When Trump started blaming the Chinese for Covid, suddenly we saw an explosion of hate crimes against Asians, even if those Asians were not Chinese. Hell, even if the Chinese government IS responsible for Covid, the Chinese who have been living here for generations certainly had nothing to do with it. After 9/11, suddenly Muslims or Arabs wound up on the shit list, even when the Bush Administration (to its credit) warned against scapegoating them for the terrorism. And, since bigotry is highly correlated with ignorance and stupidity, anybody who wore a turban (like the Sikhs or Hindus) were fair game. And then there were the Mexicans, Central Americans, any brown person from South of the Border or the middle east, or Southern Asia. Its no longer cool to hate the blacks, there’s too many of them and they’re pissed, so that form of bigotry is now disguised with dog whistles, and innuendo, or maybe just substituting “urban” for “nigger”. or “community” for “ghetto”. Fascists will latch on to any convenient minority to fire up their base. Logic has nothing to do with it.

Some people just need to hate. And when social convention or public custom or education condemns this attitude, then any convenient difference, legitimate or perceived, will do. Sexual irregularity appears to be the last bastion of bigotry, and you can count on it being zealously defended for as long as possible. People seek and cherish their justifications for hate.

Human beings feel the urge to define the social landscape into Our Tribe, and Theirs. Its probably an evolutionary thing, a primate band throwback, originating in biological territoriality or some form of sexual selection. And for some reason, it appears to be particularly associated with people of Northern European Ancestry. I’m sure its not racial or genetic, it probably has psychological, cultural or historical roots, but it still seems to be particularly bad among white folks.

Racism stings, doesn’t it? That’s why we get so indignant when someone accuses us of it.

It does not affect me at all.

There are trans issues that have to be discussed without accusation of bigotry. Trans athletes can lead to the end of girls sports, and many young female athletes are protesting about it. Many feminists are opposed to pre-surgery trans women being in women restrooms. The large numbers of girls and young women who transition and then detransition needs to be considered.

But again let me emphasize, EVERYONE has basic human rights and deserves respect and dignity.

https://varley.net/collection/picnic-on-nearside-collection/

(By the way, I enjoy reading the movie reviews on his site. Check them out!)

I also recall reading Ursula K Leguin’s “The Left Hand of Darkness”, about a world where the hermaphroditic human colonists have evolved the ability to change their gender in a matter of just a few days. Unfortunately for them, they have no control over this process: it occurs suddenly and unexpectedly several times during their lives, usually at the most inopportune moments. I don’t remember much about this book either, except I enjoyed it very much, and (like “Triton”), it received excellent reviews and won a Hugo.

Whatever strange places humanity goes to, you can count on SF writers making the first exploratory trips.

I consider myself a thoroughly heterosexual creature, I like women, both as sexual objects and also for their many other fine qualities. If pressed, I must confess that I consider them, on the whole, to be morally, emotionally and intellectually superior to men. (Yes, a number of exceptions immediately come to mind.) I like to think of myself as a feminist, and I am convinced I have always felt that way, in spite of having reached puberty well over a half century ago, and being brought up in a culture dominated by Latin machismo and homophobia. I have never felt revulsion, or even hostility, to unconventional sexual practices such as homosexuality or bisexuality. Come to think of it, the only sexual deviancy I feel instinctive and total disgust about is rape. I can visualize situations where murder might be justified, but I can conceive of no such circumstances for rape.

But I must confess I do feel some concern about the contemporary societal infatuation with what we now call “LGBTQ” issues. I can’t say “some of my best friends are gay”, but I do have one fairly good friend who is. I have no problems with individual’s unconventional sex practices, but when the entire society seems obsessed with it, I can hear the alarm bells starting to go off.

Perhaps this newfound fascination with homosexuality and its related states is simply a sign of societal maturity, a realization that this is the last of the Great Prejudices to be recognized and overcome. I certainly hope so. Because if it isn’t, then it may be telling us something much more disturbing.

Some in the lesbian community are at odds with the trans community over so many young women who in the past would become lesbians but are now opting to become men. Many girls in highschools who used to be “tomboys” now think they should become transgender. This is why I think surgery of this nature should be held off until 25 unless there are medical reasons.

In Oregon I believe there is a law, or used to be at least, that people wanting to change sex have to “live” as opposite sex for a full year first under the supervision of a counselor. In effect cross dressing and in all other ways identifying as the opposite sex to see how they adjust.