>>13770207gender incongruity is a definite mental illness, probably could be cured with therapy or medication, however it's not clear if there is a precise part of the brain that generates sensations of being-some-other-gender or not, or to what degree this condition is psychosomatic. gender expression in the brain and body are quite complex.
that it's a mental illness is undeniable; the high-comorbidity rate of other mental illnesses despite "treatment", as well as the siimilar effect profile to body integrity identity disorder (e.g. somebody feeliing like some part of their body isn't actually theirs, to the point of trying to get the part amputated/having dysphoria over being connected to it/etc) certainly characterizes it so. the fact that modern treatment approaches to gender incongruity only marginally improve outcomes is a testament to its status as a mental illness (and the apparent fact that gender-affirmation is even marginally helpful isn't something that can ever be proven or disproven, since it relies on self-surveying and cannot be subjected to placebo, so i hesitate to even say that it's marginally helpful, because it isn't clear that it's any more helpful than being given a sugar pill)
therefore, the validation of transgenderism is a moral position, not a scientific one, and "gender-affirming care" is not a medically valid strategy, and the only reason why it's pushed so hard in medicine is because
1. people with agendas will try really hard to ruin your career
2. it's very easy to profit off of them
3. this profit will be long-term, since you will address none of their actually problems and they will be perpetually depressed/suicidal/bipolar/etc
