Friday, July 28, 2017

A Transgender Policy I can Get Behind


Philadelphia used to require every public transit pass to say whether a rider was female or male. For Charlene Arcila, a transgender woman, it didn't matter which option she chose; either way, some bus drivers deemed her pass illegitimate.

Following a lawsuit from Arcila and an outcry from local activists, Philadelphia removed sex identification from its transit passes in 2013.

Instead of making it easier for individuals to move between two binary positions, [Heath Fogg] Davis writes in his new book Beyond Trans, they should be "questioning our need for sex-classification policies" in the first place….Beyond Trans is his comprehensive case that everyone—not just transgender people—"would be better off in a society with dramatically fewer sex-classification policies."

I’m with you all the way, brother…uh…sister…uh…trans-sister?

Take that M / F off of my driver’s license.  While you’re at it, get rid of the birthday on all government identification documents and databases – today I feel 20, yesterday I felt 84 (well, because the night before I acted like I was 22).  Why do I have to be stuck in some artificial chronological age?

No more height and weight.  If I want to wear insoles to add a couple of inches, why should I be locked into some artificial construct?  If I gain a few pounds, does the world need to know this?

In fact, no more names on any government forms or in any government database.  I feel like Dick Tracy today; last week it was Tony Stark.  Next week, Gene Simmons…or maybe Jean Simmons (really, he/she is much more beautiful without the costume).

Or…maybe Pat?

I might switch to the dark side on this transgender issue – but only if they go all the way!


On second thought, I am guessing the government won’t give up on all means of identification and categorization.  Perhaps once we are stripped of all rational means of self-identification, we will just be labeled with a number:

[He unbuttons his shirt to reveal the number tattooed to his chest]

And so Javert, you see it's true
That man bears no more guilt than you!
Who am I?

You'll always be a slave
Look down, look down
You're standing in your grave.


  1. Why don't we just get rid of all government identification documents and their databases, like the republic started out without?

  2. Or we could record a person's gender on their driver's license the same way we do weight and height. By self report from the individual.

  3. Since gender nor weight nor height are corroborative of any person's identity, they don't need to be on the driver's license or in a data base. Anyone who is not engaged in driving for commercial purposes should be required to have a driver's license to exercise their right to travel.