I don't have much to say about Hunter Schafer herself - but I want to react to the post she reacted to.
Let's have a talk about transmedicalism, and why transmedicalism - not non-binary people - have a bigger impact on why anti-trans legislation is flourishing today.
First, what is transmedicalism?
There are a lot of "definitions" of it. At its most extreme: You need major dysphoria to be trans, and you should desire full medical transition to be valid, "transtrenders" exist.
In practice, they seek to gatekeep transition HEAVILY.
Transmedicalism used to be the _only_ viewpoint on whether or not you were allowed to transition. They used to separate you into categories like "AGP" (fetish, not allowed) or "HSTS" (you were "exposed to more estrogen in the womb" and likely present feminine gay).
These were pushed by a pretty vile human being and psychologist, Ray Blanchard.
More on him later.
There have been several other famous transmedicalists:
- Caitlyn Jenner has sided with this topic.
- Blaire White is a transmedicalist.
- Dr. Anne Lawrence was an early pioneer of research around accepting AGP/HSTS as legitimate.
There are entire organizations that center on transmedicalism, claiming to be "for advancing transgender care," such as Genspect and SEGM. Just look at SEGM's mission statement:
Here is Genspect's mission statement. Again, note the gatekeeping language and the attempt to make being trans about literally anything else but actually being transgender.
But... in private conversation, Genspect has promoted 100% desistance. That is, a complete elimination of trans people:
It is no surprise that many of the previous names who are huge in transmedicalism have lobbied with these organizations. Remember Ray Blanchard and Anne Lawrence? Both have also appeared on Genspect's podcast or twitter feed.
And... The law in Florida? Who did they cite the most and who were the board members a part of?
Genspect and SEGM.
The literal law that the first post blaming non-binary people is reacting to.
It is transmedicalists that have done this. ACTIVELY.
So look - I am a binary trans woman. I have a lot of transmedicalists that follow me for some reason. I want to be very clear - transmedicalism does not save us. In fact, its the transmedicalist leaders that are pushing the hardest right now for anti-trans laws.
Anyway, addressing this is far more important than cancelling a young trans woman. Spend your energy debunking the stuff like what the original post put out because that’s what’s actually hurting us.
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1. Nancy Mace, in an interview, made it clear that her opposition to Sarah McBride in Bathrooms was never about safety.
She stated, "It's offensive that Sarah McBride thinks [she's] my equal."
The audacity of a trans person being her equal.
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2. Nancy mace's comments show how attacks on one trans congresswoman in a bathroom were never about her being dangerous, or unsafe. It's about raw hate.
3. In a Newsmax Interview, Mace stated, “It is offensive that a man in a skirt could ever think [she’s] my equal, that his challenges are the same as mine. They’re not. [She’s] forcing [her] genitals into women’s restrooms, into dressing rooms, into locker rooms. It’s sick."
1. On day 1 of prefiling, Republicans have filed 32 anti-trans bills in the state of Texas.
The bills target transgender people with bounties, could shut down Pride parades, ban gender marker changes, and force mass-scale chromosome testing.
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2. The latest suite of bills in Texas comes after the largest campaign targeting transgender people in history. Republicans, emboldened by the election results, could press forward with bills considered too extreme in previous years.
Some have argued that Democrats should give up on trans people in sports.
As a leading transgender journalist covering the issue for years, I can say that this is a strategy doomed to fail.
Here's why.
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2. In the wake of Harris loss in the 2024 election, a debate has emerged over trans participation in sports... on whether or not Democrats should abandon "the sports issue."
This is deeply misguided. I explain why in my latest piece.
3. If you had a time machine in 2019 and traveled to 2024, the shift over trans rights in the US would be shocking. In the 2019, trans people could openly access care in all states.
Now... bounties in bathrooms, adults cut off from medical care, and drivers licenses pulled.