Trans*

What does Trans Mean to You?

Trans is an umbrella term that we can use as a way of expressing our selves, a way of describing our gender, or an identity (knowing who you are) that doesn’t fit society’s rules about women and men. Trans can include:
• people who identify as having more than one gender
• people who identify as gender-neutral
• people who don’t identify with any gender labels
• people whose gender identity doesn’t match their body (e.g., those of us with a male body who identify as a girl)
• people who have changed their bodies to better match their gender identity (e.g., those of us born female who uses hormones/surgery to make their body look more masculine)
• men who like to wear women’s clothes, and women who like to wearmen’s clothes
• anyone else who feels the word “trans” fits for them

Below is a list of definitions relating to trans identities, that the human rights commission came up with in their report: “To Be Who I Am”

Trans People - People who refer to themselves, among other terms, as transsexual, male-to-female, female-to-male, transgender, whakawahine, fa’afafine or tangata ira tane.

Transgender – A person whose gender identity is different from their physical sex at birth.

Transsexual - A person who has changed, or is in the process of changing, their physical sex to conform to their gender identity.

FtM/trans man – Female to Male – someone born with a female body who has a male gender identity.

MtF/trans woman – Male to Female – someone born with a male body who has a female gender identity.

Fa’afafine, Fakaleiti, Akava’ine, Mahu, Vaka sa lewa lewa, Rae rae, Fafafine – Pasifika terms describing someone born with a male body who does not have a male gender identity and often, but not always, lives as a woman. These terms are best understood within their cultural context.

Whakawahine – a Maori term describing someone born with a male body who has a female gender identity.

Tangata ira tane – a Maori term describing someone born with a female body who has a male gender identity.

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