I Do Not Like This Techbro Game of Thrones Episode

Elon Musk is de facto dictator of the United States right now

Elon Musk by Marcin Paśnicki, ripped paper by Sarah Richter, texture by Jensen Art Co, all from Pixabay

On October 21, 2018, a day when I was nervously expecting to announce exciting news about a book I’d written related to gender, I awoke to this headline.

New York Times — October 21, 2018

It was stressful in a particular way that headlines before or since have not typically stressed me. This one was exceptionally memorable. I remember where I was, the position my body was in, what I was doing in the weeks before and after. I wrote at least one essay about what it meant to me.

I was relieved when Donald Trump left office in early 2021 without having accomplished this particular goal: to define “transgender” out of existence.

But of course, he knocked out that item easily with an executive order his first day back in office: January 20, 2025.

Many, many things are changing rapidly

Now I understand the dread that I, and many other trans people, felt then when we saw the headline in 2018. It was prescient.