Sorry for the time it has taken me to re-comment here but my account was temporarily suspended due to the controversy before so I needed to wait until the conversation had moved on from that discussion.
In my opinion a belief in gender identity and trans-identification are closely linked but they are not identical. Some people who are not trans-identified believe in the concept of gender identity. On the other hand, not all trans-identified people believe in gender identity or see it as the underlying cause of their psychological distress. I do believe that the ideology has increased the number of vulnerable people who become trans-identified though and is clearly harmful to women and girls also.
Either way, I think most here would agree that if someone intends to make drastic and harmful changes to their body to cope with a deep psychological distress, that is a clear sign they are unwell and therefore vulnerable. That isn’t even touching on all the other vulnerability factors that are closely associated with this kind of distress. Vulnerable and mentally ill people deserve compassionate, holistic and evidence based care, but there is one group that people demand this is not provided to. That is actual discrimination, unlike a desire not to reinforce and worsen mental illness.
On a slightly tangential note, I do believe that the concept of vulnerability has been over simplified here at times. Vulnerable people can also be intelligent, articulate, and capable in many ways. My son certainly is but he is still a vulnerable adult. Recognising vulnerability is not an insult, it is a matter of realising when someone needs safeguarding and support to make life changing decisions. It is a matter of caring more deeply about them and their wellbeing, than simply giving into requests you know to be harmful and to have been generated by an unwell mind.