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Comment by saubeidl | Hacker News Reader

> Trans issues, etc are not something I spend an enormous amount of time thinking about.

I am not trans and not impacted by this in any way. Nonetheless, this worries me as trans people are just a small, convenient group to use to normalize state repression.

"First they came for the trans people and I didn't speak out, because I wasn't trans"

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You're right, of course, but considering how uncomfortable so many Americans are about these issues (eg: they may have decided the presidential election), I have mixed feelings about what to do about it.

Perhaps continue to show those around you that the world is complex and that this is fine and no reason to be frightened? And fight for education which acknowledges the complexity of the world and teaches how to cope with it!

As developers we get to question some things and simplify the systems a bit from time to time. Next time someone wants a "Title" field for a customer - why? Let's simplify, don't do that and avoid many issues. Same for gender/sex in any non-regulated situation. Same for trying to split "Full name" into any kind of culture-specific predefined fields. Or maybe don't ask for a name at all unless you're doing physical shipping. Etc.

Feeding people to the lions in the hope that you can satisfy them is not the right call, morally or strategically. The list of targets has already expanded to include racial minorities, and it’s continuing to grow.

That is part of my mixed feelings. The other part is... Trump, for example, seemed to throw the generally unpopular Heritage Foundation to the lions. Once he regained power, he reversed course...

"Trump Is No Longer Denying Support for Project 2025" https://time.com/7323278/trump-project-2025-government-shutd...

The President just declared that charities for the homeless, mutual aid groups, etc are terrorist organizations full of literal terrorists and people financing terrorism. Among those terrorists are people who dare to protest against his actions.

You don't label people and organizations terrorists, probably the worst designation the post-9/11 US state can give anyone, unless you have plans to do something about them. Even Obama droned Americans to death that the state deemed were terrorists without trial.

That, at the very least, should give you pause.

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