Do you mean biological essentialism, rather than existentialism? Just so you know, I strongly oppose gender bioessentialism, and I think a lot of this conversation has been futile and frustrating because you assume that is the position I am taking.

Yes, Firefox’s dictionary sucks and makes words wrong. This idea of trying to root gender as a permanent, unchanging, or biologically ingrained thing, similar to the arguments of gayness being “in your genes” is bioessentialist. It attempts to validate the experience of being gay or trans by saying it’s biological and unchanging, implying a strong importance in these aspects.

Transmedicalism tries to gatekeep trans identity based on the presence of gender dysphoria, and they might point to the studies on brain sex to explain the source of dysphoria, but that doesn’t mean the studies on brain sex are transmedicalist in nature, it just means transmedicalists use that evidence to try to support a view they have, which ultimately is a view that doesn’t make sense.

These studies almost always focus on gender dysphoria as the factor, it is my opinion that a lot of them often cater explicitly to transmedicalist viewpoints. That’s how medicine is though, and I can’t really fault them for doing this. What I can and will do though is to not welcome this discourse into trans-friendly spaces which are meant to be open to people who are exploring an/or don’t fit the mold. In addition these studies seem to be THE argument against conversion therapy, when there is a better argument that doesn’t reduce or invalidate genderfluidity as a trans identity like any other. Which is that trying to interfere with who a person is, and how they identify themselves. That’s it. You don’t need to biologically prove if someone is REALLY trans for something like this to be bad. Trying to change or force people to change who they are generally hasn’t and will never be good for them. And I resent the implication that it could ever be okay very strongly.

So I don’t think respectability politics will be that effective and is probably more of an emotional response than a pragmatic praxis, even if I can understand the fear about the trans community not taking seriously the need to be careful and not lean too much into anti-trans panic, which will happen regardless, even if the trans community does nothing wrong. Facts and reality matter little to the anti-trans movement.

I very much agree. Respectability politics really does not matter. Hating trans people isn’t justified and people who hate trans people will use any reason, and if they don’t have a reason, they’ll just continue without one.

and I think a lot of this conversation has been futile and frustrating because you assume that is the position I am taking.

I agree that this is futile and frustrating, but that’s likely because we fundamentally disagree on certain concepts. Like I do not agree there is merit to try and biologically define transgender as a brain condition. It oversimplifies the experience and contradicts with real world evidence. And also ultimately caters to the medical perspective of treating transgender as a medical condition. I don’t think there is anything more to say here.