this post was submitted on 11 Apr 2025
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Not sure how her being trans is related to criticism (well, except right-wingers throwing a temper tantrum. But that isn't criticism). I heavily dislike her due to her - perhaps former(?) - anti-medical viewpoints she also perpetuated in comics. To break it down what her position a few years ago was:
Perhaps her extreme viewpoints changed over the years, and I'm sure not to have all the infos available given I haven't heard about her in a while. But what I saw coming from her a few years ago was just so much crap (Pretty sure I also criticized her for it once, for which she blocked me immediately to then go on a rant). It really pissed me off since it completely undermined efforts to give trans kids (and adults!) the professional help they might need to become both happy and successful (and most importantly themselves).
And in case anyone who reads this thinks this is important for my criticism to be valid or sth: Yes, I am trans myself.
I think the general idea of her was that, if society was perfectly accepting, there wouldn't be any real reason for bigger medical intervention; specifically that there's no gender dysphoria coming from within / being there by default, but all of it existing because of transphobia. With a perfect society there would be no suffering - still expression, but that's it. And there should be no science on this whole topic because that's apparently… well, see the pic. It's one of the really weird takes from back then I could find.
Like, I understand the fear of this knowledge being used against us and the criticism of our current, overly strict diagnostic system this comic contains (which already gets discussed controversially within the academic community and is partially tied to economic necessities)… but that knowledge could likewise be used for so, so much good. To completely ignore the suffering this condition can cause on its own and putting all of the blame on a society that's indeed not perfect yet, and even worse, question Enlightenment itself (as in the move towards an educated society and knowledge over religion, that kind)... in my opinion this is, or was, just fear-driven ignorance and not helpful at all.
But I'd like to say it again: If she happened to change her opinions in this regard I'm more than happy to hear about it. The comic OP posted looks more like her opinions are still very extreme though…
I mean it sounds more like a discussion I've seen before: being trans does not automatically equate to suffering. Dysphoria is not a requirement. You can be trans because you seek gender euphoria, or you can see unique positives or at least perspectives in the process of transition, and even when medical care is readily available a lot of trans people don't ever want to physically transition. Saying no one would undergo surgery is probably an exaggeration or naive take on other people's circumstances, but it's true that in a lot of cases, social transition being readily accepted has been enough, and I'm pretty sure I remember that the majority of trans people stop at HRT in the long term even when surgery is an option. At the end of the day, we can't know if she's wrong or not yet because we can't just will that hypothetical society into being, unfortunately.
Also most people in communities like autism and lgbtq+ would tell you that it's way too dangerous to start genetic testing for this stuff in our current global climate, and that the perceived possibility of good may never be worth that risk, or be such a huge help in the first place. At the end of the day, the genetic component (if it even exists and doesn't end in more truscum nonsense like the artist suggesting people could be called fake trans for not having the marker) really hasn't been seen as that helpful in any group studied like this I've seen so far, and it IS a blatantly helpful line of research for eugenics, so really that panel doesn't read as 'extreme' at all aside from the frontloaded buzzwords. Genetic testing and cure research is INCREDIBLY unpopular for a LOT of neurodivergency, and obviously for the LGBTQ too.
And besides, when you look into how long ago transness has existed, and all the ways it worked out when it wasn't pathologized, there can be some merit to not trying to pick apart and justify every part of the trans and genderqueer life. Justifying just leads to more truscum (people who say you're not really trans unless you get your genitals changed) moving the goalposts on who's really trans, which is probably what she was defensive about on the genetics point.