Abbreviation for male-to-female. A term used to identify a person whose assigned sex at birth was male and now identifies as female, lives as a woman, or identifies as feminine. Some individuals may reject this terminology out of concern that the language reinforces a binary (either/or) gender system and/or because they have never held a male gender identity.

Note: Definitions related to identity terms vary across communities, cultures, regions, may change across time, and are dependent on an individual’s interpretation and experiences. Not all patients/victims may agree with or identify with the current definitions in this glossary.