adjective for a trans person who looks
like they're cis, whether intentionally or not
usage mostly limited to where trans people are functioning within cis
society, where everyone is assumed cis until informed otherwise — a person "passes" for cis until clocked. within trans circles, passing is irrelevant and a rarely used term, because everyone is assumed to be trans.
adopted from an older use of passing, meaning african-americans who move within
white society in order to survive. sometimes disambiguated as white-passing and cis-passing. a less appropriative & more accurate term for trans "passing" is masking.
i
know passing isn't encouraged anymore
bc "trans visibility" or w/e but gawd some days i
wish i could just pass at the grocery store and not have to have my guard up 24/7/365