I would not dream of making the claim that these were solidly-equal, meeting-of-peers-without-hierarchy relationships. That honor goes to my relationship with my current wife- who is a lesbian and has never been anything else- which is obviously causing us some problems.
Yep. And I was much more of an overcompensating insecure asshole before I realized "Oh, I could transition and actually BE a man and then I wouldn't have to overcompensate via gender role in relationships."