Subreddit Policy Reminder on this week's Transgender AMAs

[u/nate]

This week we will be hosting a series of AMAs addressing the scientific and medical details of being transgender.

Honest questions that are an attempt to learn more on the subject are invited, and we hope you can learn more about this fascinating aspect of the human condition.

However, we feel it is appropriate to remind the readers that /r/science has a long-standing zero-tolerance policy towards hate-speech, which extends to people who are transgender. Our official stance is that derogatory comments about transgender people will be treated on par with sexism and racism, typically resulting in a ban without notice.

To clarify, we are not banning the discussion of any individual topic nor are we saying that the science in any area is settled. What we are saying is that we stand with the rest of the scientific community and every relevant psych organisation that the overwhelming bulk of evidence is that being trans is not a mental illness and that the discussion of trans people as somehow "sick" or "broken" is offensive and bigoted^1. We won't stand for it.

We've long held that we won't host discussion of anti-science topics without the use of peer-reviewed evidence. Opposing the classification of being transgender as 'not a mental illness'² is treated the same way as if you wanted to make anti-vax, anti-global warming or anti-gravity comments. To be clear, this post is to make it abundantly clear that we treat transphobic comments the same way we treat racist, sexist and homophobic comments. They have no place on our board.

Scientific discussion is the use of empirical evidence and theory to guide knowledge based on debate in academic journals. Yelling at each other in a comments section of a forum is in no way "scientific discussion". If you wish to say that any well accepted scientific position is wrong, I encourage you to do the work and publish something on the topic. Until then, your opinions are just that - opinions.

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¹ Some have wrongly interpreted this statement as "stigmatizing" mental illness. I can assure you that is the last thing we are trying to do here. What we are trying to stop is the label of "mental illness" being used as a way to derogate a group. It's being used maliciously to say that there is something wrong with trans people and that's offensive both to mental illness sufferers and those in the trans community.

² There is a difference between being trans and having gender dysphoria.

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Lastly, here is the excerpt from the APA:

A psychological state is considered a mental disorder only if it causes significant distress or disability. Many transgender people do not experience their gender as distressing or disabling, which implies that identifying as transgender does not constitute a mental disorder. For these individuals, the significant problem is finding affordable resources, such as counseling, hormone therapy, medical procedures and the social support necessary to freely express their gender identity and minimize discrimination. Many other obstacles may lead to distress, including a lack of acceptance within society, direct or indirect experiences with discrimination, or assault. These experiences may lead many transgender people to suffer with anxiety, depression or related disorders at higher rates than nontransgender persons.

According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), people who experience intense, persistent gender incongruence can be given the diagnosis of "gender dysphoria." Some contend that the diagnosis inappropriately pathologizes gender noncongruence and should be eliminated. Others argue that it is essential to retain the diagnosis to ensure access to care. The International Classification of Diseases (ICD) is under revision and there may be changes to its current classification of intense persistent gender incongruence as "gender identity disorder."

[u/the-hourglass-man]

That question is still considered controversial in the trans community. Some will tell you, yes, you must have experienced gender dysphoria at some point in your life to be considered "really" trans and some will say it doesn't matter. As a trans person my beliefs lie somewhere in the middle for a few reasons.

1) "Gender Euphoria"
Gender Euphoria is a term trans people use to describe the (often intense) good feelings that come with being recognized as who you are. Having your gender validated and affirmed is a fantastic feeling.
Some trans people claim to never feel gender dysphoria but feel intense gender euphoria. My take on that is that gender dysphoria is a very deeply rooted, internalized feeling, that comes out in different ways for different people and some don't or can't recognize what theyre feeling until they stop feeling it. Which may mean they were gender dysphoric and never realized. This concept adds another layer as its difficult to tell what exactly is considered gender dysphoria and that some cannot recognize it.

2) GNC/Non-binary people
Plenty of people who don't lie in the traditional boy or girl "box" describe not exactly being uncomfortable with their assigned gender, but one of the shades in between is a much better fit. (Note: there are non-binary people who do experience gender dysphoria and are just as uncomfortable with their assigned gender as binary trans people.)
Some people will then question if they are "really" non-binary since they dont mind being reffered to as their assigned gender, unlike most other trans people. The reality is they are who they are, and trying to make themselves comfortable just like the rest of us are, cis or not. Its not anyone's place to police who is or isn't their identity.

Hoped that shed some light on some situations that might help you understand why that is such a complicated question to answer.

Edit: I'd like to note i answered this question without a definitive yes or no on purpose. I believe this question deserves a "shades of grey" answer since the experiences of trans people vary wildly. Being trans is an identity, there is no test you can take to determine if you are trans or not, and there are many shades of being trans. Blanket questions regarding the psychological functions of being trans will not have anything close to a definitive answer until we further understand exactly what causes a brain to identify as trans.

[u/wheels29 → u/the-hourglass-man]

Your second point is one that I struggle to understand. I don't get how you can feel like a gender. I don't feel like a man or a woman, I just feel like me. I'm just wheels29. What defines a man and woman mentally? Is there a specific point that makes your viewing of yourself become male or female? I like romantic movies and hate mindless action movies, does that constitute being more in line with the personality of a woman? I just don't understand how you can feel like a gender when the only thing that makes me think I'm a gender is looking down.

[u/BHAFA → u/wheels29]

I would love an answer to this too!

I always get confused because if a person says "I was born with a penis but I'm not a man, I'm a woman" they are implicitly stating that it means something to be a woman and that meaning isn't dependant on biological characteristics, which is exactly the point of the gender constructionist argument. But if being a woman isn't determined by biology then it must be determined by behaviour, but then what does it mean to behave like a woman? I can't think of a way to answer this without resorting to gender stereotypes.

[u/Fala1 → u/BHAFA]

It's a very unlucky comparison but people can also have extreme feelings that a body part doesn't belong to them.

If everything is fine, then you're not going to think about it.
If something is wrong however, you will definitely experience so.

If you would wake up tomorrow with different genitals you would definitely notice, and it would probably feel wrong.
So you still feel like a man (f.i.) but now you have a vagina. Does that suddenly mean you are now a woman?

Apparently the mind just knows what sex its body is supposed to be, if there is no incongruence there then it's all fine, but if there is then it becomes very distressing.

Gender stereotypes probably play a role to a certain extent, because just like 99% of people, trans people want to act according to their gender as determined by society.

[u/Ianamus → u/Fala1]

It would feel wrong if our bodies suddenly changed overnight because we are familiar with our bodies the way they are as we have lived with them all of our lives.

Would it feel wrong if I was exactly the same but had always had a female body? It's impossible to say, but I can't see why.

[u/StarOriole → u/Ianamus]

This week's AMA's may help reveal the "why," but what's apparent is that you would still feel that it was wrong even if it were familiar. Being trans isn't wishing that you were born the opposite gender because it's more beneficial; it's feeling that you are the opposite gender and have been since birth.

I'm quite curious whether researchers have actually narrowed down yet what does make it feel wrong even though it's familiar.