A new study, LGBTQ in America, released by Match.com found that transgender women wait longer to come out than anyone in the LGBTQ community.

The study surveyed 1,000 LGBTQ Americans between the ages of 18 to over 70 who were not in a committed relationship and found that transgender women had an average coming-out time of 1.6 years longer than transgender men. Transgender women also took an extra 2.1 years before coming out, in comparison to gay or bisexual men.

So why are transgender women taking so much longer to finally come out than their fellow LGBTQ peers? I reached out to two transgender female friends to get their take on it.

Vanessa, 45, says she believes the disparity comes from society's general misogyny and the idea that being a man makes you superior and being a woman makes you inferior. Vanessa says, "Because of this perceived superiority, people can wrap their minds around a woman wanting to be a man (which is perceived as a social upgrade), but not vice versa."

Vanessa adds that it can also take longer for trans women to get over their internalized misogyny and get used to not immediately being as accepted, as they might be if they were a cisgender man.

My friend Sidney Chase, 24, also feels that being a transgender woman is more of an uphill battle than being a transgender man. Sidney explains, "In my opinion, 9/10 trans men can get on testosterone and pass as cisgender men. However, 1/10 trans women will pass as cisgender a lot of the time, especially in early phases, with or without hormone replacement."

Sidney says that a transgender person's ability to "pass" can often be a major roadblock to people during their transition and they could feel like they didn't do it "correctly."

Cosmopolitan.com also reached out to Match scientific advisor Dr. Justin Garcia to get his opinion on the findings. Dr. Garcia says there are a variety of reasons why transgender woman may take longer to come out, but there are some possible theories. Dr. Garcia explains: "In the U.S., when young females perform masculinity, people might say they are a 'tomboy' or see it as 'sporty.' But when young males perform femininity, there are more social taboos against this. Meaning that males performing femininity is a bit more socially regulated and stigmatized."

Sadly, it does seem like the throughline for this disparity might boil down to the fact that the world sees being a man as being better than being a woman.

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Lane Moore Sex & Relationships Editor I'm Lane Moore, sex & relationships editor at Cosmopolitan.com.

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