Trans*

Trans* is a neologism and conceptual term that refers to a deliberately open-ended cluster of meanings, often used to describe gender-expansive identities, ontological frameworks, and critiques of hegemonic gender systems. The asterisk denotes inclusivity and fluidity, signaling a departure from static definitions of “transgender” and allowing space for multiple identities, histories, and theoretical orientations to co-exist under a shared but non-uniform umbrella.^[1]

Etymology and Usage

The term trans* emerged in the early 21st century within activist, academic, and online communities. For some, it operates as an umbrella term encompassing identities such as transgender, transsexual, genderqueer, agender, and genderfluid. However, in academic contexts—particularly within philosophy, critical theory, education, and ethnic studies—trans* functions less as a category and more as a critical orientation or analytic that interrogates the structures of gender, power, and knowledge production, especially as they relate to trans people of color.^[2][3][4]

Theoretical Approaches

Ontological and Epistemological Frameworks

Within critical theory, trans* has been mobilized as a tool to question the ontological assumptions embedded in mainstream gender and transgender studies. Education philosophers such Omi Salas-SantaCruz argue that trans* is not merely a variation of gender identity but a rejection of colonial knowledge and their accompanying views on being, personhood, and embodiment.^[5][6]

In Black Trans Studies*, for example, the concept of Blackness as historically constructed as “nonhuman” is reframed as a null gender category, emphasizing the epistemic violence of colonial humanism and the ontological exclusion of Black trans people.[2] Similarly, decolonial scholars like PJ DiPietro frame trans* as a methodology that destabilizes Western knowledge systems and affirms pluralist genealogies of gender, including Indigenous, Afro-diasporic, and diasporic Latinx frameworks.[3]^[7]

Coloniality and Assemblages

Decolonial trans* scholars emphasize the role of coloniality—of power, being, knowledge, and gender—in shaping what we now understand as gender nonconformity.[6][8] Rather than viewing trans* identities as emerging solely from modern Western frameworks, scholars argue that trans* highlights historical and transnational refusals of colonial gender regimes and foregrounds the assemblages of being that emerge from these refusals.[7][9]^[8][9]

Social Progression and Movement Analysis

Trans* scholarship also traces the evolution of community formation and online activism. Eli Erlick and Emily Keener examine how digital spaces have enabled the formation of youth-led trans* movements, challenging isolation and expanding cultural narratives around gender.[26][27] Marquis Bey and others bring abolitionist frameworks into conversation with trans* studies to theorize liberation outside the confines of state-sanctioned identity categories.[14] ^[10][11][12]

Global and Decolonial Considerations

One of the central interventions of trans* is its challenge to the assumption that “transgender” identity is universal. Scholars emphasize that gender systems vary widely across cultures and histories, and what may be termed a “third gender” elsewhere should not be collapsed into Western transgender paradigms. Trans* thus becomes a tool to provincialize U.S.-centric understandings and to recognize the divergent ontologies of gender across the world. ^[13][14]

^{[15][16][17][18] [19][20]}

See also

• Gender star
• Queer of color critique
• Two-Spirit
• Jotería
• Nonbinary gender
• Coloniality of gender
• Decolonial Trans* Feminism
• Trans* of Color Critique