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Trans Woman
Also written: transgender woman, trans girl
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At a glance
Source-by-source
“Terms used by sex and gender identity justice activists … trans woman, trans man … transgender (adj.) … transgender people”
SumOfUs is the earliest source on the page (2016) and the one that treats "trans woman" as a plain in-group preferred term — no relevance test, no spelling caveat, no disclosure rule. Those refinements arrive later with the journalism stylebooks; here the term simply sits on a "say this" list.
“Trans woman, trans man”
DCFPI's inclusive-language table lists "trans woman, trans man" in its "Instead" (preferred) column, opposite avoided forms such as "Transgendered" and "Tranny" — endorsing the open two-word construction as the term to use.
NLGJA Use with care
2025 VERIFIED-ARCHIVED
“A person who was assigned male at birth but identifies and/or lives as female. Usually shortened to trans woman or trans girl (not transwoman or transgirl). Use only when the subject prefers it and when transgender status is relevant …”
NLGJA enters the term under the headword transgender woman, usually shortened to trans woman or trans girl (never the closed compounds). Its caution is on relevance, not the term itself: use it only when the subject prefers it and transgender status is relevant to the story, and otherwise identify the person simply as a woman or girl. It notes MTF / male-to-female as generally dated.
2026 · entry updated 2023-08-25 VERIFIED-ARCHIVED
“A woman who is trans. Trans woman is two words, with trans simply modifying the broader category of woman. The one-word compound transwoman is outdated but has recently been adopted by some anti-trans political groups; do not use it in news copy.”
The Trans Journalists Association defines a trans woman as a woman who is trans, and treats the open two-word spelling as the standard: trans modifies the broader category of woman. It flags the closed compound transwoman as a form recently taken up by some anti-trans groups and advises against it in news copy.
Audience notes
- Journalists and editors
- Spell it as two words — "trans woman" — never the closed compound "transwoman," which TJA flags as recently adopted by anti-trans groups. Per NLGJA, name a subject's trans status only when it is relevant to the story and the subject prefers it; otherwise just "woman." "MTF" / "male-to-female" is dated.
- Activists and movement communicators
- The progressive guides (SumOfUs, DCFPI) list "trans woman" plainly among preferred, in-group terms — no hedging on the term itself. Self-identification governs: use it for someone who identifies this way.
- When trans status isn't the story
- All four sources point the same way: a trans woman is a woman. Unless being trans is materially relevant to what you're writing, the right word is simply "woman."
Synthesis
All four sources land in the same place on the term itself: “trans woman” is
the standard, preferred construction, and it is two words. TJA defines it
simply — “a woman who is trans” — with trans modifying the broader category
of woman. SumOfUs and DCFPI both list “trans woman, trans man” in their
preferred-terms columns, and NLGJA enters the same term under its
“transgender woman” headword, noting it is usually shortened to “trans woman.”
Where the sources speak to spelling, they agree the closed compound
“transwoman” is the form to avoid; TJA is most pointed, noting that the
one-word version has lately been taken up by some anti-trans political groups
and should not appear in news copy.
The sources differ in register, not substance. The two progressive
equity guides (SumOfUs 2016, DCFPI 2017) treat “trans woman” as an unqualified
in-group preferred term — it sits on a “say this” list with no caveats. NLGJA
adds a newsroom relevance test: it advises naming someone as a trans woman only when she prefers it
and her transgender status is relevant to the story, otherwise identifying
her simply as a woman. That is a difference of audience, an activist
style sheet endorsing vocabulary versus a journalism stylebook governing when
to disclose someone’s trans status. Neither disputes that the term is acceptable.
Chronologically the term has only settled further. The 2016–2017
progressive guides already carried it as standard; the journalism stylebooks
maintained through 2025–2026 keep it as the recommended form and flag the
older “MTF” / “male-to-female” abbreviation as dated; TJA additionally warns
that the closed compound has recently been adopted by anti-trans political
groups. Across nearly a decade the recommendation holds; the refinements concern spelling
and disclosure rather than the word itself.
Audience notes
See the structured audience notes above: journalists should use the two-word
form and apply NLGJA’s relevance test before disclosing trans status; movement
communicators can use “trans woman” plainly as a preferred in-group term; and
in any context where being trans isn’t material to the story, the right word
is simply “woman.”
Related terms