freedom to express it. Because of that I had a zero-depth vaginoplasty as part of my GCS. Sure, I imagine that lesbians enjoy each other's vaginas and I wish I'd been born with one. But I wasn't and made the decision to err on the side of low/no maintenance vs. the high maintenance that's part and parcel of a full-depth vaginoplasty. Send me a PM if you're interested in more info.
Although I've made a bunch of cis lesbian friends in the Seattle area I've struggled to find dates let alone a romantic partner. I am on three dating sites and have also put myself out there to several women I've met socially and am friends with. For women I've not met I suspect that my being trans is at least a part of their lack of attraction. And although I seem to pass very well I suspect that my face and body isn't as attractive as many are looking for. That said I have enjoyed several first dates and for the most part I've been the one to not wish to see them again.
I find another big contusion factor that involves my indoctrination in male socialization. As a male when women opened up to me, smiled, and all that, it was reasonably safe to assume that they had at least some romantic interest or attraction to me. Now, though, all of my women friends exhibit these characteristics! What I used to think were signs of attraction are now the norm so it's pretty confusing. Last weekend I spoke privately with a good lesbian friend about this. She understood and said that I need to wait for stronger and more clear signals. That is also hard for me to do. Again, having been socialized as I was, it was expected that I take those first steps and unless I did she might lose interest. Interesting, huh? 🙂
So, I'm seeing it all as a marketing challenge to get myself out there and through exposure I'll meet more women. Last weekend I also had a first date with a lesbian I met on OKCupid. I think we'll certainly be friends. Beyond that? I have my hopes but also reservations, we'll see.
Emma