Transpinay is a contemporary word to describe Philippine trans women, combing trans and Pinay, the local term for Filipina, a woman from the Philippines. Previously, Filipinos used the term bakla to describe all individuals who were assigned male at birth who had adopted a traditionally feminine gender expression, including trans woman. To this point, relatively few non-trans Filipinos embrace and use the word transpinay. Given that the Philippines is a predominantly conservative Christian country, where trans people lack legal rights and where trans women are disproportionately the victims of hate crimes, it is not [Page 877]surprising that its cis population does not recognize the term transpinay, as they do not acknowledge trans people in general.