Transmedicalism is the idea that beingtransgender is primarily a medical issue related to the incongruence between an individual'sassigned sex at birth and theirgender identity, characterized bygender dysphoria.[1][2][3] There are divides and debates within the transmedicalist community on the exact definition of who is or is not transgender.[4] Many transmedicalists believe individuals who identify as transgender without experiencing gender dysphoria or desiring to undergo amedical transition through methods such ashormone replacement therapy orsex reassignment surgery are not genuinely transgender.[5][2] They may also exclude those who identify themselves asnon-binary from the trans label.[6]
Transmedicalists are sometimes referred to astransmeds[7] andtruscum,[2][8] a term coined by a user on microblogging websiteTumblr, meaning "truetranssexual scum", which has since beenreappropriated.[9][10] Those who believe that gender dysphoria is not required to be transgender are sometimes calledtucute, meaning "too cute to becisgender".[10] Transmedicalists sometimes refer to those who identify as transgender without medicalized criteria astranstrenders.[11]
^Williams, Rachel Anne (2019).Transgressive: A Trans Woman On Gender, Feminism, and Politics.Jessica Kingsley Publishers. p. 129.ISBN978-1785926471.[...] trans medicalists themselves have self-consciouslyreappropriated the term 'truscum' to describe their position.
^Konnelly, Lex (June 4, 2021)."Both, and: Transmedicalism and resistance in non-binary narratives of gender-affirming care"(PDF).Toronto Working Papers in Linguistics.43 (1).doi:10.33137/twpl.v43i1.35968.S2CID237909648. RetrievedJuly 19, 2021.Often referred to in short, by themselves and others, as simply transmedicalists (and sometimes as truscum or transfundamentalists), those who subscribe to this view ratify medical authority in regulating transgender experience, insisting that deviating from the established medical model undermines public acceptance of trans communities and trivializes 'authentic' transexperiences. They criticize those deemed "transtrenders," individuals who 'inauthentically' claim to be transgender in the absence of medicalized criteria, particularly gender dysphoria.
