Book Review: Autoheterosexual: Attracted to Being the Other Sex by Phil Illy
A Readable Map of Contested Territory, but Only Half the Compass
This review examines Phil Illy’s (2023) Autoheterosexual: Attracted to Being the Other Sex, a 701-page popular-level synthesis that positions autoheterosexuality (the sexual orientation of being attracted to being the other sex) as the primary driver of most transgender identity. Illy builds on Ray Blanchard’s two-type typology of transgenderism, extending it through original terminology and a parallel treatment of autoandrophilia alongside autogynephilia. The book’s readability, personal candor, and encyclopedic scope set it apart from prior works in this space. At the same time, Illy’s near-exclusive reliance on the Blanchardian framework, combined with limited engagement with published critiques of that framework, presents a narrower theoretical perspective than the empirical debate warrants. This review evaluates the book’s structure, argumentative strengths, methodological gaps, and suitability for a general audience seeking to understand the ongoing scientific controversy surrounding autogynephilia and transgender etiology.
Keywords: autogynephilia, autoandrophilia, autoheterosexuality, transgender etiology, Blanchard typology, gender dysphoria, sexology
