Some lesbians claim they have been accused of transphobia and threatened with violence if admitting that they are not attracted trans women.
Lesbians have spoken out to admit that they felt pressured to sex with transgender women or coerced into becoming partners.
More than half of the 80 women who responded to a survey by campaigning group Get the L Out reported being pressured or coerced to accept a trans woman as a sexual partner.
66% of respondents said they felt intimidated by or threatened by their LGBT groups.
One respondent to the survey wrote: “I thought I would get called a transphobe, or that it would not be right of me to turn down trans women who wanted to swap nude photos.
Some lesbians were pressured to have sex with transwomen out of fear they would be labeled transphobic if it wasn’t. Others claim they are subject to abuse if they express a “genital preference”.
“Young women feel compelled to sleep with transgender women “to prove I am not an erf”
Another added: ‘I was told that homosexuality doesn’t exist and I owed it to my trans sisters to unlearn my ‘genital confusion’ so I can enjoy letting them p******** me.’
Although the sample size was not representative for the entire Lesbian community, the organization acknowledged that it was an important tool to highlight these points of views and stories’.
Activists have criticized the survey for the way Get the L Out recruited respondents. The survey was sent to only women-only and lesbian groups on social media.
Other women have also spoken out to highlight the issue, which they feel is almost impossible for anyone to talk about publicly.
MailOnline spoke to one woman on condition of anonymity who said that gay women are held to a higher standard than men.
According to the 31 year-old woman, she would only sex with a biologically male partner.
“Now, I just need to make sure I surround myself with people who won’t attack me for what it is that I do with my body.
Reports highlighting the issue show that gay women claim they are subject to abuse if they express themselves online.
Although it’s not a common problem that every lesbian faces every day, it’s not impossible to experience it.
“What frustrates about this debate? Men are always completely absent from the conversation.
Is a man considered transphobic if it doesn’t want a transgender woman to sleep with him? Is a gay man transphobic if it doesn’t want a trans woman to sleep with him?
“Once again, it’s attacking lesbians for something that also applies in men. Because they never ask the question, you are holding lesbians to a higher standard than straight men or gay men.
According to the BBC, several women who had sex with trans women have faced backlash.
Jennie, a lesbian who is only attracted to women who are biologically female, says she has been described as transphobic, a genital fetishist, a pervert and a ‘terf’ – a trans exclusionary radical feminist.
She said to the BBC that she had heard someone say they would rather kill her than Hitler.
“They said they would strangle you with a belt if I was in a room with Hitler and them. It was so bizarrely violent because I won’t have any sex with transgender women.
“There is a common argument that they use that says: “What if you met a beautiful woman in a bar? You got along really well. Then you went home to discover that she has a penis. Would you be interested?
“Yes, even if they seem attractive at first, it is possible to fall in love with them. I don’t have the sexual attraction to biologically male people, regardless of their gender.
Lesbians also share their experiences via social media, including Twitter (pictured).
Another woman who used the name Chloe told the BBC she felt so pressured she ended up having penetrative sex with a trans woman at university after repeatedly explaining she was not interested.
She said, “I felt very bad for hateful every moment, because it is believed that we are attracted more to gender than sex, and that I didn’t feel that way, and I felt bad for feeling that way.”
Some lesbians have also spoken up on social media about the issue.
One Twitter user wrote: “I had no idea what lesbians were going though until I was attacked via a dating app.
“I matched with a woman, and we began talking. I gave her my number. I finally got the message that she was transgender.
“I didn’t reject the idea immediately. I didn’t respond until she said she hadn’t had any bottom surgery. At that point, harassment began.
“She almost convinced her that I was transphobic.” She made me feel like I was being a sexist towards women. It took me weeks to get over this experience.
“I didn’t realize that other women were being harassed as well. Before they revealed my number, I had already given that person my phone number.
Trans activists claim that ‘genital preference’ is discrimination and liken it with racism
They refused to accept my preference for genital organs and harassed me because they wouldn’t.
“They mentally abused and sexually harassed my then made me feel like they were the one in wrong.”
Another wrote, “I had an experience with a preoperative trans man who told me that he owed it to me to unlearn his “confused genital preferences” otherwise I’m transphobic because I refused.”
Critics of genitalia preferences, as they are often called, compare the stance to excluding people of color or those with different abilities as sexual partners.
Stonewall chief executive Nancy Kelley took this position.
According to her, sexuality is a personal thing that each person experiences. There is no “right” way to be a lesbian. Only you can determine who you are attracted too.
“Nobody should ever feel pressured into dating or into dating someone they are not attracted to.
“But if you find yourself writing off whole groups of people in your dating life, such as people with disabilities, people of colour, and people of color, it is worth looking at how society has shaped your attraction.
When asked about the issue, Stonewall chief executive Nancy Kelley likened ‘genital preference’ to choosing not to have sex with people of colour, fat people, disabled people
“We are aware that prejudice is still a common feature in the LGBT+ community. We need to be able to openly and honestly discuss this.
Ash Sarkar, Journalist, added that “Nobody should be forced into sexing with anyone, for any reason.”
“I wouldn’t want anyone to feel they had sex with my out of social pressure. But it’d be fair for us to ask if racism plays a role in telling every 5 minutes that they’d never slept with a woman of color.
Trans rights activist Veronica Ivy said: ‘Most people don’t date genitals, we date *people* who have genitals.
“If a girl has a funny-looking vagina, I don’t stop dating her. It’s a workable relationship. I can make it work.