A Welcome, an Introduction, and a Case for Mainstream Transmedicalism

Hello,

Through the ongoing Reddit controversy I, like many others, was recently made aware of Lemmy, kbin, and the "Fediverse." Although I don't have overly strong opinions about what is happening with Reddit, I am very intrigued by the federated social media concept and I think it would be worthwhile to try building a community here.

I am a trans woman who firmly believes in the medical basis of transsexuality. Being trans is not a choice and is not the product of radical gender-abolitionist ideology. Gender, itself, does not equate to gender roles or social constructs. A person's gender is innate and immutable. All transgender/transsexual people (whichever term you prefer) experience gender dysphoria due to the incongruence between their gender identity and their physical sex. I believe these statements should not be controversial, yet in most trans communities they are usually viewed that way. Those who express these views are often suppressed or silenced entirely, and honest discussion is effectively forbidden. This space is established expressly for those trans people and allies who hold some or all of these beliefs, but it is open to everyone who would like to engage with the community in good faith.

I believe that the normalization of views like those stated above which are rooted in medical reality is imperative to spreading accurate information about trans people and transsexuality. Misinformation and misrepresentation are allowed to spread freely in popular trans spaces due to their focus on inclusivity above all else. Inclusivity is generally good, but it is simply not applicable when concerning the criteria for a medical condition. This is not a matter of gatekeeping. Those without pain are not "gatekept" from pain medications. Those without disabilities are not "gatekept" by not being afforded special accommodations. You simply cannot make untrue claims about the nature of a condition or claim to have a condition despite not meeting the criteria. This is not acceptable for other medical conditions and it shouldn't be accepted for transsexuality.

If you hold the belief that gender (or even sex) is simply a human construct which the individual is free to opt out of or wholly redefine for themselves, then fine. If you feel that your gender is something you can choose and change or create from scratch and that individuals declare their own gender for themselves, then fine. You are free to have this ideological viewpoint and live your life as you choose. You, however, can not subvert or supplant the very real, biologically-based condition of transsexuality by intentionally conflating it with your personal conception of gender identity. To state that “not all trans people experience gender dysphoria” is the prime example of a false claim that stems from superseding the science-backed understanding of transsexuality with a non-scientific view of gender identity. Likewise, as stated in the previous paragraph, transsexuality is a medical condition and is inherently not something you opt into. If your conception of gender identity is entirely philosophical and your identification with a gender different to your observed sex at birth is not based on experiencing gender dysphoria (or otherwise not aligned with established medical criteria for diagnosis) then you are not trans and should not claim to be.

This is not about self-hatred. Those who oppose the medical basis of transsexuality or the fact that gender dysphoria is a universal experience of trans people often criticize that it is a form of trans self-hatred. This is a disgustingly transphobic claim to make. It is the same age-old “why can’t you just love yourself?” garbage dressed up in an “Ask me my pronouns!” T-shirt. Gender dysphoria and the many struggles that come with transition cause trans people a great deal of pain and suffering, sometimes to the point of suicide. To mock our real-life experience in this way must be called out for the blatant hate that it is. To mock us while at the same time redefining our experience to fit one’s own self-defined view is a heinous act.

This behavior is unequivocally hostile to the trans community. However, it is not viewed that way. It is easy to instead characterize those with transmed views as the negative presence because of their defense of the inherently exclusionary reality of transsexuality. When someone asks “Am I still trans if I don’t have dysphoria and am fine with my AGAB?” and someone answers with “Sorry, no, that’s not how it works” instead of “Of course, you’re valid no matter what,” they appear intolerant and unaccepting. The crowd, thinking they’re doing a good thing and protecting people from intolerance, then thoroughly rebukes the offender, often to the point of permanent expulsion from the group. What in effect has happened is that a trans person upholding the sensible truth about transsexuality was removed from their own space in order to accommodate a person who is by-definition not trans. The truth is that the trans person was in fact being unaccepting– but, as was already stated above, inclusivity is simply not applicable when concerning the criteria for a medical condition.

This also isn't a matter of respectability politics. The broadening and "undefining" of what transgender means only muddles and confuses what is already an unintuitive-to-understand concept--even for those who experience it firsthand. Claiming that your gender identity does not match your sex and that you need to physically and socially transition, claiming that you are truly the gender that you say you are and you should be seen as such--these are major claims which challenge people's existing understanding of gender/sex. "How?" and "why?" are not unreasonable questions, and "just because I say so" is not a satisfactory answer--or at least not one that should earn others' acceptance. This isn't about being respectable, it's about being logical. This is a situation with real-life consequences. This means stuff like getting disowned by parents, ostracization in social circles, hate-based violence, and laws enacted to restrict our rights. Things like this, of course, wouldn't disappear completely, but I'm certain they wouldn't be on as dire a trajectory as they are now if there was greater public understanding of what transsexuality truly is.

In addition to the social and political ramifications of a science-averse trans rights movement, the most impactful consequence is the stalling or regression of access and quality of trans healthcare. It should go without saying, but support for the demedicalization of gender identity works directly counter to the advancement of things such as better diagnostic methods, more streamlined access to care, and improved treatments options. Resistance to scientific study of the condition and publication of the results of such studies due to misplaced fears only hinders these developments which are vitally important to all trans people. Insurance companies avoid spending money they don’t have to (that’s their whole business model), and medical research groups will not invest time and resources for studies that are suppressed by the communities that they’re supposed to benefit. A trans community which actively refutes the importance of medical understanding and of medical transition itself in favor of those who believe it is a choice akin to personal style will eventually see insurance companies removing treatment coverage and a lack of medical science to give compelling enough evidence to counteract that.

My personal hopes for this community:

A Focus on Ideas Instead of Labels and Identity – When people form a community around a common interest or view it’s natural for a group identity to form and for people to label themselves with names that designate them as members of that community, and in many cases, to label others outside the community in ways that designate them as non-members. In the case of this community, people have adopted labels like “truscum” and “transmed” and marked those with opposing views with labels like “tucute” or “transtrender.” There are several very understandable reasons for this, including the increased sense of belonging that this type of explicitly-stated group membership brings or simply for brevity and ease of communication. However, I find these labels to be a way in which we form a group identity that entrenches us deeper into being an outlying subset of the trans community. We effectively wear a badge that concedes to those who want to ostracize us, “yes, we are a fringe group, and you are the mainstream.” If you believe that statement is true, then fine. I don’t. We are not a sub-group of trans people, we are trans people in the truest sense. That is already our common group identity. My hope is that we shift away from these labels and focus more on the ideas and messages behind them.

The Enemy of Your Enemy is Not Your Friend – “Gender critical” people are absolutely not more reasonable or relatable than “tucutes.” These people are not allies and are not welcome just because they also ridicule self-identification, gender fluidity, and other non-scientific views on gender identity. These people are anti-trans. They are transphobic. I haven’t seen this that often in transmed communities, but once-or-twice is much too many. I also just want to explicitly state to “gender critical” people that your views are not welcome here. We are not your “good transgenders.” Feel free to read and ask questions, but any attempt to gain sympathy for your anti-trans views here will be rightfully taken as transphobia.

Be Unapologetically Principled While Remaining Compassionate – Boldly state your thoughts and argue your points. We should be able to share our views, unpopular or not, and refute others' views, popular or not (with obvious exceptions: hate of any kind is not a valid view; this disclaimer applies to all that follows). It is not possible to properly discuss difficult topics when people don't feel free to speak honestly, and I think it's important that this community allows for honest discussion. However, when taking hard stances on a topic or making claims that people can perceive to be inflammatory or offensive, discussions can easily become heated and emotionally charged. When this happens, discussion/debate can easily fall apart and become unproductive. Please do feel free to dive into lengthy debate and make your case to whoever you’re talking to, but, if there is strong disagreement and tempers are rising then it is much better to shake hands and conclude rather than devolve into personal attacks. Remember, this isn’t just text on the internet; there is a real person behind that text, and they don’t deserve to be mistreated. Let’s all approach disagreement and debate from a place of compassion and understanding.
Outside of debate, please also avoid posting content which primarily serves to mock or degrade other people. If you need to vent in this way, mock ideas or concepts instead. More often than not the idea deserves ridicule and the human does not.

So, these are just my personal thoughts and things I had in mind when creating this magazine. Many, whether they hold transmed views or not, may feel differently than I do about much of it. That's cool. Welcome. This place is for trans people, not me and my views.