Transmedicalism

Transmedicalism

(noun | transmedicalist, adjective)

Transmedicalism is a belief that buys into both biological essentialism and the medicalization of transgender people. Transmedicalists believe that in order to be trans, one has to not only experience dysphoria, but also pursue medical intervention to reduce that dysphoria. Some even go so far as to say that someone who hasn’t had surgery cannot be trans. All of this is categorically false, but that doesn’t stop TERFs from joining up with transmedicalists to harass non-op trans people. Sometimes transmedicalists refer to themselves as “true trans” or transmed. At the end of the day, they’re people attempting to gatekeep and identity police being transgender and that’s not okay.

e.g. Cypher knew to avoid certain people on Twitter because transmedicalists were using certain emojis to express their essentialist beliefs.

Further reading to gain expanded context:

How Transmeds Repurpose Harmful Ideology | Harry Robin on Medium

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