To be candid upfront, I am a postop transgender woman. I am also not a transmedicalist nor what you describe as a TERTA. I must take issue with your article for a variety of reasons. First, to be trans means you must have gender dysphoria at some level. What you claim is appearing with increasing frequency on the internet but denies and muddies the science of being transgender. It also plays into the bigotry of the GC crowd who claim that being trans is a choice or changeable whim. It clearly is not. It is hardwired into our brains.
The definition of dysphoria is to be distressed or extremely depressed about something. In the case of gender dysphoria, it is severe distress about the gender that is imposed on us by society, usually because of primary sex characteristics. You can’t be trans without suffering from this kind of dysphoria. Having said this, how trans people deal with it varies substantially. People like myself are so distressed that we have to change everything about our physical anatomy and functionality to match the gender we identify with. In my case I had to obliterate my maleness to become the woman I knew I was inside. not everyone feels this way. Some are happy with only taking HRT. Others may want a minor operation such as an orchiectomy. Our needs vary considerably depending upon what is necessary to quiet the internal dysphoria for each of us. But some degree of dysphoria is required, since there would be no incentive to transition at all (even socially), if it were not for this distress that is part of the definition of gender dysphoria. If we felt absolutely fine with the way we were born and the way society treated us, we would do nothing.
One of the things that is poorly understood is the fact that being trans has three components. There is our identity (i.e. the gender you identify with or somewhere in between), our social presentation (the way we interact in society to be treated the way we identify) and our sexuality. Each of these is infinitely variable for any particular trans person. The group you identify seems to be the one that only requires social transitioning. They are happy with their bodies, but are unhappy with the way that society forces them to identify. They are still trans because they have gender dysphoria, just social dysphoria not body dysphoria. Dysphoria is dysphoria.
The situation gets complicated by considering those who are cross dressers. I know a number of men who love to cross dress and do not consider themselves trans. They just like wearing women’s clothes. There is no gender dysphoria. They are happy to socialize as men but they prefer feminine dress. They are not to be confused with the group that has gender dysphoria and needs to socialize and be accepted as a gender different than what society assumes them to be to relieve their internal distress. This is an important distinction. The former group have a fetish; the latter have true dysphoria and therefore should be considered trans.
At this point, some may be thinking that I am making a distinction without a difference. Nothing could be further from the truth. For the trans identity to be real and legitimate, some form of dysphoria is required. Otherwise the argument quickly breaks down. It is viewed by those who are unsympathetic and bigoted as a matter of choice and therefore by logical extensiona can be cured through conversion therapy or some other psychological regimen. It also removes the basis for treating trans identity as a protected class. We don’t want to protect the insane, why should we protect the merely frivolous and weird? The idea that being trans is a choice has been rejected for decades.
By now I would hope that you realize my strong disagreement that you can be trans without having dysphoria, is not based upon a categorical rejection of those who are happy with their bodies. Rather it arises from the danger of opening ourselves up to the old clichés used as justification for rejecting our authenticity. As I said at the outset, I am not a transmedicalist. I know many authentic trans people who have never done anything to change themselves. They are just as legitimate as I am and are welcome under the broad, inclusive tent of the trans community.
