A lot of transphobic people say things like "Trans people shouldn't undergo surgeries and hormones to fix what they're going through!" and what not, but I've come to a realization. They're not saying this out of a genuine desire to help trans people, and I've used this "four point method" with every transphobe who says this to catch them using "caring about the well-being of people" as a bad faith op to disguise their pushes for just hating trans people.
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On what basis can you assert that gender dysphoria SHOULD NOT be treated by medical transition?
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By extension, do you know HOW to execute said treatment from a medical professional perspective?
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If no to number 2, circle back to number 1 and question your basis again.
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If yes to number 2, why are you harassing people online about your solutions instead of proposing it to medical communities (which would be infinitely more useful)?
Most transphobes I hit with this are not even able to get past the first question in any rhetorically coherent manner, if at all.
Of course, you act accordingly to how each transphobe answers, but at that point, it's easy because transphobia isn't rational. It's entirely based on emotions and fears.
I emphasize that you're supposed to use logic to come to a conclusion; not the other way around.
Transphobes just so happen to have already preemptively made a conclusion on trans people on the basis of emotions, but they realize that said conclusion won't hold up in a genuine case of rhetoric (because of how emotionally charged it is), so they embarrassingly try to attach a logical explanation for their bigotry after the fact of them concluding that being trans is bad, so watch them grasp at straws and argue from incredulity as you ask them these four questions.
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Whether or not gender dysphoria is a mental illness means very little. The only known treatment that actually works is to change the body to fit the needs of the mind.
And yeah, that comes with an elevated suicide risk…no doubt due to unrelenting harassment from bigots like your former friend.
Your former friend's confidence in psychotherapy is severely misplaced, by the way. I've been through that (not for gender dysphoria), and calling it unhelpful would be an extreme understatement. That's why psychiatric medications are so popular—they actually work, if only a little—and that, too, is changing the body to fit the needs of the mind.