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. The defining belief of transmedicalism is that gender dysphoria in some form is necessary to be transgender. This technically classifies them as exclusionists towards transgender people who do not experience gender dysphoria in any form, though most transmedicalists are not exclusionary and are very open to genuine and respectful discourse. There are some extremely exclusionary transmedicalists, but they only represent a small part of the whole community.
Beyond the core belief that gender dysphoria is necessary to be transgender, there are a vast amount of different beliefs in the community. Some transmedicalists support non-binary identities, and some don't. Some support xenogenders, and some don't. Some support neopronouns, and some don't. There's a vast amount of different scientific theories which are used by different members of the transmedicalist community to support different beliefs. While harmful gatekeeping is nowadays most commonly associated with transmedicalism as a whole, the community consists of radical transmedicalists, and general transmedicalists. Radmeds tend to be much more exclusionary, hateful, and intentionally gatekeeping, while the rest of the transmedicalist community may not behave similarly. Less-radical transmedicalists may or may not have exclusionist beliefs, and even the ones that do are much less likely to be actively exclusionary, and instead tend to prefer nuanced conversations instead of just blatant, blanket exclusionist statements. Transmedicalists who adhere to the immediate aforementioned "standards" should not be treated with disrespect, as general transmedicalism is much less harmful than radical transmedicalism, and for that reason, 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. The reason that many of the harmful beliefs are centered and highlighted here is that they 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 its bad aspecs, 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.
Harmfully Radical Transmedicalist Beliefs-
- 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.
- The 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Trans people can't like or appreciate their own 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Non-Radical Transmedicalist Beliefs-
While radical transmedicalists tend to believe the previous things, many transmedicalists heavily disagree with the harmful aforementioned ideologies and tend to have much more general beliefs about the nature of trans identities. While they still generally believe that some form of dysphoria is necessary to be trans, they tend to be more open to discussions. They believe that dysphoria is in no way a monolithic experience and, unlike radical transmedicalists, do not believe that there is only a few "right" ways to experience dysphoria. They recognize the diversity of experience when it comes to dysphoria, and recognize that whether ones trans identity is dependent upon whether or not they have dysphoria is a variable thing and may vary from individual to individual. Instead of seeing dysphoria as a strict qualifier for being trans, they see it much more as a general descriptor of the trans experience, which may not be applicable in some situations but may be generally applicable to the trans identity as a whole.
Some non-radical transmedicalists also believe that acknowledging the difference between gender dysphoria and gender incongruence is important and that gender incongruence and gender dysphoria may fluctuate in importance when it comes to determining one's identity for different people. They do not believe that trans people need to hate their bodies, and they tend to be less exclusionary and much more accepting of GNC and presentation non-conforming trans people than their radical transmedicalist counterparts. A lot of non-radical transmeds are not exclusionist towards non-binary identities, in fact, there's a large amount of non-binary non-radical transmedicalists.
Overall, radical transmedicalists are very exclusionary and promote harmful ideologies which can immensely harm younger, more impressionable trans communities and individuals, but their radical beliefs differ vastly from the much less exclusionary, more open views of the rest of the transmed community- both are based on their views and discourses regarding the correlation between trans identities and common trans experiences like dysphoria, transition, and presentation, but there is marked diversity and nuance within the community that is important to acknowledge.
Conclusion
Transmedicalism is a diverse set of ideologies. Radical transmedicalist ideologies are immensely harmful, exclusionist, inaccurate, and generally hurtful, and there is no place for such vehement exclusionism and harm on this wiki, and there should not be room for it in any community whose goal is to promote respectful, inclusionist discourse and acceptance. However, non-harmful transmedicalist ideologies belonging to the general community and not specifically radical transmedicalists are valid discourses, and there is space for them in this wiki and in all forums, so long as they are respectful and civil. This wiki does not support radical transmedicalism or the promotion of harmful exclusionism, but it does support respectful discourse regarding non-harmful differing ideologies, including non-harmful non-radical transmedicalist ideologies.