: A personal and often multi-step process that can include social (name/pronouns), medical (hormones/surgery), and legal (document changes) shifts to align one’s life with their gender identity.

: These terms describe identities that fall outside the traditional male/female binary, often viewing gender as a spectrum. Historical Significance

: While trans people have always existed, the term "transgender" gained prominence in the 1960s and was widely adopted into the "LGBT" acronym by the 1990s to better represent the community's specific needs. Culture and Community Resilience

: Trans people often find community through shared experiences of resilience, sometimes in specific subcultures like the Bear community or through culture-specific identities like Two-Spirit (Native American/First Nations).

The transgender community is a diverse group of individuals whose gender identity differs from the sex they were assigned at birth. Historically at the forefront of the broader LGBTQ+ movement, trans individuals—particularly women of color—were instrumental in pivotal events like the and the Compton’s Cafeteria Riot . Foundational Concepts

: Gender identity is an internal sense of being male, female, or another identity, while sexual orientation refers to who a person is attracted to. Transgender people can identify as straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual, or any other orientation.

: Figures like Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera co-founded STAR (Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries) to provide housing and support for homeless queer youth.