This is one of the terms you can’t say in the Trump Regime. See a comprehensive list at the Forbidden Words Project.

forbidden word: gender transition

gender

gender noun

1. either the male or female division of a species, especially as differentiated by social and cultural roles and behavior.

   the feminine gender.

2. a similar category of human beings that is outside the male/female binary classification.

3. the concept or system of categories such as male and female: 
   More and more people have a nonbinary understanding of gender.
   Gender is a factor in pay rates across industries.

4. Grammar. 

   1. (in many languages) a set of classes that together include all nouns, membership in a particular class being shown by the form of the noun itself or by the form or choice of words that modify, replace, or otherwise refer to the noun, as, in English, the choice of he to replace the man, of she to replace the woman, of it to replace the table, of it or she to replace the ship. The number of genders in different languages varies from 2 to more than 20; often the classification correlates in part with sex or animateness. The most familiar sets of genders are of three classes (as masculine, feminine, and neuter in Latin and German) or of two (as common and neuter in Dutch, or masculine and feminine in French and Spanish).

   2. one class of such a set.

   3. such classes or sets collectively or in general.

   4. membership of a word or grammatical form, or an inflectional form showing membership, in such a class.

5. Archaic. kind, sort, or class.

gender verb used with object

1. to attribute gender to, or to classify by gender: 
   Usually when I wear my hair down people gender me as female.
   Gendering soaps seems a bit much—can’t men and women use the same products?

gender verb used with or without object

1. Archaic. to engender.

2. Obsolete. to breed.

Sensitive Note

It is possible to define gender as interchangeable with “sex,” indicating that the term can be used when differentiating male creatures from female ones biologically. However, the concept of gender, a word primarily applied to human beings, has additional connotations having to do with general behavior, social interactions, and most importantly, one’s fundamental sense of self. People increasingly recognize that a complex spectrum between male and female exists not only mentally, psychologically, and behaviorally, but also anatomically—there have always been intersex people. The conflation of gender with sex, though historically common, is now often criticized because it is seen by some to be insensitive or dehumanizing. People who do not question their assigned gender are usually referred to as cisgender, or just cis— as in a cis male or a cis female. Using cis is a way to refer to these individuals without implying that cisgender people are the only norm. Those who don’t identify with the gender assigned to them at birth are often referred to using the umbrella term transgender, though not everyone labeled in this way accepts the designation. The term transgender includes both binary trans people and those who are outside of the male–female binary in some way, including nonbinary and genderqueer people. After realizing their gender, many transgender people may change the way they dress, speak, or otherwise present themselves. Some may transition medically through surgery, hormone replacement therapy, and other procedures. Some may want to change the language people use to refer to them, including things like given name and pronouns as well as gender labels. This array of life experiences has resulted in a veritable explosion of new, or newly adapted, vocabulary.

from — Dictionary.com | Meanings & Definitions of English Words. (2025k). In Dictionary.com. 

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transition

transition, noun

1. movement, passage, or change from one position, state, stage, subject, concept, etc., to another; change.

   The transition from adolescence to adulthood can be difficult.

   Synonyms:

   conversion, passing, changeover

2. Music.

   1. a passing from one key to another; modulation.

   2. a brief modulation; a modulation used in passing.

   3. a sudden, unprepared modulation.

3. a passage from one scene to another by sound effects, music, etc., as in a television program, theatrical production, or the like.

4. Also called gender transition.  the process by which a transgender person comes to openly express their gender identity, including changes to their way of dressing, acting, or speaking, to their pronouns, name, or legal gender marker, or to their physical characteristics via hormone therapy and surgery.

   When I began my transition, there was very little information online about testosterone.

transition, verb (used without object)

1. to make a transition.

   He had difficulty transitioning from enlisted man to officer.

2. (of a transgender person) to move toward openly expressing one’s gender identity, often by making changes to one’s way of dressing, acting, or speaking, to one’s pronouns, name, or legal gender marker, or to one’s physical characteristics via hormone therapy and surgery.

   My friend is transitioning socially, but she doesn’t want hormone therapy or surgery.

from — Definition of transition. (n.d.). In dictionary.com. 

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gender transition

gender transition, noun

: a process by which a transgender or nonbinary (see nonbinary sense c) person comes to live in accordance with their gender identity through changes to their appearance and presentation often with the aid of medical procedures and therapies

Note: While many associate gender transition with a process that involves hormone therapy, gender confirmation surgery and legal name change, the term is also applied more broadly, since what transition involves can vary a great deal from person to person. In some cases, for example, the term gender transition may simply refer to the adoption of new personal pronouns and/or a change in clothing, hairstyle, etc.

For transgender people who are insured, barriers to care can persist, as private insurers have historically excluded coverage for medical interventions related to gender transition.—Jaclyn M. White Hughto et al.

 

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) requires women who are transgender like me to complete 12 months of hormone therapy to suppress testosterone as part of their gender transition before competing.—Lindsay Hecox

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Example of gender transition in a sentence

The justices sided with the parents suing over the California policy of concealing children’s gender transitions, which the school facilitates, from parents.—Jack Birle, The Washington Examiner, 28 Mar. 2026

Missouri lawmakers permanently banned gender transition surgeries for minors in 2023.—Jack Harvel, Kansas City Star, 17 Mar. 2026

In the parents’ rights appeal to the Supreme Court, attorneys said school employees are secretly encouraging gender transitions.—Los Angeles Times, 3 Mar. 2026

According to data collected mostly before the recent surge in pediatric-dysphoria diagnoses, most prepubescent children who experienced gender distress went on to experience same-sex attraction and ultimately did not pursue a gender transition.—Ben Appel, The Atlantic, 3 Mar. 2026

from — gender transition. (2026). In Merriam-Webster Dictionary. 

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gender transition

Gender transition is the process of affirming and expressing internal sense of gender, rather than the sex assigned at birth. It is a recommended course of treatment for persons experiencing gender dysphoria,^[1][2] providing improved mental health outcomes in the majority of people.^[3][4][5][6]

A social transition may include coming out as transgender,^[a] using a new name and pronouns, and changing one’s public gender expression.^[7] This is usually the first step in a gender transition. People socially transition at almost any age,^[8][9] as a social transition does not involve medical procedures. It can, however, be a prerequisite to accessing transgender healthcare in many places.^[10][11]

In transgender youth, puberty blockers are sometimes offered at the onset of puberty to allow the exploration of their gender identity without the distress^[12][13] of irreversible pubertal changes. Upon reaching the age of consent, they become eligible to pursue a medical transition if it is still desired.

A medical transition may include hormone replacement therapy (HRT), transgender voice therapy, and gender-affirming surgery. The ability to start a medical transition is typically offered after a diagnosis of gender dysphoria,^[14] a form of medicalization. In recent years, there has been a push for an informed consent model of transgender healthcare which allows adults to access HRT without a formal diagnosis.^[15]

Transitioning is a process that can take anywhere from several months to several years.

This page uses topic-specific vocabulary. Below are some definitions to make this page more accessible:

• Assigned gender at birth (AGAB) is a term that refers to the sex or gender assigned to people when they are born. Assigned a gender at birth is based on physical characteristics, and does not account for internal gender identity.
• Gender expression refers to the external presentation of gender identity. Typically, a person’s gender expression is thought of in terms of masculinity (a tomboy, a butch lesbian, a drag king) or femininity (an effeminate male, a ‘femboy‘, a drag queen), but an individual’s gender expression may incorporate both feminine and masculine traits, or neither. One may express their gender through clothing, behavior, hair styling, voice, etc.^[16][17] It is not necessarily related to one’s gender identity.
• Gender identity is the personal sense of their own gender. It may correlate with the gender assigned at birth, or differ from it. In most individuals, gender identity is congruent with their assigned gender. Those who do not identify with their birth gender may identify as transgender.
• Gender dysphoria is the distress a person experiences from a mismatch between their internal gender identity and their gender assigned at birth.^[18][19] People who suffer from gender dysphoria may transition in order to alleviate this distress.
• Cisgender is an adjective that refers to people who identify the gender assigned to them at birth. Cisgender people may have any sexual orientation or gender expression.
• Transgender is an adjective that refers to people who identify with a gender that differs from the one assigned to them at birth. Transgender people may have any sexual orientation or gender expression.
• Non-binary is a gender identity described as neither entirely male nor female (not one of the two binary sexes). Non-binary people may suffer from gender dysphoria, and may consider themselves transgender. Non-binary people may have any sexual orientation or gender expression.
• Transitioning refers to the process of affirming and expressing one’s internal sense of gender, as opposed to the gender assigned to them at birth. There are two major facets of gender transitioning: a social transition, and a medical transition; almost all transgender people will socially transition, and many will undergo some degree of medical transition.^{[citation needed]}
• Detransitioning (sometimes also known as re-transitioning) is the cessation of transgender identity, a transition to a different gender or both, often to the natal gender.^[20]

It is important to note that most transgender individuals will receive few, if any, surgeries throughout their lifetimes and some may never receive HRT. Barriers to accessing medical transitioning can include: a lack of financing, a lack of desire, or a lack of accessibility. There is no one way to transition, and while a medical transition or surgery can absolutely be medically necessary for some individuals’ personal wellbeing, no two transitions are the same.

• Puberty blockers / hormone blockers are medications used to block natal sex hormones. For transgender youth, hormone blockers may be offered at the onset of puberty to allow the exploration of their gender identity without the distress^[12][13] of irreversible pubertal changes. Puberty blockers are considered reversible^[21] and their use is deemed safe and effective^[22] as treatment for gender dysphoria in gender-diverse children^[23] and precocious puberty in cisgender children;^[24] their use may be discontinued at any time if natal puberty-blocking is no longer desired.^[21] For transgender adults, hormone blockers may be offered in a course with cross-sex hormone replacement therapy in order to treat gender dysphoria.
• Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is a medical treatment that replaces the primary sex hormones in the body, in order to develop the secondary sex characteristics of the opposite sex. Masculinizing HRT uses a male sex hormone testosterone, while feminizing HRT uses a female sex hormone estrogen.
• Voice therapy (or ‘voice training‘) is non-surgical gender-affirming treatment for the masculinization or feminization of the voice. Transfeminine people will not experience any impact on voice pitch from feminizing hormone therapy (unless their natal puberty was sufficiently blocked), so voice training is very often undergone in order to learn how to speak in a higher and more feminine register. Transmasculine people, on the other hand, will experience a marked lowering in pitch from masculinizing HRT (testosterone) to an often cisgender male level, so vocal masculinization training is uncommon outside of those who have not undergone masculinizing HRT. Irrespectively, vocal masculinization training can help one learn to speak in a lower and more masculine register.
• Voice surgery refers to a surgical treatment that allows for the masculinization or feminization of one’s vocal pitch. Transfeminine people can undergo voice surgery to surgically increase their pitch range. Transmasculine people very uncommonly undergo voice surgery, as masculinizing HRT (testosterone) often lowers voices to a cisgender male pitch. Irrespectively, vocal masculinization surgery can be underwent to surgically decrease their pitch range.
• Facial surgery is gender-affirming surgery underwent on the face, usually facial masculinization or facial feminization.
• Top surgery is gender affirming surgeries of the breasts. In transmasculine and/or nonbinary individuals, this may be a double mastectomy (removal of breast tissue), and/or a ‘‘chest reconstruction‘. In transfeminine and/or nonbinary individuals, this may be a breast augmentation.
• Bottom surgery is gender affirming surgery performed on the genitalia. In transmasculine and/or nonbinary individuals, this may be a hysterectomy (removal of the uterus), a oophorectomy (removal of the ovaries), or both. A penis can be constructed through metoidioplasty or phalloplasty, and a scrotum through scrotoplasty. In transfeminine and nonbinary individuals, this may be a penectomy (removal of the penis), orchiectomy (removal of the testicles), vaginoplasty (construction of a vagina), or a vulvoplasty (construction of a vulva).

• Going ‘full-time’ refers to the act of living everyday life as one’s identified gender.^[25] People who go full-time may or may not pass, and may or may not keep their transgender identity a secret.
• Passing refers to the perception and recognition of trans people as their desired gender identity by outsiders who may not know they are transgender. For many trans people, passing is a very important aspect of their transition often seen as an ‘end goal’. Passing can greatly alleviate gender dysphoria. Failure to pass can cause serious repercussions for trans people’s psychological well-being and safety, including but not limited to: poor mental health, discrimination, increased barriers to medical care^{[citation needed]}, harassment, fetishization, ostracization, increased risk of homelessness, and targeted violence due to increased visibility of one’s transgender status.^[26]
• Going ‘stealth’ refers to the act of living as one’s identified gender without revealing oneself to be transgender.^[27] In some countries, being stealth may be a safety necessity, due to health, safety, and wellbeing risks of being openly transgender.

Transitioning is a complicated process that involves any or all of the gendered aspects of a person’s life, which include aesthetics, social roles, legal status, and biological aspects of the body. People may choose elements based on their own gender identity, body image, personality, finances, and sometimes the attitudes of others. A degree of experimentation is used to know what changes best fit them. Transitioning also varies greatly between cultures and subcultures according to differences in the societies’ views of gender.^[28]

The social process of transitioning begins with ‘coming out‘, where others are told that one does not identify with their birth sex. The newly out trans person may adopt a new name, ask to be referred to with a new set of pronouns, and change their presentation to better reflect their identity.^[29][30] Socially transitioning does not involve medical intervention or gender affirming surgery, but it may be a prerequisite to access transgender healthcare in some regions.^[10][11]

People may socially transition at any age, with documented cases of children as young as 5,^[8][31][32] or adults as old as 75.^[9] While many of those who socially transition will pursue a medical transition, not everyone can access gender affirming care, and not all may wish to pursue it.

This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2025) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

A person’s ideas about gender in general may change as part of their transition, which may affect their religious, philosophical or political beliefs. In addition, personal relationships can take on different dynamics after coming out. For instance, what was originally a lesbian couple may become a heterosexual one as a partner comes out as a trans man – or parents of a boy may become parents of a girl after their child comes out as a trans woman.

Transgender people in many parts of the world can legally change their name to something consistent with their gender identity.^[30] Some regions also allow one’s legal sex marker changed on documents such as driver licenses, birth certificates, and passports. The exact requirements vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction; some require sex reassignment surgery, while many do not. In addition, some states that require sex reassignment surgery will only accept ‘bottom surgery’, or a genital reconstruction surgery, as a valid form of sex reassignment surgery, while other states allow other forms of gender confirmation surgery to qualify individuals for changing information on their birth certificates.^[33] In some U.S. states, it is also possible for transgender individuals to legally change their gender on their drivers license without having had any form of qualifying gender confirmation surgery.^[33] Also, some U.S. states are beginning to add the option of legally changing one’s gender marker to X on legal documents, an option used by some non-binary people.^[34]

Physical aspects of gender transition can go along with social aspects; as well as wearing gender affirming clothing, transgender people often hide features from their natal puberty, with many transgender men binding their breasts and transgender women shaving. Other physical aspects of transitioning require medical intervention, such as transgender hormone therapy or surgeries.

Over the course of a gender transition, people who are close to the transitioning individual may experience a sense of loss and work through a grieving process.^[35] This type of loss is an ambiguous loss, characterized by feelings of grief where the item of loss is obscure. Family members may grieve for the gendered expectations that their loved one will no longer follow, whereas the transgender person themself may feel rejected by their relatives’ need to grieve.^[36] Feelings that arise are described as a way of seeing the person who is transitioning as the same, but different, or both present and absent.^[35]

• List of transgender-related topics

April 8, 2026
Hudson Valley, New York

See the complete list at the Forbidden Words Project.

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from — Connelly, E. A. (2025, December 22). Federal Government’s Growing Banned Words List Is Chilling Act of Censorship. PEN America.