ABSTRACT
In the last century, beliefs about sex, gender, and sexuality have changed dramatically. Part of these changes has been the increased knowledge and acceptance of practices that have been termed at various times transsexual, transvestite, transgender, trans, and trans* (the asterisk a reference to a wildcard when searching digital archives). The construction of trans categories in the United States has the potential to trouble the assumed link between sex at birth and gender identity, expand the number of acceptable ways of doing gender, and denaturalize both sex and gender. Due to the intertwined nature of sex, gender, and sexuality, increased acceptance of trans people may also fundamentally alter understandings of sexuality.
