Cultural

Transpinay

A Filipino trans woman: a word made by Filipino trans women to say 'woman', where bakla says something else.

One of twenty-two Cultural identities
No settled flag
4 min read

A character with a cup of tea in a shop full of plants and pottery

A word that belongs to a people. This identity is held within a specific culture. The page is here to understand it, not to adopt it.

A shorter entry: the essentials, written to the same standard. The fuller guides are on the main identities.

What it is

Transpinay is trans plus pinay, Filipina. It means a Filipino trans woman, and it was made by Filipino trans women for themselves. The Society of Trans Women of the Philippines (STRAP) began promoting it, with transpinoy for trans men, in 2008, because the language had no modern word for trans people and the public folded trans women into bakla.

That folding is the reason the word exists. Bakla covers people assigned male who carry a feminine self, and it bundles gender and desire together: a gay man and a trans woman can both be called it. The split runs like this: transpinay is for those whose point is womanhood, not femininity inside a male-bodied role. Many transpinays were called bakla as children. Some hold both words. Some find bakla an erasure.

What it is not: it isn't a third gender or a cultural category like hijra or fa'afafine. A transpinay is a woman. It also isn't a word for everyone. It's Filipino, in the Philippines and the diaspora, and it isn't on offer to trans women from elsewhere, however much they like the sound. And it's still a proposal as much as a settled word: Wikipedia records that it 'has yet to gain widespread acceptance'. That's honest, and it's not a mark against the women who use it.

Pronouns

She. Transpinays are women, and the English pronoun follows. In Tagalog there is no he or she, siya covers everyone, so the question only arises in English and in the gendered languages of the diaspora. Among friends, ate, sis and she are thrown around as affection whatever anyone uses at work; that's warmth, not a declaration.

Does this sound like you?

A cousin called you bakla before you had any word of your own, and even then you knew it wasn't quite the point.

You might have found 'gay' and 'transgender' both on offer in English and felt that choosing between them lost something the Filipino words never asked you to split.

You say she about yourself without thinking in English, and have never had to answer the question in Tagalog at all.

You might hold a birth certificate that still says the wrong thing, and know the campaign to change that is still a campaign.

You are the one who sends money home, and being useful is part of how the family makes room for you.

You might have heard transpinay for the first time from an older trans woman at a meeting and felt the word land like a chair being pulled out for you.

Not sure where you fit?

Twenty questions, about four minutes, nothing leaves your phone. It suggests. You decide.

Take the test

Nearby identities

The distinction is the useful part.

Bakla

The word transpinay was made to step away from. Bakla bundles feminine self and desire for men into one social role. Transpinay says: woman, full stop. Many people were called the first before they chose the second.

Compare Transpinay and Bakla →

Transgender Female

The same thing in English. Transpinay adds the place, Filipino, and a history of having to separate 'trans woman' from 'bakla' in a language that didn't split them. Use whichever the room calls for.

Compare Transpinay and Transgender Female →

Kathoey

Thailand's own category, with its own history and economy. Often listed beside Filipino terms by outsiders. Not a translation and not a cousin by lineage.

Compare Transpinay and Kathoey →

Waria

Indonesia's word, with its own history. Similar shape when flattened into English; unrelated in origin. Each belongs to its own people.

Compare Transpinay and Waria →

Tomboy

In Filipino usage, the counterpart word: someone assigned female who is masculine and wants women. A parallel social role in the other direction, not a translation, and not what transpinay covers.

Compare Transpinay and Tomboy →

Compare Transpinay with…

It might not be you if…

You aren't Filipino. The word carries a specific national history and it isn't yours to take; 'trans woman' says the same thing and belongs to everyone.
You're a feminine gay man who is settled as a man. That's what bakla, bading or gay already cover, and transpinay would say something about you that isn't true.
You're assigned female and masculine. The Filipino counterparts are tomboy and tibo, and transpinoy, the word STRAP proposed alongside this one, is for trans men.
You're looking for a third-gender or cultural identity like hijra or fa'afafine. A transpinay is a woman. There's no third box in the word.

Questions people ask

Is transpinay the same as bakla?

No, and the difference is the whole reason the word exists. Bakla covers feminine people assigned male, gay men included, and the public applies it to trans women whether they like it or not. Transpinay was put forward by STRAP in 2008 precisely to separate trans women from that. Some people hold both words. The words are not each other.

Who can call themselves transpinay?

Filipino trans women, in the Philippines or the diaspora. It was made by Filipino trans women for themselves. If you're a trans woman from elsewhere, 'trans woman' already says it and belongs to you.

Is it an official or widely used term?

It's been promoted by STRAP since 2008 and used by Filipino trans women since, but Wikipedia's record says it has yet to gain widespread acceptance. That's a fair description of where it stands: a word with a clear maker, a clear purpose, and a public that still mostly says bakla.