Word.ws English Dictionary

trans panic defense

trans panic defense noun: a claim of self-defense against an unwanted transgender sexual advance.

Noun

trans panic defense (plural trans panic defenses)

  1. (informal) A claim of self-defense against an unwanted transgender sexual advance.
    • The “trans panic defense” is an outgrowth of the “gay panic defense” that was first articulated by Edward J. Kempf, a clinical psychiatrist who wished to identify a particular mental disorder related to homosexuality.2022, Loren Cannon, The Politicization of Trans Identity, page 99

Forms of trans panic defense

pluraltrans panic defenses

Origin of trans panic defense

Modelled on the earlier gay panic defense.

Questions about trans panic defense

What does trans panic defense mean?
Trans panic defense means a claim of self-defense against an unwanted transgender sexual advance.
What part of speech is trans panic defense?
Trans panic defense is a noun.
What is the plural of trans panic defense?
The plural of trans panic defense is trans panic defenses.

Words near trans panic defense in the dictionary

  1. trans male
  2. trans males
  3. trans man
  4. trans men
  5. trans panic
  6. trans panic defense
  7. trans panic defenses
  8. trans patient
  9. trans patients
  10. trans people
  11. trans person

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: trans panic defense (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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