To be clear, anyone promoting transmedicalism will cop an instant ban, so it will be hard to find answers to this question

I was when I was more ignorant of the trans experience. I read about the process for transition as an outsider and read from resources not written by the community. They talked about it in terms of justifying taking steps, essentially gate keeping the process. Get a diagnosis of gender dysphoria, social transition for a specific period of time, then puberty blockers, more time, then hormones, then maybe surgery, etc.

After actually learning FROM trans people rather than ABOUT them all of that fell away. The same applies to my experience learning about autism and ADHD. There is a good reason for the phrase "nothing about us without us".

Late to this party/honeypot, but here's my 2¢. I am not a transmedicalist and never have been. That said, I think I may have some insight as to why people are.

In speaking with other trans folks, I get the sense that some folks care immensely about gender presentation and how they are received by others while not caring so much about changing their bodies. Other folks are less concerned with gender presentation, but are deeply concerned with their body being "wrong." Personally, I care about both, but my dysphoria almost always stems from my body rather than from things related to presentation or even other folks' reactions. I have always had a deep sense that my body was wrong and have dreamed of "fixing" it. FFS and HRT have been godsends to me and I am super looking forward to getting bottom surgery as that's kind of the big remaining pain point for me and bringing my body closer into alignment with my internal experience is really important to me.

In short, my experience and personal needs could be pretty-well addressed by transmedicalism (or at least some imaginary version of it that is informed-consent based). If I were narcissistic enough to hold my own experiences and feelings up as a metric by which to measure other trans folks and lacked any empathy, I can see how I might espouse some version of transmedicalism.

Anyway, that's my best guess- that transmedicalists come from a place of being pretty body-focused internally and then lack the insight or humility to understand that other people experience gender/sex/transness in ways that are different, but still fucking valid.

We all believe stupid things at some point in our lives. As @ada@piefed.blahaj.zone implied, sometimes the thing that is needed isn't to root out wrongthink, but to have folks in community where they can see a different point of view and hopefully grow, or at least come to understand others' point of view.

Because I was misled once.

from what i heared ican give you assumptions.

i believe it stems from a deep existential insecurity. if a doctor gives them a diagnosis, that's a great excuse to transition: they dont want to .. it's a medical neccessity.

if a lot of people then 'self diagnose' and are taken as valid by society, that erodes this institutionalized legitimacy. suddenly people think they transitioned, because they wanted to. now all the burden of making decisions falls back to themselves.

on the other hand (or also?), they fear to be ridiculed. they fear 'unfounded' trans people will be a whole in the defense, when the backlash comes.

it's fear, i guess?

edit: i just realised i wrote this was about trans transmedicalist specifically. i think the structure remains in cis transmedicalists as well: trans people choosing to transition means cis people can not identify their gender and their anatomy that easily anymore. it shows them the contingence of their own identity. scary stuff, tbh; but something one can deal with, as proven by the existence of trans people. ;)

I'm not a transmed but can say that certain organizations cannot provide gender affirming care without following a policy that requires a dysphoria diagnosis first. It allows doctors to cover their assess in case something stupid happens

i adhere to a far looser definition of dysphoria and assumed i was transmed because of that

praise satan that i'm not

Im not medicalist, everyone is allowed to have their experience, whether u feel one way or the other, as long as u r not telling one side or the other they r wrong, cause we only have our own experiences and then science data also, we dont live in others shoes. So Im not saying im trans medicalist. But from what I have heard, part of it is that it’s cause it’s covered under insurance only because it’s considered life saving medically necessary treatment to trans people with dysphoria. So the treatment relieves the dysphoria that saves their life and quality of life. But if u have no dysphoria and can live without transitioning and be ok, and it’s not distressing to not do it. Then they feel there’s no case that can be made for it to be covered under insurance for those without dysphoria, who it won’t be medically necessary life saving treatment for. That’s what I’ve heard many times. Part of it anyway.

I used to be when I was insecure. Then I grew up and stopped being a bootlicker. Some people never have to self-reflect or even want to. They're happy to get there's

I was a transmed when I was younger. It was because I was targeted and groomed by a group of people online. At least that's how I see it now. They were able to do this because I was accustomed to a lack of empathy or understanding on the part of non dysphoric people.

I would come into a trans space trying to vent my frustrations or seek out some empathy, and I would met by people who made me feel crazy or who tried to scold me for being somehow amoral. I'd be told that I was "embodying toxic masculinity" or "using regressive stereotypes," I wasn't allowed to notice how society treats people differently based on perceived sex or assigned sex, I wasn't allowed to desire a place within society in general. If I talked about these issues, there'd be a negative spin placed on whatever I said.

I'd get frustrated, and then I would be approached by transmeds in my DM's. If I repeated transmed talking points, I would get a lot more hate, rejection, and negativity, which drove me further into the transmed community. I didn't stop being a trans med because I one day realized that the medical establishment dictating trans identity was somehow bad. Doctors and therapists were the only people who materially helped me transition at all, with some very rare exceptions. Getting any advice, help, or even condolences from other trans people who weren't literal doctors was incredibly difficult.

My default experience when trying to interact with other trans people was rejection, accusations, and a stubborn lack of understanding. Trans meds were, in my experience, the only group of trans people who wouldn't condemn me for having dysphoria, for talking about it, or for noticing the way society interacts with someone's perceived gender.

I stopped being a trans med because the trans med community was toxic in various ways. I saw the community doubt the trans identities of other trans people who clearly "had dysphoria." Over time, I realized that putting trans identity in the hands of doctors was a bad idea, but this is something I realized years after I left the transmed community. Logical arguments would not have changed my mind.

Not a 🏳️‍⚧️⚕, but I believe you’ll find the perspectives you're seeking !medicine@lemmy.world !medicine@lemmy.ca !medicine@mander.xyz !askscience@lemmy.world !ask@piefed.social !asklemmy@lemmy.world etc..