LGBTQ+

It’s not gatekeeping

Yes, it is. You are saying that anyone without a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria isn't trans. You do not get to make that kind of statement.

You are the one erasing others' experiences

You are the one arguing against trans people’s legitimacy

No one here is saying being trans isn't real. But *you are when you say that it's only valid if you have dysphoria.

You also have to think this through: if you believe that you can only really be trans if you have a medical diagnosis, then you have created vast swathes of gatekeepers for being trans: doctors, insurance companies, politicians, governments at every level. In our bigoted, cisheteronormative society, if we say you can only be trans with a diagnosis, and that society doesn't want trans people to exist, then they can just stop diagnosing people. Doctors can refuse, and decide instead that you're depressed, bipolar, BPD, etc. instead, and that anyone who thinks they're trans is just "mentally ill." Governments can pass laws preventing state run insurances (Medicare, Medicaid, Tricare, etc.) from paying for anything related to dysphoria. They can also pass laws saying private insurances either don't have to cover it, or that they can't. I know for a fact this is already happening because I live in Florida. I'm watching this scenario happen right in front of me. You're taking away the ability for a person to know their own mind and their own body, and their right and ability to understand their own identity, and handing that judgement over to people with a vested interest in denying it.

And I can see why you'd think this would be a path to walk: if we say "a medical diagnosis means we're objectively, scientifically trans, then the bigots can't deny it", but that's not how things work. That's just pandering to the oppressors. You will never appease them.

No one is saying that you can just call anyone trans you want, like crossdressers, drag queens, or "attack helicopters" (I honestly can't believe you even threw that one around). Only the bigots do that.

No one is saying your experience isn't valid. It's exactly the opposite. If you feel dysphoria is central to your experience, that's fine! You're just as trans as the next trans person, just as valid. But that's your experience. You don't get to generalize your experience and then decide that's the yardstick by which everyone else must be measured.