I get a lot of questions asking the difference between trans and trans*.

Trans* is usually deemed more inclusive than trans. Trans was being used a lot to describe only binary trans* folks, despite that trans should include non-binaries as well in its meaning. So someone came up with trans* in order to include people who weren’t being covered by the use of trans. The asterisk stems from the way search engines advise you to use “*” in your search to function as a “wildcard” or “fill in the blank.”