Autism and Gender Dysphoria

(This post was written by a "friend" for a local paper but it go rejected because pro-trans stories by actual trans people don't sell papers. It's a response to the BBC documentary "Transgender Kids: Who Knows Best?" by Dr Zucker which argued that trans people might just be autistic and I hope this article shows that trans people and the medical establishment do.)

This post is based purely on my own personal views and anecdotes, and I make no claim of any scientific basis.

Yes, I am an autistic trans woman, and personally, I am not offended by the claim that there may be a causal like between autism and gender dysphoria. The problem lies in the interpretation of this statement, and the conclusions that we draw from it. One possible conclusion, (and this is one that Dr Zucker has expressed) is that trans people may actually not be trans, but instead have autism. The problematic word here is 'instead'. This word implies that the two conditions are mutually exclusive, which we know as an absolute FACT is not the case: there are many trans people on the autistic spectrum. It's a false dichotomy, namely that a person is either transgender OR autistic, and that both cannot co-exist.

My personal view is that there may indeed be a link between autism and gender dysphoria. Many of the trans people I know are on the autistic spectrum (I know, this is a personal anecdote), and I have long suspected this link. Instead, I believe that there may be a multiple things that can cause gender dysphoria, autism being just one of them. I am certainly by NO means implying that all trans people have autism or that all autistic people are transgender. That would just be silly.

So, what does this mean for the trans community? In my opinion: nothing. Absolutely nothing. Regardless of the cause of gender dysphoria, it is not something that can be 'cured'. Autistic trans people shouldn't not transition simply because autism may be the potential cause. The root cause of our gender dysphoria does not make our identity any less valid. Dysphoria is dysphoria, regardless of cause.

What does it mean for me? Again: nothing. I do not care of the cause. I know that I am transgender. Is it my autism that has caused it? I honestly do not know the answer to that question, but the truth is that it doesn't matter. I know my identity, and I am finally comfortable with who I am.

Of course, there is another possibility that I have considered, and that quite a few people have mentioned previously: It could be that there is an equal distribution of transgender people in both autistic and neurotypical communities; but it is more likely that the autistic trans people will 'come out', whereas the neurotypical trans people will hide it more and attempt to conform with society's expectations. This is another theory that makes sense to me too.