I agree with Prudie & the commenter that the girlfriend needs to know. A bisexual past does not necessarily impact the boyfriend's current or future relationship with the girlfriend, at least no more than any other past sexual relationships. She might be unsettled if she knew, but it doesn't change her understanding of WHO the guy is: a man who is in love with her. But if the boyfriend is transsexual—feels like a woman trapped in a man's body—there is a lie (of omission) underpinning the girlfriend's understanding of WHO she is marrying. This has a huge impact on the girlfriend and their ability to have an honest, successful marriage and will likely result in devastation down the line. However, why is that devastation more significant than the devastation caused by the girl who lies about herpes (Oct. 12 - the letter from Annapolis)??? The friend's choice to pass on an incurable STD impacts her sexual partners and all their future sexual parters for the rest of their lives. But Prudie told Annapolis that "it's not your place to disclose this to her sexual partners." I think the same advice should have applied—if the friend doesn't change her policy on informing sexual parters, Annapolis will start informing them.

Way to catch Prudie out!

I revert to the basic rule of secret-keeping: it's fun as long as no one gets hurt.

The other difference is a man is keeping information from the poor unsuspecting woman, and in the other situation a woman is keeping the information from lecherous men who probably get what they deserve. (Just saying)

callmebetsy, very astute! You make an excellent point that while the particulars are different, the overall situation is the same. There does seem to be a glaring disparity between her advice to the Annapolis writer and the London UK writer.

omabikeryder,

so men that like to sleep with single women and remain uncommitted are 1) Lecherous and 2) deserve Herpes?

I guess a lot of people are gonna have herpes then

Not my take, but the generally accepted principle that Prudie seems to have a bias against men. The OP pointed out that the situations are similar, but the advice was different. I'm just pointing out that the difference in the situations is the gender of the offending party.

omabikeryder:

Not my take, but the generally accepted principle that Prudie seems to have a bias against men. The OP pointed out that the situations are similar, but the advice was different. I'm just pointing out that the difference in the situations is the gender of the offending party.

That's one difference. Another is the nature of the relationships: fleeting vs. committed.

Of course, getting herpes is more permanent than marrying a transexual. But whatever, Prudie's inconsistency is indefensible.