transgender

English

Etymology

The adjective is derived from trans- (prefix meaning ‘extending across, through, or over’) +‎ gender, modelled after transsexual (adjective) and probably modified from transgenderism which was coined by the American psychiatrist John F. Oliven (1915–1975) in 1965; the terms transgender, transgenderal, transgendered, transgenderist, and similar terms arose in the decades after this. By the 1990s, the word transgender had acquired its current senses, and had also largely displaced the earlier term transsexual: see the usage notes.

The noun and verb are derived from the adjective. Regarding noun sense 2 (“synonym of transgenderism”), compare transsex (noun).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /tɹænzˈd͡ʒɛndə/, /tɹɑːnz-/, /tɹæns-/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌtɹænzˈd͡ʒɛndəɹ/, /ˌtɹæn(t)s-/

• Audio (GA)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛndə(ɹ)
• Hyphenation: trans‧gen‧der

Adjective

transgender (not comparable)

2. (broadly) Of a person: having a gender (identity) which is different from one's assigned sex; that is, the identity of a trans man, trans woman, or someone non-binary, for example, agender, bigender, or third-gender.

   Coordinate terms: transsexual, nonbinary, genderqueer

   • 1978 December – 1979 January, J. J., “The Fellowship Family: News and Notes of MCC People and Events around the World”, in F. Jay Deacon, editor, The Gay Christian: A Journal of Theological Reflection from Metropolitan Community Church, Santa Monica, Calif.: Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, →OCLC, page 23, column 2:

     We have taken to the local radio station, to talk about transgender problems. Carol Fremont is working in this area, and by General Conference we should have some interesting insights and understandings to share regarding transgender persons.

   • 1979 May 3, Pierre Bowman, “Back in showbiz Christine Jorgensen”, in George Chaplin, editor, The Honolulu Advertiser (People Report Section), Honolulu, Hi.: Thurston Twigg-Smith, →ISSN, →OCLC, page B-1, column 3:

     Christine Jorgensen, the world's first highly publicized transsexual – or "trans-gender" patient – never planned to be famous because of her surgery.

   • 2010 March 3, Jessica Green, “I’m sorry, I’m not lesbian: My being a straight editor of Pink News has confused and angered some – but it shows how far gay rights have come”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian‎, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-08-11:

     One head of a small gay charity visibly flinched when I mentioned my boyfriend and has been cold towards me ever since. I've even caught someone staring down my top to see if I'm transgender.

   • 2010 April 7, Natasha Lennard, “City Room: Transgender film draws protests at festival site”, in The New York Times‎, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-12-23:

     The film, "Ticked-Off Trannies With Knives," is described by its creator, Israel Luna, as an homage to 1970s exploitation films. But the inclusion of the word "trannie"—a pejorative, in some circles—in the title, and the film's parodic representation of transgender women, has offended many people.

   • 2017 July 27, Emily Rauhala, “Transgender Chinese man wins first-of-its-kind labor discrimination case”, in The Washington Post (WorldViews section)‎, Washington, D.C.: The Washington Post Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2017-11-11:

     A Chinese court on Thursday found that a transgender man was unjustly fired from his job, a first-of-its-kind ruling that activists called a step forward in the fight for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights. […] Mr. C, a transgender Chinese man who says he was fired for wearing men's clothes, stands outside a court in Guiyang, China, July 27, 2017, holding the court’s ruling that his dismissal violated his employment rights.

   • 2023 February 6, Stefan Dege, Louisa Schaefer, “Kim Petras: How the trans artist made history”, in Deutsche Welle‎, archived from the original on 2023-03-30:

     When Kim Petras teamed up with English singer Sam Smith on "Unholy," a song about male infidelity and betrayal of the ideal of marriage, she may not have expected to make history. But now, the German pop singer Petras is the first transgender woman to win a coveted Grammy in the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance category. At the Grammy Awards on February 5, 2023, Petras thanked "transgender legends before me who kicked these doors open for me so that I could be here tonight." […] Back in October 2022, the duo Petras and Smith had already become the first publicly transgender and nonbinary solo artists, respectively, to have reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 charts with their single.

   1. (strictly) Of a person: having a gender (identity) which is opposite from the sex one was assigned at birth: being assigned male but having a female gender, or vice versa (that is, not including a non-binary identity).
      • 1988, Merissa Sherrill Lynn, “Definitions of Terms Commonly Used in the Transvestite–Transsexual Community”, in Diane Dixon, Jan Dixon, Veronica Brown, editors, The TV–TS Tapestry: The Journal for Persons Interested in Crossdressing & Transsexualism, number 51, Wayland, Mass.: International Foundation for Gender Education, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 22:

        Gender identity is whether or not a person perceives him/herself to be a man or woman (see ‘man’ and ‘woman’). The problem arises when a male perceives himself to be a woman, and vise versa. Notice I said man or woman, and not male or female. The difference is important. Male and female are biological terms, while man and woman as they are used here are modes of being, ways to be, which are based on psychology and sociology rather than biology. (see ‘gender dysphoria’) Sexual identity is a ‘transsexual’ issue and may involve sexual re-assignment surgery, but may not involve cross-dressing. Gender identity is a ‘transgender’ issue and does not involve surgery, but almost always involves cross-dressing.

      • 1990, Louis Sullivan, “Epilogue”, in From Female to Male: The Life of Jack Bee Garland, Boston, Mass.: Alyson Publications, →ISBN, page 174:

        What is happening in the world at the time, restrictions or freedom in sex-role choices, or in access to clothing fabrics and styles—none of these have much influence on the transgender person’s desire to be the opposite sex.

      • 2015 August 29, Ben Machell, “The transgender kids”, in The Times‎, London: News UK, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-03-22:

        She emphasises that being transgender really has nothing to do with your anatomy. There are terms for individuals who have undergone sex reassignment surgery – “transexed”, for example – whereas to be transgender is simply to have the conviction that you are the opposite gender to the body you have been assigned.

      • 2018, Michael S. Gazzaniga, “Human Development”, in Psychological Science, 6th edition, New York, N.Y: W[illiam] W[arder] Norton & Company, →ISBN, page 367:

        Biology has a strong effect on whether people identify as female, male, or transgender. A transgender person was born as one biological sex but feels that her true gender identity is that of the other sex. One theory of why gender and biological sex differ for those who are transgender has to do with timing of hormonal events during pregnancy.

      • 2018 June 19, “Transgenderism no longer a mental illness: WHO”, in France 24‎, archived from the original on 2018-06-19:

        Transgender people, who identify as the opposite gender to the one they were born with, should no longer be considered mentally ill, according to a new UN categorisation. The World Health Organization issued a new catalogue Monday covering 55,000 diseases, injuries and causes of death, in which it discreetly recategorised transgenderism. […] Several countries have already taken steps to reclassify transgenderism and take it off the list of mental disorders, including France and Denmark. Say said she thought the text, which is the result of years of discussion among experts, would easily win approval, despite widespread lack of acceptance of transgender people in many parts of the world.

      • 2022 March, Florian Kurth, Christian Gaser, Francisco J. Sánchez, Eileen Luders, “Brain Sex in Transgender Women Is Shifted towards Gender Identity”, in Journal of Clinical Medicine, volume 11, number 6, Basel, Basel-Stadt: MPDI, →DOI, →ISSN, →OCLC, →PMID, abstract:

        Transgender people report discomfort with their birth sex and a strong identification with the opposite sex. The current study was designed to shed further light on the question of whether the brains of transgender people resemble their birth sex or their gender identity. For this purpose, we analyzed a sample of 24 cisgender men, 24 cisgender women, and 24 transgender women before gender-affirming hormone therapy. We employed a recently developed multivariate classifier that yields a continuous probabilistic (rather than a binary) estimate for brains to be male or female. The brains of transgender women ranged between cisgender men and cisgender women (albeit still closer to cisgender men), and the differences to both cisgender men and to cisgender women were significant (${\displaystyle p=0.016}$ and ${\displaystyle p<0.001}$, respectively). These findings add support to the notion that the underlying brain anatomy in transgender people is shifted away from their biological sex towards their gender identity.

3. (loosely) Of a person: transgressing or not identifying with culturally conventional gender roles and categories of male or female.

   Coordinate term: gender-nonconforming

   • 1992 June, Howlin’ Mad Johann , “”, in Maximum Rocknroll, number 109, San Francisco, Calif.: Maximum Rock’n’Roll, →ISSN, →OCLC, page , column 2:

     I think the new punk rockers are going to be more androgynous, more bisexual, more transgender, more ethnically diverse and less willing to take shit than before, as well as less homophobic, racist, and sexist, not because it's politically correct, man, but because all of those things stink of a parent's world of authoritarian bullshit that want to deprive people of their individuality.

   • 2001 June 24, John Cloud, “Trans across America”, in Time‎, New York, N.Y.: Time Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2024-03-16:

     Less noticed, however, is that gender nonconformists have been working together, with some remarkable successes, to build a political movement. Their first step was to reclaim the power to name themselves: transgender is now the term most widely used, and it encompasses everyone from cross-dressers (those who dress in clothes of the opposite sex) to transsexuals (those who surgically "correct" their genitals to match their "real" gender).

4. Of or pertaining to transgender people (sense 1), or their experiences or identity.
   • 1978 December – 1979 January, J. J., “The Fellowship Family: News and Notes of MCC People and Events around the World”, in F. Jay Deacon, editor, The Gay Christian: A Journal of Theological Reflection from Metropolitan Community Church, Santa Monica, Calif.: Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, →OCLC, page 23, column 2:

     We have taken to the local radio station, to talk about transgender problems.

   • 1979, Nancy , “Feather Your Own Nest”, in Virginia Prince, editor, Transvestia‎, volume XVII, number 98, Los Angeles, Calif.: Chevalier Publications, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-06-19, pages 36–37:

     After having lived much of our lives according to a socially accepted prescription, many of us come to realize that we have not been true to ourselves. As full-time or part-time transgenderists, we feel the need to improve the quality of life for ourselves by creating an environment around us which is compatible with the kind of life style we wish to achieve. […] While looking for a change of apartments, I walked into the rental office of a large complex, looked at the models and then proceeded to tell the manager about myself … my work, my hobbies, and, yes, even my transgender lifestyle … but all in a very matter-of-fact and self-confident manner. The result was total acceptance. In fact, they invited me to return as Nancy to the Halloween party they were holding that same evening … and I did!

   • 2017 July 27, Emily Rauhala, “Transgender Chinese man wins first-of-its-kind labor discrimination case”, in The Washington Post (WorldViews section)‎, Washington, D.C.: The Washington Post Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2017-11-11:

     A Chinese court on Thursday found that a transgender man was unjustly fired from his job, a first-of-its-kind ruling that activists called a step forward in the fight for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights.

5. Of a space: intended primarily for transgender people.
   • 2001, Walter O. Bockting, Sheila Kirk, “Transgender Health and Social Service Needs in the Context of HIV Risk”, in Transgender and HIV: Risks, Prevention, and Care, New York, N.Y.: The Haworth Press, →ISBN, page 46:

     Despite the significant HIV/AIDS risks faced by transgenders, we could locate targeted prevention programs in only a handful of locations throughout the country. […] In Boston, no AIDS prevention messages are posted at the primary drag queen and transgender bar.

   • 2003, Connie Emerson, “Gay and Lesbian Visitors”, in Top 10 Las Vegas (DK Eyewitness Top 10 Travel Guides), 1st US edition, London; New York, N.Y.: Dorling Kindersley, →ISBN, page 128, column 2:

     The Las Vegas Lounge is the city's only transgender bar.

   • 2011 June, Martin Zatko, “Listings ”, in Róisin Cameron, editor, The Rough Guide to Seoul, London: Rough Guides, →ISBN, page 130:

     Trance […] A thriving transgender bar on the main Itaewon drag, […]

   • 2022 August 30, William Yen, “Culture: Filipino Dancer Decodes Beauty Pageants and Their Colonial Roots”, in Focus Taiwan: CNA English News‎, archived from the original on 2022-09-03:

     Belgium-based Filipino dancer Joshua Serafin’s performance later this week at the Taipei Arts Festival explores transgender beauty pageants from the Philippines and the politics, culture and hidden colonial past behind the industry, the artist said Tuesday.

6. Of a space: available for use by transgender people, rather than only non-transgender people.
   • 2002 October 2, Benjamin Gedan, “Group wants transgender bathrooms for UMASS”, in The Boston Globe, Boston, Mass.: The Globe Newspaper Co., →ISSN, →OCLC:

     Group wants transgender bathrooms for UMASS [title]

   • 2002 November 26, Olaf Aprans, “Transgenderism”, in The Minuteman, Amherst, Mass.: The Minuteman, undergraduate students at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, →OCLC; quoted in Olga Gershenson, “The Restroom Revolution: Unisex Toilets and Campus Politics”, in Harvey Molotch, Laura Norén, editors, Toilet: Public Restrooms and the Politics of Sharing (NYU Series in Social and Cultural Analysis), New York, N.Y.; London: New York University Press, 2010, →ISBN, part III (Building in the Future), page 199:

     Why the sudden outcry for transgender bathrooms? The answer is easy, the activists behind this movement are using a petty issue like bathrooms as a medium to throw their lifestyles in the face of every-day students.

   • 2013, William Keith, Christian O. Lundberg, Public Speaking: Choice and Responsibility, Belmont, Calif.: Andover, →ISBN:

     In contrast, in a democratic conversation or dialogue, the speaker would begin by identifying the larger public issues that connect to the availability of transgender bathrooms: equality, civil rights, […]

7. Synonym of crossgender (“across multiple genders”)
   • 1967 March, John P. Leary, “Woman in American Society Today”, in Thought: A Review of Culture and Idea, volume XLII, number 164, Bronx, New York, N.Y.: Fordham University Press, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 116:

     Of course some unhappiness is simply a transgender phenomenon. Realists learn to expect a day in which perhaps 40 to 80 per cent is made up of repetition of what was done the day before and the day before that. Any set of normal days with over 20 per cent of excitement in them would be extraordinary. Consequently, the mere fact of being human, whether male or female, requires endurance, tolerance, a sense of moderate wholesome expectations.

   • 1975 August 23, Judie Black, “Ey has a word for it”, in Clayton Kirkpatrick, editor, Chicago Tribune (Tempo (1C) section), number 235, Chicago, Ill.: Tribune Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 2, columns 1–2:

     Those are the winning entries in the Chicago Association of Business Communicators' contest to find pronouns to replace she and he [ey], him and her [em], his and hers [eir]. […] [C]ontest winner Christine M. Elverson of Skokie says her words are "transgender pronouns." She formed them by dropping "the" from the familiar plural pronouns, they, them, and their. For example, a speaker might use these new transgender pronouns when ey addresses an audience of both men and women.

   • 1982, Sara Ruddick, “Maternal Thinking”, in Barrie Thorne, Marilyn Yalom, editors, Rethinking the Family: Some Feminist Questions, White Plains, N.Y.: Longman, →ISBN, page 91:

     Unless we have identified "male" and "female" aspects of thought, however, the claim of gender bias is an empty one. I do not doubt that disciplines are also shaped by transgender interests, values, and concepts, which women, whether or not they engage in maternal practices, may fully share.

   • 1984, Rosalind Pollack Petchesky, “Conclusion: The Feminist Movement and the Conditions of Reproductive Freedom”, in Abortion and Woman’s Choice: The State, Sexuality, and Reproductive Freedom (Longman Series in Feminist Theory), New York, N.Y.: Longman, →ISBN, page 391:

     Unlike capitalism, under socialist transformation there is a normative basis for maintaining the principle of collective (transgender) responsibility in the activity of reproduction and childrearing, as in everything else.

   • 1988, Tara Jones, “Against Toxic Capital”, in Corporate Killing: Bhopals Will Happen, London: Free Association Books, →ISBN, part 2 (More Bhopals), page 273:

     Not only do men share in the responsibility for children—but also, toxic chemicals that affect women’s reproductive health do not bypass the male reproductive system. In Bhopal, for example, impotence and loss of libido were reported among a large proportion of exposed males. Reproductive effects are a transgender issue that men as well as women should address.

Usage notes

• The word transgender became popular in the 1970s, and by the 1990s it had largely displaced the older word transsexual. (Transsexual is now often considered outdated, although some people still prefer it; see its entry for more. Neither term should be confused with transvestite; see further at that entry.) Transgender is an umbrella term, encompassing trans men and trans women, and often also encompassing nonbinary people; using transgender to refer strictly to people with a binary gender identity might be considered offensive and exclusionary towards non-binary people.
• For the usage of this word (and similar adjectives) as a noun and verb, see below.

Alternative forms

• trans-gender (dated)
• xgender (abbreviation)

Synonyms

• T* (abbreviated form)
• TG (abbreviated form)
• trans (abbreviated form)
• trans* (abbreviated form, broad sense)
• transgenderal (uncommon)
• transgendered (uncommon, now offensive)

Antonyms

• cisgender

Hypernyms

• LGBT, LGBTQ, LGBTQIA

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Related terms

• gender-free
• transphobia
• transsex

Descendants

• → Catalan: transgènere (calque)
• → Dutch: transgender
• → French: transgenre (calque)
• → German: transgender
• → Japanese: トランスジェンダー (toransujendā)
• → Korean: 트랜스젠더 (teuraenseujendeo)

Translations

Noun

transgender (usually uncountable, plural transgenders)

1. (countable, now often offensive) A transgender person; also (preceded by the), transgender people collectively.

   Synonym: (uncommon) transgenderal

   • 1979 September 23, Jerry Parker, “A woman with no regrets”, in Stanley Green, editor, LI: Newsday’s Magazine for Long Island, Suffolk edition, Melville, N.Y.: Newsday Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 18, columns 3–4:

     "If you understand trans-genders," she [Christine Jorgensen] says, choosing the word she prefers to transsexuals, "then you understand that gender is different than sexual preference. It doesn't have to do with bed partners, it has to do with identity." Jorgensen says she knows of some male-to-female trans-genders who have settled into lesbian relationships. She herself is heterosexual.