I recently saw a post on Instagram saying that if you didn't experience dysphoria then you weren't allowed to call yourself trans or nonbinary and that it was damaging to "real trans people" to do so. And I just have to say that is the biggest load of crap I have ever heard.
Not only is it completely untrue but it makes no sense and invalidates identities such as genderfluid. Even on days that genderfluid people identify with the gender they were assigned at birth they are still genderfluid. That part of them doesn't just go away. On those days there's a high chance that they won't feel dysphoria about their body but that doesn't mean that they and their identity aren't valid. Just because someone doesn't experience dysphoria 24/7 doesn't mean that they aren't trans or nonbinary or genderfluid or whatever they identify with.
I am not dysphoric all the time and I am so fucking grateful for that. I have both good days and bad days but on neither of those days am I any less nonbinary. I don't revert back to being a girl just because I choose to wear (and feel comfortable in) a dress one day. That's not how that works.
What I'm saying doesn't just apply to those of us outside of the gender binary though. It 100% applies to binary trans people as well. You don't need dysphoria to be trans. You are allowed to wear clothes that traditionally apply to your assigned gender but that doesn't make you any less of a man or woman. You can identify as a man but still wear makeup and dresses. You can identify as a woman and wear suits and not shave. You don't need to physically transition to be valid. Your identity is real and doesn't require surgery or hormones if you don't think those things are necessary for you. Likewise, if you do choose to go on hormones or wear a binder or get surgery that is also completely ok.
People in the community have been rejecting others for years and it needs to stop. Your experience could be completely different from someone else's but that doesn't make either of yours "fake" or invalid. We need to step up and start calling people on their bullshit especially within the LGBTQ+ community. We are supposed to support our brothers, sisters, and siblings and saying things like "if you don't have dysphoria you're not really trans" doesn't help. Each and every one of us is special and significant in our own way. All of our identities are real and valid and don't have a list of criteria that come with them. We need to stop trying to force things upon each other and start standing up for each other like we're supposed to.
