What is Transmedicalism? How and Why Is It Harmful?
Channel: Alex Zorach
Date: 2018-07-23

Transmedicalism is often defined as the idea that you need to have dysphoria in order to be trans, but I explain that more broadly, it's a set of beliefs, ideas, and ways of thinking that paint being trans as a medical condition and argue that it can only be effectively treated through hormones and other medical treatment.

Here I explore several facets of the transmedicalist dialogue, including brain scans of trans people, and some historical background on how and why the DSM, issued by the APA, moved away from this viewpoint by removing "gender identity disorder" and replacing it with "gender dysphoria". I also discuss the use of slurs both against transmedicalists, i.e. "truscum", and by transmedicalists, i.e. "tucute", "transtrender", and "gendertrender". I explain how and why the move away from transmedicalism has been the result of a broad consensus of trans people and activists, and I call for greater respect in the dialogue surrounding these issues.

Links to modern definitions of transgender:

http://www.apa.org/topics/lgbt/transgender.aspx
https://www.glaad.org/transgender/transfaq
http://www.transstudent.org/definitions/

Links to discussion of the brain scan studies:

General about gender differences in the brain:

http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/04/study-finds-some-significant-differences-brains-men-and-women
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3295598/

Specific to trans children:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/05/180524112351.htm
https://psychcentral.com/news/2018/05/28/brain-activity-in-transgender-youth-appears-similar-to-desired-gender/135731.html

My other video I reference: How Repeated, Unbacked Assertions Can Promote Untruth

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NG5yt4z81ac