​Amelia is super queer

Why the asterisk in Trans* isn't good

 

All right so I am obviously only one person and my opinion isn't for the entirety of the transgender community. I'm going to do the best I can to explain why I think the asterisk is bad.

 

So, if I recall correctly, the asterisk began to be used in order to be more inclusive of nonbinary people (which I identify as). It seemed like a good idea when I first saw it, until I began hearing other people's opinions and learning more.

 

The term "transgender" is already an umbrella term in itself. Anyone who identifies as a different gender than what they were assigned at birth is transgender. The asterisk was meant to include anyone who wasn't Male-to-Female or Female-to-Male. But the thing is, we already were included.

 

So since we were already included, the asterisk now comes to mean that nonbinary individuals are suddenly not transgender. Which is incorrect. We are transgender. We do not need a footnote saying "trans people oh and also nonbinary you can come too." We are trans. I am trans. And the asterisk is not needed.