Hi! Just wondering if someone could explain the difference between trans and trans* to me? I've asked a couple of people here and I got no concrete answers Thanks
I'm not 100% sure, so if I'm wrong, someone please correct me! but from my understanding, there really is no difference... I've always used trans and trans* interchangeably when referring to myself. I normally use trans* when referring to other people because I think if there is a difference, it's that trans is simply transgender, whereas trans* includes people of non-binary genders (Bigender, genderfluid etc.) I could be terribly wrong, but that's just my understanding of it.
There are a few different opinions out there on trans and trans*. Some people believe that trans is simply short for transgender. This would cover all transgender identities, since transgender is an umbrella term. Some people believe that the term trans only applies to binary transgender people. So, this would only cover transgender men and women. This group of people believe that the asterisk helps include non-binary identities. This article is a deeper explanation of this view. Finally, there is the view that the asterisk is used as an attempt to seem more inclusive. Some believe that people use this as a sort of "buzzword" to try to seem more inclusive of non binary identities. In reality though, they are not at all inclusive on non-binary identities. This post takes a look at that view. There are some other viewpoints out there, but these are the most common ones. It's pretty amazing that something as little as an asterisk can cause so much controversy... So, it really comes down to what you prefer to use. Personally, I usually use trans, because I see transgender as an umbrella term. I don't mind when people use the asterisk though. (In fact, the transgender group that I helped start on my college campus uses the asterisk.)
I just used it in my sexual orientation description for other peoples' convenience, but I see trans as an umbrella term.
I see trans as an umbrella term for all non-cis identities, so trans* seems unnecessary to me, but it doesn't bother me when other people use it. I just choose not to.
I'm of the opinion that trans* is more inclusive of non-binary/gender non-conforming folks. I'll use trans if it's a binary transgender person, or trans* if I'm not sure or if it's anything other than binary transgender.