by Finn Lambo
I’m sick of reading about how “you don’t need dysphoria to be trans.” People who self-identify as tucute love to point out that the NHS, psychiatry.org, and other websites claim that you don’t need dysphoria to be trans, and that us transmedicalists don’t have any proof of our ideals.
However, I’m posing a counter-point. Many (if not all) of the previously mentioned websites don’t go into ANY depth when it comes to those statements. No scientific proof is given to support them. However, when you research the actual biological basis behind being transgender, you’ll find several studies. There are BIOLOGICAL differences between transgender and cisgender people, and those biological differences are linked to gender dysphoria. There are no studies that suggest the same when it comes to non-dysphoric trans people.
“Many experts believe that biological factors such as genetic influences and prenatal hormones contribute to the development of transgender identities”, and it’s clear to see why (The APA 2019). Some of the studies that support this theory are cited at the end of this paper. The most cited and prominent study has to do with brain scans of people with gender dysphoria. “sexual differentiation of the genitals occurs separately from sexual differentiation of the brain in utero, making it possible that the body can veer in one direction and the mind in another. At the root of this idea is the notion that gender itself—the sense of which category one belongs in, as opposed to biological sex—is determined in the womb for humans” (The Scientist 2018). This is supported by two major studies.
The first of these two studies was conducted on animals, and has demonstrated that genitals and the brain acquire masculine and feminine traits at different stages of development in utero, “setting up the potential for hormone fluctuations or other factors to put those organs on different tracks” (The Scientist 2015). The second study, was conducted by Carme Junqué of the University of Barcelona. In this study, MRI machines were used to examine the brains of transgender people, and they found that found that several regions of the brains of transgender people bear a greater resemblance to those of cis people of their same gender (The Scientist 2018). What is even more interesting about these studies is that this was even true for transgender people BEFORE hormone replacement therapy and/or surgeries. All of the people in these studies (aside from the control group, of course) were people with gender dysphoria.
One more study conducted by psychologist Sarah M. Burke of the VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam and biologist Julie Bakker of the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience also supports this biological basis between cisgender and transgender people. In this study, both boys and girls with gender dysphoria were subjected to androstadienone to gauge their responses. Androstadienone is an odorous steroid that is known to cause a different response in the hypothalamus of males and females. “They found that the adolescent boys and girls with gender dysphoria responded much like peers of their experienced gender” (Scientific American 2016).
Clearly, there is a biological basis proving the differences between transgender and cisgender people, and it gives us an understanding as to why those people are transgender. However, when it comes to non-dysphoric trans people, there are no such studies and no evidence. If there is no biological basis for being transgender when it comes to non-dysphoric trans people, then that is implying that it’s a choice. Therefore, until any studies are conducted, there is absolutely no reason to assume that non-dysphoric people can be transgender.
Sources
https://www.the-scientist.com/features/sex-differences-in-the-brain-34758
https://www.apa.org/topics/lgbt/transgender
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-there-something-unique-about-the-transgender-brain/
Cadence Jasiel 