Trans*

In case you’re wondering, here’s a brief explanation of why some people are adding a * to the end of trans.

When the asterisk is put on the end of trans*, it expands the boundaries of the category to be radically inclusive. It can be understood as the most inclusive umbrella term to describe various communities and individuals with nonconforming gender identities and/or expressions en masse. In addition to its use as an umbrella term, it is also used by some individuals as an identity to describe just themselves (e.g. “I identify as trans*”).

Effectively, this is the same concept as trans-, which has showed up from time to time.

Betty used to say that she was trans – and you could add whatever you wanted after.