# LGBT Terminology Question: A "Trans Man" Is: **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 26, 2014, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lgbt-terminology-question-a-trans-man-is/684610 "2014-03-26T16:22:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lgbt-terminology-question-a-trans-man-is/684610/1 "2014-03-26T16:22:14Z")
One of those ubiquitous Buzzfeed questions prompted me to answer the question: _Which restroom should a trans man use?_ I answered correctly: whichever one he chooses. What I’m not clear on is what the terminology means. Is a trans man someone who identifies as a man, regardless of how he was born? Or is it someone who is biologically male but identifies as a woman? ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lgbt-terminology-question-a-trans-man-is/684610/2 "2014-03-26T16:36:46Z")
A transman is a man. It would be a horribly cruel joke to refer to someone by the gender they do not consider themself to be. ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lgbt-terminology-question-a-trans-man-is/684610/3 "2014-03-26T18:00:02Z")
In other words, a trans man is a trans person whose identity in the present is as a male person. Female-to-male means you’ve got yourself a trans man, not a trans woman. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lgbt-terminology-question-a-trans-man-is/684610/4 "2014-03-26T22:05:06Z")
Jeez, can we not be so damn politically correct all the time?! Cause given the posts so far I’m still confused. From an anatomy pov ‘Trans Man’ means identifies as male, but born with a vagina, right? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lgbt-terminology-question-a-trans-man-is/684610/5 "2014-03-26T22:14:14Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > Jeez, can we not be so damn politically correct all the time?! Cause given the posts so far I’m still confused. From an anatomy pov ‘Trans Man’ means identifies as male, but born with a vagina, right? 😃 Yes. Considered the female sex at birth but transitioned to male. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lgbt-terminology-question-a-trans-man-is/684610/6 "2014-03-26T22:24:49Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > Jeez, can we not be so damn politically correct all the time?! Cause given the posts so far I’m still confused. From an anatomy pov ‘Trans Man’ means identifies as male, but born with a vagina, right? 😃 It doesn’t seem to me to be above the pale to find grammatically correct answers in GD. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lgbt-terminology-question-a-trans-man-is/684610/7 "2014-03-26T23:51:57Z")
Above the pale sounds pretty painful, those palings can be sharp. I think beyond the pale is the phrase you’re searching for. ---
**Author:** ![cerberus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cerberus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cerberus)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lgbt-terminology-question-a-trans-man-is/684610/8 "2014-03-27T00:11:08Z")
Transman refers to someone who was born biologically female but who identifies as female. This could involve a post-op transsexual, with or without phalloplasty, or at any stage in transition. It could more rarely refer to someone born with biologically ambiguous sex who unambiguously identifies as male. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lgbt-terminology-question-a-trans-man-is/684610/9 "2014-03-27T00:13:33Z")
> [@cerberus](#): > > Transman refers to someone who was born biologically female but who identifies as female. This could involve a post-op transsexual, with or without phalloplasty, or at any stage in transition. It could more rarely refer to someone born with biologically ambiguous sex who unambiguously identifies as male. I think you need to double check your first sentence. ---
**Author:** ![cerberus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cerberus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cerberus)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lgbt-terminology-question-a-trans-man-is/684610/10 "2014-03-27T00:54:55Z")
d’oh! Born biologically male or ambiguous, identifies as female. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Mondegreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/91b2a8/32.png) [@Lord\_Mondegreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Mondegreen)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lgbt-terminology-question-a-trans-man-is/684610/11 "2014-03-27T00:57:22Z")
> [@cerberus](#): > > d’oh! > > Born biologically male or ambiguous, identifies as female. Want to try that one again? 😉 Third time lucky … 😃 ---
**Author:** ![cerberus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cerberus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cerberus)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lgbt-terminology-question-a-trans-man-is/684610/12 "2014-03-27T02:55:22Z")
Argh d’oh! Born biologically female or ambiguous, identifies as male. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lgbt-terminology-question-a-trans-man-is/684610/13 "2014-03-27T03:06:29Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > I think you need to double check your first sentence. > [@cerberus](#): > > d’oh! > > Born biologically male or ambiguous, identifies as female. > [@Lord\_Mondegreen](#): > > Want to try that one again? 😉 > > Third time lucky … 😃 > [@cerberus](#): > > Argh > > d’oh! > > Born biologically female or ambiguous, identifies as male. Well, it _is_ confusing, isn’t it. ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lgbt-terminology-question-a-trans-man-is/684610/14 "2014-03-27T06:33:04Z")
Assigned female at birth, but identifies as male. ---
**Author:** ![GoodOmens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@GoodOmens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GoodOmens)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lgbt-terminology-question-a-trans-man-is/684610/15 "2014-03-27T10:43:28Z")
A related question…when looking through the list of gender identifiers that Facebook now offers, I noticed that both “trans man” and “trans male” are options. Can someone explain to me the difference there? Is it a matter of difference in stage of reassignment, or is it personal preference, or something else? In addition, what about “trans person”? Or “trans\* male”? ---
**Author:** ![cerberus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cerberus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cerberus)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lgbt-terminology-question-a-trans-man-is/684610/16 "2014-03-27T12:26:40Z")
> **[A Comprehensive Guide to Facebook’s New Options for Gender Identity | TIME.com](https://techland.time.com/2014/02/14/a-comprehensive-guide-to-facebooks-new-options-for-gender-identity/)** > > An expert walks through what they mean, from transgender to pangender > [@](#): > > trans person/trans\* person/transgender person: This label might be used by someone who doesn’t identify with the sex they were assigned at birth but also doesn’t conform with what it means to be a man or a woman. Many trans people, Killermann says, feel they were given the wrong body when they were born, “but for a lot of people trans means almost transcending gender altogether in the way we understand it as a society.” ---
**Author:** ![LibrarySpy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f9ae1b/32.png) [@LibrarySpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LibrarySpy)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lgbt-terminology-question-a-trans-man-is/684610/17 "2014-03-27T13:38:32Z")
The trans men I know were born female but are now post-op and live their lives exclusively as men. They’re men who identify also as trans men for cultural reasons. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lgbt-terminology-question-a-trans-man-is/684610/18 "2014-03-27T19:44:15Z")
There’s a lot of unnecessary fear going around, in reference to transsexuals. A trans man is no threat to the other men in the men’s room. A trans woman, likewise, has no interest in having sex with the other women in the women’s room. What’s the fear about? ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lgbt-terminology-question-a-trans-man-is/684610/19 "2014-03-27T19:53:16Z")
> [@AskNott](#): > > What’s the fear about? That a cross-dressing male will use the female washroom and see them all running around naked, like in porn. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lgbt-terminology-question-a-trans-man-is/684610/20 "2014-03-27T21:39:22Z")
> [@Interrobang](#): > > A related question…when looking through the list of gender identifiers that Facebook now offers, I noticed that both “trans man” and “trans male” are options. Can someone explain to me the difference there? Is it a matter of difference in stage of reassignment, or is it personal preference, or something else? > > In addition, what about “trans person”? Or “trans\* male”? Transman and transmale are used synonymously in my community. Lately trans\* (with the asterisk) has started to take hold, and I really wish it wouldn’t. Trans\* with the star should only be used on its own. Technically it means “transperson, third sex\*\*, transman, transwoman, transgender, transsexual, etc.” The use of it as “trans\* male” seems to be a misunderstanding by someone. Then again, local communities and groups develop their own lingo…and I’ve fallen afoul of that myself. Like Eve Golden expressed to me, even I am starting to get confused by the terms. I’ve actually been corrected by a cisgender person recently who told me I wasn’t a “transsexual,” I was “transgender.” I gave him a look, explained who I was, explained that he was wrong, and moved on. \*\* Which I really think is improperly grouped with the trans\* collective term. Like how other intersex persons believe we shouldn’t be in the trans community (I differ; I’m intersex but I did go through a transition which had social, legal, and yes physical components). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lgbt-terminology-question-a-trans-man-is/684610.md?page=2)