In a partial replication and extension of Buck’s (2016) study, we examined lay people’s definitions of transgender and how those definitions are associated with attitudes toward trans people. We asked 497 cisgender people of diverse sexual orientations to define transgender and complete a measure of trans prejudice and indicate their level of agreement that trans people have a psychological disorder and that trans people are born with their gender identity. Cisgender women and people with nonheterosexual orientations endorsed less trans prejudice, less agreement that trans people have a psychological disorder, and more agreement that trans people are born with their gender identity. Definitions that referenced gender identity predicted lower levels of trans prejudice than definitions mentioning that trans people want to change their gender. The gender identity theme also predicted less agreement that trans people have a psychological disorder and more agreement that trans people are born with their gender identity than the change theme. Compared to heterosexual participants, nonheterosexual participants were more likely to mention the gender identity theme and less likely to describe trans people as being confused. Furthermore, the highest levels of trans prejudice were associated with definitions that included the confused theme. These results provide evidence that people’s conceptualizations of a transgender identity may reflect their attitudes toward trans people. These findings may have implications for how health care professionals interact with their trans clients.

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