@cwebber The "immutable" requirement is such a strange US-specific legal artefact. First, religion is considered a suspect class, and thus subject to strict scrutiny. One’s religion isn't immutable though, so that's not actually a requirement!

And second, during the gay-marriage debates of the early 2000s there was a fascinating split in how US and European activists framed being gay. In the US you often heard "I was born this way" and a strong emphasis on gay-ness being innate. Because in the US context – against the historical backdrop of race – that's how you are awarded rights. But in Europe the rhetoric was almost the opposite, emphasising freedom of choice as the basis for rights.

We have economist Thorstein Veblen to thank for his insight into the social relationship at the heart of capitalism.

Veblen understood that there were two sides to capitalist economic production, which he named “industry” and “business.” The goal of industry, the workers actually making things, is to quickly and efficiently meet the needs of the public. The goal of business, the capitalists who own industry, is to generate profits. Business generates profits, Veblen realized, by interfering with industry—a process he labeled “industrial sabotage.”

People who have their needs quickly and efficiently met don’t have much of a reason to keep buying things, or to pay high prices for the things they want. So business—capitalists—need to make sure people do not have their needs quickly and efficiently met.

3/

I'm crashing out right now, but I'll be OK. I've got a good support network of caring friends and family, enough financial privilege that I can afford housing and healthcare, and I live in a city and state that still have a few protections left for folks like us.

But I'm privileged that way... not all trans folks are, not by a long shot. Let someone know (respectfully and with their consent!) how much you care for them, that the world is better with them in it.