So, I hear trans people recently invented this whole cis/trans thing…
Using the cis- and trans- taxonomy to reference gender behavior was used as early as 1914. The transgender community didn’t invent its use, nor is its current use inconsistent with its use in 1914. When discussing gender, cis simply means same and trans simply means to cross. Whether it was 1914 or 2014, when someone uses cis regarding gender, it is simply a recognition that one is not trans. Likewise, whether it was 1914 or 2014, when someone uses trans regarding gender, it is simply a recognition that one is not cis. From the Transgender Archive, Houston, TX Some context: The above comes in the context of a sexology book from the beginning of the last century when it was popular to scrutinize (and sometimes overly-so) a great deal of human behavior through a psychosexual lens. Thus, whether one was dressing in a manner consistent with their sex assigned at
The Source Summary reproduces the first 150 words of the source article unless a Collective editor has explicitly locked a replacement.
Why this article may matter
Community significance
“So, I hear trans people recently invented this whole cis/trans thing…” may matter to community readers because it preserves a first-person or testimonial account connected to transgender identity and history, while also engaging culture, identity, and representation. Such accounts can document how an issue was understood and experienced from within the period or community being discussed.
Historical significance
The article may have historical value because it explicitly interprets or preserves material concerning transgender identity and history. Published in 2013 by Transadvocate.com, it can be read both for the history it describes and as evidence of how culture, identity, and representation was framed at that moment.
Policy significance
No dominant policy frame was detected in “So, I hear trans people recently invented this whole cis/trans thing….” Its policy relevance, when present, is therefore likely indirect: the article’s treatment of transgender identity and history may shape later arguments about institutions or public practice rather than proposing a specific rule.
Ranked themes and framings
Rank 1 is the dominant inferred theme or framing. Parent labels identify broader theme families; the relationship key beneath the diagram explains the line styles used for hierarchy, same-family relationships, overlap, and separate-but-related themes.
Themes
- 1Transgender identity and historyTheme family: Identity, culture, and community100%
- 2Culture, identity, and representationTheme family: Identity, culture, and community47%
- 3History, archives, and memoryTheme family: Knowledge, history, and communication35%
- 4Community and organizingTheme family: Identity, culture, and community24%
Academic framing
- 1100%
- 275%
- 350%
Editorial function
Source topics
- Related theme in the same family
- Separate but related themes
These classifications are inferred from article text and source metadata and remain directly editable. Relationship labels express corpus-analysis judgments, not immutable facts.
How “Transgender identity and history” appears across the Collective corpus
This article was published during the theme’s highest-presence year in the registered corpus (2013).
Relative presence by year
Peak year indexed to 100Presence by member publication
Frequently co-occurring concepts
- Community and organizing531
- Law and civil rights468
- Culture, identity, and representation320
- Education and youth308
- Media, rhetoric, and discourse260
- Healthcare and medicine248
- Violence, safety, and dehumanization238
- History, archives, and memory216
- Public policy and governance206
- Feminism and gender politics198
Academic framings in this topic
Policy framings in this topic
- Public accommodations and facilities177
- Civil rights and anti-discrimination173
- Criminal justice and public safety131
- Elections and democratic governance100
- Research ethics and data governance78
- Labor and employment policy52
- Administrative classification and identity documents39
- Housing and social services38
Values measure relative presence in the registered Collective corpus, not public search interest or public opinion.
Documented circulation and reception
5 source-held references record early links or citations; the documented sources span 6 distinct domains. The dated evidence currently spans 2014–2015. These observations describe circulation and reuse; they do not assign cultural worth or evaluate the communities, arguments, or people discussed.
Evidence by channel
Independent counts; bars are not additiveCoverage of the evidence search
Shows what has actually been checkedDocumented references over time
Dated source evidence currently stored by the CollectiveA trans advocate’s perspective on Trans 101 questions | The TransAdvocate
Cis is short for cisgender. The cis- prefix is Latin for “on the same side [as].” The trans- prefix is Latin for “on the other side [as].” In other words, cisgender is a term that generally describes non-transgender people and transgender is a term for…
Glossary
Short for cisgender. Cis is Latin for “on the same side [as].” In other words, it’s a term describing non-transgender people. In the same way, one might say transwomen one can say ciswomen. Cisgender means “denoting or relating to someone whose sense of personal identity corresponds with the gender assigned…
“What’s this trans thing?” | the beautiful world
[…] of the population, why not have a word for them? Moreover the origins of the term are relatively old going back to […]
The Leaky Trans Umbrella | Cheryl's Mewsings
[…] studied chemistry, or the history of Gaul. It has been used to describe people who are not trans at least as far back as 1914. But according to the TERFS (oops, sorry, did it again) “cis” is a hate word recently coined by […]
Facebook Introduced new gender options Here’s what they mean.
[…] TransAdvocate and a researcher of trans history, the “cis” prefix, as applied to gender, has been in use (albeit obscure use) since the early 20th century. It comes from a Latin term meaning “on this […]
Dear Cis People | GenderTerror
[…] as. These terms have been used in chemistry for many, many years. They are not new. In fact, using cis to describe people who are not trans* is actually pretty old too. Cis exists as the opposite of trans*, that is all it is.…
Counts describe documented circulation and reception in the sources currently available to the Collective. They are not a score of quality, merit, popularity, or social value, and provider totals can overlap.
Author profiles and related researchers
Related authors in the Collective corpus
Cristan Williams
Connected through 2 citation links between registered publications. Shares registered themes including Transgender identity and history, Community and organizing, Education and youth.
Guest
Connected through 1 citation link between registered publications. Shares registered themes including Transgender identity and history, Community and organizing, Education and youth.
Rani Baker
Connected through 1 citation link between registered publications. Shares registered themes including Transgender identity and history, Community and organizing, Education and youth.
Kelley Winters
Connected through 1 citation link between registered publications. Shares registered themes including Transgender identity and history, Community and organizing, Education and youth.
Admin
Shares registered themes including Transgender identity and history, Community and organizing, Education and youth.
Marian
Shares registered themes including Transgender identity and history, Community and organizing, Education and youth.
Related authors are calculated from co-authorship, shared themes and framings, and citation relationships in the registered corpus. This does not imply a personal or institutional association.
Continue through the Collective
1989: Texas T-Party Keynote Address
Approaches the shared subject through a related analytical or disciplinary frame.
What follows is a speech given by Wendi Danielle Pierce at the 1989 Texas T-Party held in San Antonio. Pierce was the chairperson of the International Foundation for…
1984: State of Trans Terms
Approaches the shared subject through a related analytical or disciplinary frame.
‘Transvestite/Transsexual (TV/TS) Community’ includes everyone who identifies with any of the following words: ‘transvestite’, ‘cross-dresser’, ‘transgender’, ‘transsexual’, ‘drag queen’, ‘femiphile’, or ‘androgyne’. It is an identifiable group of…
1991: Accusation of Stealing Virginia Prince’s Word by ‘Incorrigible Texans’
Provides a contextually related perspective from elsewhere in the Collective.
Gender Euphoria, January 1992, Vol VI, No 1 November 12, 1991 Dear Editor, It was with a great deal of interest that I read Virginia Prince’s letter and…
Transgender Colonization: Evidence-Based Review
Adds research, documentation, or primary-source context.
”… Virginia Prince, a male crossdresser… Calling himself “transgender” rather than a “crossdresser” or a “transvestite” was an attempt to remove himself and other similar “transgenders” from the…