i don’t rlly know many details abt the discourse over whether or not u have to be dysphoric to be trans, i only know that the ppl who say u DO have to are generally disliked by everyone but that side sorta makes more sense to me bc dysphoria is part of the definition of trans that i was taught, and i was wondering if u would be able to explain why dysphoria wouldn’t be needed? i don’t want to argue or anything, i just want to learn because i’ve only been exposed to the other side of the argument

i think that’s most ppl’s first impression of transness. i mean, i remember when i was little, like, a toddler, i knew what trans was but i thought it was like, a man who had to get surgeries to get lady parts and such. and tbh truscum basically say this exact argument but they dress it up in smart sounding words like dysphoria and the trans experience and shit, and they get to say these things and get away with it because they’re trans. but make no mistake, “you need dysphoria to be trans” is the same as “a trans person is someone of one gender getting surgeries to be the other gender”. 

if that doesn’t make sense i’ll break it down. specifically when truscum talk about dysphoria they’re talking about body/sex dysphoria, which is when a trans person feels a strong need to change their primary and/or secondary sex characteristics to feel more comfortable in their skin. some transcum will accept social dysphoria but in my experience, most don’t (social dysphoria as in, feeling a strong need for people around you to recognize your gender for what it is. this is what i mostly suffer from as do most trans folk, although not all.)

even without the constant use of “biological male/female” and “transitioning to your desired gender” and “preferred pronouns/name” rhetoric that does exist in the transcum community, their message is quite clear: a trans person is not truly the gender they say they are unless they want their sex to “match”. requiring dysphoria to be trans by default is one admitting that they think that gender and sex are the same, and that in order to be a certain gender you must also be the “matching” sex. they may accept your gender if your sex doesn’t match but only if you yourself feel the dire need to have your sex match and pretty much make an oath to get all the surgeries you need (not a literal oath but you know what i mean)

furthermore, by merit of not accepting social dysphoria as an acceptable form of dysphoria to get your Trans Card™, they’re solidifying their stance that gender and sex are the same, as with social dysphoria there is not always an immediate or dire need for physical body changes (as in my case - it sucks that ppl don’t see me as a man but i could probably live comfortably in my own skin without ever doing a thing to transition, save for change my name legally)

so the deal with not needing dysphoria is accepting that gender has no matching sex. tbh, i’m not someone who’s gonna say that gender is fake. i think it’s real and solid and important and unchanging. i think this because that’s how i experience my own gender. i ask myself, what gender am i? and the answer is resounding and firm: i’m a man. there’s no questions not implanted by transphobes. i’ve felt this way since i was a kid. and yet, i already feel my body matches. this body, in every way, is that of a man. as i said, i could live my whole life comfortable in this skin if it never changed. trans ppl who don’t have this experience are of course valid. there’s no one right way to be trans. the only requirement is that you have a gender different than that which you were assigned at birth. no proof needed, since we’re adults who trust each other when they say something about their own identity lmao

tl;dr truscum believe gender is the same as sex by requiring body dysphoria to be present when that clearly isn’t the case and no gender “matches” with any sex. 

thanks for the question and i hope i helped!