Trans folks are asking: Are trans people too good at spotting each other?

Just as “gaydar” lets people clock others’ sexualities at a glance, there’s such a thing as “transdar,” or a sense for when someone else identifies as trans. But does seeing another person and thinking they’re trans mean everyone is thinking the same thing about you? Not necessarily, according to a post in a trans subreddit.

In the post, one trans Redditor asked other trans folks about the root of a big insecurity. “I personally get really paranoid about passing [because] I feel like I can identify other trans people so easily. Sometimes I clock people from 50ft away, or with their back turned to me,” they lamented. “It’s not even a stereotype thing, they can be ‘baby trans’ or be boy/girlmoding and 90% of the time I’ll still tell.”

“Please tell me not everyone clocks us this easy,” they continued. “Is part of being trans just having [really] good ‘transdar’?

Luckily for the original poster, the resounding answer was yes, trans people are much more aware of one another than cis people ever could be.

Culture, unfiltered

Twice a week, our newsletter will bring you the pulse of queer culture, from the tastemakers to the groundbreakers.

Related

Barack Obama’s post about Kamala Harris has trans folks wondering something

Do Obama and Harris have more in common than rocking tan suits?

“Trans people are better at recognizing other trans people simply because we have more experience with other trans people than other people do,” one commenter explained. “And, no, not everyone clocks us this easily. Some of them think they do but they’ve just got a case of Dunning-Kruger delusion and they make a whole lot of false positives. Take the recent Olympics, for example.”

Other trans folks chimed in on the so-called “transdar gap”: “I haven’t really voice trained much so my voice is very much the stereotypical white trans fem voice,” another commented wrote. “Other trans folks clock me instantly but cis people, even Gen Z cis people, seem not to.”

A third commenter provided their own anecdotal evidence. “When we go out together I will sometimes ask my wife ‘did you see any trans people out?’ My wife never sees another trans person, ever,” they wrote. “She says it’s because I’m looking for people, and I say no I can just tell.”

Related

Trans folks are asking: Why are people so mad when femboys come out as trans?

“The Venn diagram of chasers and transphobes is like almost a perfect circle at this point,” one Redditor commented.

But the original poster’s concern raises another issue: that trans folks are often their own worst critics, and sadly, that can extend to judgments of other trans people, too.

“We are used to overly scrutinizing ourselves, picking apart every aspect of our own perceived gender. And unfortunately that transfers onto others,” one person commented. “We are not actually great judges of whether other trans people ‘pass.’”

They went on, pointing out how assuming other people are trans — even if you’re confident they are — can be rude or even dangerous.

“You might think it would be OK to address another trans person. After all, if they clearly don’t pass, what’s the harm?” they commented. “Well, again, you might read someone as trans who would otherwise pass to the vast majority of cis people. Second, even if they don’t pass, they don’t necessarily want to be reminded of it.”

“About the only time it is OK to address a trans person in public is if they are openly inviting it,” they continued. “For example, if they’re wearing a trans pride pin or similar. If they are openly advertising their trans status, then you can ask them about it.” Thank you, trans rules of engagement!