ok so i’m sorry upfront if this is a sensitive topic that i shouldn’t speak about. however i had this sudden realization like last week and now it’s stuck in my head. you deserve to know it too.
so there’s these silicon valley tech bros that talk a lot about transhumanism. That’s basically a movement that wants to improve your body somewhat through the help of technology, such as brain implants, cyborg bodies, etc… Well, isn’t transgender medical care a form of transhumanism as well? It surely does make use of technology, after all the girl pills and such come from laboratories (i’m not sure how exactly they’re produced but i guess it’s with the help of genetically engineered bacteria that produce the substances). So basically it feels a lot like people who get transgender care are kind of the first line in the movement to transhumanism. Isn’t that cool? or idk what else to say.
Anyways the realization is fascinating because most of these transhumanists are deeply republican for some reason. And they also hate against transgenderism for some reason? despite it literally being an application of the type of technology that they advocate for so heavily.
Transgender tech person here. I’d generally agree with you.
In the last 5 years I’ve lost 160 pounds, instituted an aggressive exercise program, started a longevity-focused supplement regime which includes radically changing the function of my endocrine system to focus on estrogen. Somebody who hasn’t seen me since starting would have a hard time believing I was the same person.
All of this is really only possible due to the technology and research we have access to. Bioidentical hormones, anti-inflammatory drugs, anti-androgens, metabolic support like GLP-1 agonists, etc, as well as the basic over-the-counter supplements… are all backed by many decades of research by armies of scientists on proper formulation and dosage. Not to mention the advances in wearable tech that continually track my physical condition, combined with staggering levels computational power that synthesizes the whole picture.
The march of advancement is ongoing. We are soon to enter the era of personalized medicine, where my genome can be analyzed to produce custom viruses and mRNA that deliver precisely defined instructions to fix or alter specific aspects of my person. This doesn’t even touch on surgical innovations.
I think what the kitten-eaters dislike is not the tech but the -ism in transgenderism. The notion that I should want a change they find culturally icky, but can’t dispense with without also doing away with all the other stuff they do want. It drives ‘em nuts, lol. As long as we live in a free society, I get to do whatever I want. So, their solution is to make the society less free, but just for this.
That targeted disenfranchisement easily broadens to persecute an entire credo that naturally occurs around people such as myself. I also live in a city, have electric cars in my drive and solar panels on my roof, and subscribe to crazy notions like everybody should have guaranteed access to medicine. This is apparently an existential threat to the straight, white, male, Protestant, suburban fossil-fueled strip-mall American Way. I’m well and certainly on a number of lists. In case they’re reading this, Ka$h Patel can eat the peanuts out of my asshole.
I aim to live for a long time, in good health, as the person I envision myself to be. The only threat to that are the right-wing psychopaths… but I contribute too much to the precious economy to be written off completely. It vexes them, which amuses me.