Transmedicalism

A Transmedicalist, also known as a Transmed, Truscum, Trumed, Trident Trans (TT), or Nunchuck Non-Binary, is an exclusionist who has a set of beliefs about the transgender identity and the "criteria" or discourse around what's "necessary" to be transgender. Their beliefs tend to lean more towards strict interpretation of being transgender, which can in some cases lead to harmful, exclusionist gatekeeping of the trans community, though not all transmedicalists are active exclusionist or gatekeepers and may be relatively accepting and inclusive. The most common, "core" belief that is generally associated with being the base belief of transmedicalism is that some form of dysphoria is required to be transgender. Transmedicalists believe surgery for non-dysphoric people is non-essential and purely cosmetic for them due to them not having gender dysphoria. They also tend to generally believe that trans individuals need to meet a strict set of criteria to be trans, and they're often exclusionary towards non-binary and xenogender individuals.

This page is split into harmful, more radical transmedicalist beliefs, and less harmful, non-radical transmedicalist beliefs, to display the nuance in the transmedicalist community. However, many of the harmful beliefs are often the center of discourse much more and are usually much more front and center in discussions in trans spaces, and it's important to recognize the immense harm those beliefs have had and are continuing to have on trans individuals while also acknowledging that this harm does not represent the imprint of the entire transmedicalist community and should not be held against the whole community but rather the harmful exclusionists within the community who perpetrate, either directly or indirectly, the harm from the following beliefs.

Transmedicalist Beliefs
It is important that transmedicalism not be reduced and simplified to one or a few beliefs, as it is a comprehensive and deep-running ideology. The following are the basic beliefs which constitute transmedicalism, but that does not mean that every transmedicalist believes all of these things, and it doesn't mean that if they do that they're actively exclusionary. Keep in mind that not all beliefs will be listed but there will be some to get the idea of transmedicalism.

It should be made entirely clear that the following beliefs trend more towards the radical side of transmedicalism and that not all transmedicalists believe all of these things. The following beliefs are simply being highlighted because they are the most harmful transmedicalist beliefs, and this page exists for education purposes and to protect trans individuals from potential harassment due to beliefs like the following.

Harmful Transmedicalist Beliefs-

 * 1) Some form of dysphoria is necessary to be trans- most transmedicalists believe that some form of dysphoria is necessary to be transgender. Some believe that it's only necessary to have one or a few forms, and some believe it's necessary to have all forms, while still others believe that it's necessary to have them at an intense level. This stems from the belief that being transgender is a medical condition and that "trans brains" are different than "cis brains", though there's no significant evidence of that being the case. Most transmedicalists do not distinguish between dysphoria and being trans, which results in the belief that dysphoria is necessary to be trans because it is its medical component. Many transmedicalists believe that gender dysphoria is the cause of being trans, and not that being trans is the cause of gender dysphoria.
 * 2) Tumblr 79cb569b2582567c01bd19ef36721a1a 0cd4294b 1280.pngThe trans identity as a disorder- since gender dysphoria is a diagnosable, actual mental disorder, its heavy association with trans individuals may lead many to believe that being trans in and of itself is a mental disorder, and as many transmedicalists don't separate gender dysphoria from being transgender, it's a common belief amongst transmedicalist circles that being transgender is itself a mental disorder. While there are transmedicalists who don't believe those things, many do. Believing that being transgender is a mental disorder plays into the beliefs of transphobic cisgendered individuals, as it's a common argument from them that being trans is "freakish" and a mental illness.
 * 3) Non-binary people are a "mockery" to binary transgender individuals- As is the case with many transmedicalist beliefs, this belief is rooted in the scientific belief that sex is a binary and that falling outside of it is medically impossible and inaccurate. This also plays into the idea of the binary opposition between male brains and female brains (an opposition that doesn't actually exist). Due to other transmedicalist beliefs that being trans is a medical identity because of the medical implications of dysphoria, the idea that non-binary people are "defying" sex is, to the transmedicalist, an act which delegitimizes the medical needs of dysphoric binary transgender individuals, and therefore by extension an act which makes non-binary people perceived threats to medical transition for binary trans people. Because many transmedicalists believe that gender needs to be binary or else it will risk delegitimization of binary struggles, they believe that non-binary struggles aren't real because they're medically impossible and therefore only a misconstrued fantasy instead of an individual's actual reality and identity, and they therefore believe that non-binary people are a "mockery" to binary transgender individuals.Trident trans.png
 * 4) The existence of non-binary identities is sexist- The common transmedicalist belief that non-binary identities are sexist stems from transmedicalsts' understanding of sex. They believe that sex is a binary- male and female. They believe that denying that is denying the realities of biological sex, which they in turn believe is sexist due to its potential to undermine the struggles some binary transgender individuals face due to their biological sex, and that denying the realities of biological sex is harmful and therefore sexist.
 * 5) Trans people must hate their bodies- this belief belongs to a specific group of transmedicalists who believe that body dysphoria is necessary to be transgender. They believe that trans men should be revolted by their physically "female" characteristics, such as their hips and their breasts, and that trans women should be revolted by their physically "male" characteristics, such as their genitalia and bodily hair. This group of transmedicalists believes that being trans can't accompany love of one's own body parts because that would additionally accompany reminders that, due to those characteristics, they can't truly be who they are on the inside. This is a more specific transmedicalist belief- not all transmedicalists who believe that dysphoria is necessary to trans believe that specifically body dysphoria is necessary to be trans.
 * 6) Trans men need to be masculine and trans women need to be feminine- One of the most pervasive transmedicalist beliefs is that trans people need to fully present as their gender identity so that they can "prove" that they're dedicated to living as their gender identity. This belief stems from the belief that social dysphoria is necessary to be transgender- due to social pressures placed on stereotypical gender roles (men and women dressing and acting specific ways), many transmedicalists believe that these social gender roles and stereotypes have contributed to trans individuals' harm and that they must therefore be overvigilant when it comes to observing them in order to be perceived as their correct gender. The idea that trans people are used to being mistaken as a different gender because of how they present and behave drives in the idea that gender presentation is tied into gender identity for transgender people.
 * 7) Medical transition is necessary to be trans- Yet another one of the most common transmedicalist beliefs is that medical transition is a necessary process for transgender people. This is due to the fact that most transmedicalists believe that gender dysphoria is also necessary to be trans, and that gender dysphoria is so difficult to handle that the only way to manage it is to undergo some form of medical transition. This belief holds that there's an undeniable and irrevocable correlation between being trans, gender dysphoria, and medical transition, though not everyone with this belief agrees on what "level" of medical transition is necessary for transgender people. Some think that undergoing hormone replacement therapy is enough, while others believe that HRT and gender confirmation surgery are necessary, and still others believe that HRT and all possible forms of GCS are necessary for one to be trans. Many believe that someone who claims to be trans but does not want to transition medically is not actually trans.
 * 8) Neopronouns are ableist- A belief in some transmedicalists is the belief that neopronouns aren't for those who are neurodivergent and is against them. The claim is that it is not friendly towards those who are dyslexic or those who have a difficulty learning pronouns, therefore promotes ableism. There is also the belief it is "trans-trender" or it is a mockery to the transgender community. There is also the misconception that all neopronouns existed recently, however, neopronouns can date as far back as the 1300s. A main set of neopronouns that get in the lines of critique is nounself pronouns, as nounself can use any noun. However, those believe it can be in lines of racism and cultural appropriation with pronouns such as fae/faer or ae/aer pronouns.