Transgender

The term Transgender is one of the most all-encompassing terms in common usage both within the TG Community and in the mainstream.

History

The terms "Transgender", "Transgenderist", and "Transgendered" appeared in the proceedings of two New England Conferences on Sex and Gender in 1974 and 1975 and the term may have been infrequently used prior to these years.

There is a common perception that the term Transgender/ed/ist was coined by Virginia Prince. The term did not appear in Dr. Prince's writings until the early 1980s. While it is very likely that this term did have multiple independent origins, it is highly unlikely that one of these early independent sources was Virginia Prince. The term was in fairly common usage at the Fantasia Fair 1997 and 1998 events, both of which had Virginia Prince as an attendee, so she was certainly exposed to the term in those years, prior to her usage in the written word.