It can be a mental illness but it isn't always. Epigenetics will eventually prove the amount of estrogen a male fetus is exposed to in the womb can determine neurological wiring which leads to gender dysphoria or gender non conformity. There's also the fact that both judeo Christian esotericsm and modern philosophy have similar theories over anima animus alignment and gender identity.

Long story short, there are crazy and mentally ill trans people but there's also people who binary gender roles simply don't fit in any sound way. The real problem is one, science is still a few years away from fully proving it and two, most average conservative people very much reject the idea that gender theory is even real even though denying it is essentially reducing the most complex organism on Earth into a lower domain mammal whose sex functions are purely biological

I'm a frog, an anon. I question every single thing. And lately I've been of the personal opinion trans people have been used by the left as a huge strawman to keep us occupied, enable tyrannical legislation and infringing on personal liberties, and also confirm to the normie that we're the divisive bigots they say we are.

A government that prioritizes personal liberties and stays out of personal health care choices, that's conservatism but the theocrats and fundies amongst us are completely OK with tyranny if it is a means to their ends

This comment isn't saying sexual reassignment surgery should be a thing or that kids be put on puberty blockers or that women should have to compete against men. I simply believe the intelligent conservative needs to think critically regarding the topic and how the left is manipulating it in multiple directions.