trans* (adj.)

The adjective trans* can serve as a radically inclusive umbrella term for all people who do not identify, or do not identify exclusively, with the gender to which they were assigned at birth. It should be noted here that this is a self-designation that not all transgender people use.

Umbrella terms for different expressions of trans* identities are not new: In the 1990s, the collective energy of the trans* movement in the USA first led to the use of the term "transgender" as an umbrella term. It was used to emphasize that different expressions of transsexuality are possible and taxonomically compatible (Singer 2014: 259). The term "trans*" was also used as early as the 1990s by lgbtq communities as a catchall term for a variety of identities that broke with traditional notions of ⇒ gender (Steinmetz 2018). Other sources date the use of the short code "t*" for all manner of trans*-related phenomena by older trans* people to the early 1980s (Ryan 2014).

The asterisk in trans* comes from computer language and stands for any number of characters in some operating systems (Gavin 2019). Early users of the term likely included trans* women in the IT industry, who combined the asterisk's placeholder function with "trans" as a umbrella term (Hill-Meyer as cited in Gavin 2019). "Trans*" was used strategically as a community designation, among other things, to bridge disputes between transgender and transsexual communities in the 1990s and to be able to act collectively and politically (Ibid.).

Since 2010, the adjective "trans*" has become increasingly common (Hoenes & Schirmer 2019: 1205). In many cases, it is tied to an interest in broadening the spectrum of transgender to include other forms of being trans such as genderqueer, non-binary, genderfluid, agender, and many more (Ibid.).

However, collective terms should be used cautiously: For example, a categorical appropriation of diverse gendered lifestyles in other parts of the world through the term "trans*" may obscure the different contexts of historically embedded, non-Western subjects (Towle & Morgan as cited in Singer 2014: 260).

Some argue against using the asterisk after trans because even the adjective trans alone encompasses all transgender people, making the asterisk redundant. Second, the asterisk could suggest "that some trans people are not understood as 'properly' trans or not trans 'enough'" (transgenial f_antifa 2015).

• Gavin, Patrick. "What's the asterisk in 'trans*' mean and why do some find it offensive?". The LGBTQ+ Experiment, 18.02.2019, last accessed 07.08.2020.

• Hill-Meyer, Tobi. "Insider politics warning". Facebook, 24.06.2015, last accessed 07.08.2020.

• Hoenes, Josch & Schirmer, Utan. "Transgender/Transsexuality: Research Perspectives and Challenges". Handbook of Interdisciplinary Gender Studies, Gender and SocietyB. Kortendiek et al. (ed.), Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH 2019, pp. 1203-1212.

• LAG Lesben in NRW e. V. (ed.). Primer of small differences. 10th updated and revised edition, Düsseldorf, 2019.

• Ryan, Hugh. "What Does Trans* Mean, and Where Did It Come From?". SLATE, 10.01.2014, last accessed 07.08.2020.

• Serano, Julia. "Regarding Trans* and Transgenderism". Whipping Girl (Blog), 27.08.2015, last accessed 07.08.2020.

• Singer, Benjamin T. "Umbrella." TSQ: Trangender Studies Quarterly (Keyword Section), Volume 1, Number 1-2, p. 259-260, last accessed 07.08.2020.

• S. Steinmetz, Katy. "The Oxford English Dictionary Added 'Trans*'. Here's What the Label Means". TIME, 03.04.2018, last accessed 07.08.2020.

• Towle, Evan B., and Lynne M. Morgan. 2006. ''Romancing the Transgender Native.'' The Transgender Studies Reader, Susan Stryker & Stephen Whittle (eds.), Routledge, pp. 666-84.

• Transgenial f_antifa. "NOW NEW! Without asterisks!" transgeniale f_antifa (blog), 31.10.2015, last accessed 07.08.2020.