Evan Urquhart

If we start by assuming that A: for some people attraction is based on looks and B: secondary sex characteristics are a big component of how someone looks then we naturally arrive at C: Passing is central when we talk about who is attracted to what sorts of trans people.

But there's another way of approaching the question. This says, basically, first we should admit that human sexuality is messy and context specific, and there's no need to start from an assumption of straight (or gay) purity.

If we're talking about real world sexuality, then maybe it's a little besides the point to come up with hypothetically pure straight men and ask if their attraction to hypothetically perfectly passing trans women is straight. Maybe it's even a little insulting to everyone.

Contra has a philosophical bent, and in philosophy these edge cases and thought experiments are important. "If the straightest man ever sees a non-binary AFAB who is presenting femme under a full moon IS HIS ATTRACTION STRAIGHT???"

And, I think there are 2 fair answers to that. One is, simply, yes. If a straight man sees a non-binary person who is presenting femme, and never talks to them or finds out anything about their identity, then we can't really say their identity has queered his attraction style.

But the other fair answer is to say that these hypotheticals box in our understanding of the messy real world attractions that don't stop at seeing someone on the subway. That people's real life experiences can be queered by unexpected attractions.

If people's real life experiences can be queered by unexpected attractions, then what we're doing when we ask whether a lesbian whose partner transitions to male seven years after they broke up is still a lesbian is just propping up rigid ways of seeing sexuality and attraction.