Passports didn’t list sex until the 1970s when governments around the world stated freaking out about men with long hair and unisex clothes. Now we pretend like this was some always set, eminently important thing that must carry value. We only got it as enforcement of binary gender.

I think that enforcing AGAB markers on passports is conservative self soothing on the importance and necessity of binary gender. That it must intrinsically mean something. It’s a targeting vector more than anything, to inform authorities to the way the system thinks people should be treated.

@me it reminds me of the people trying to bring back phrenology by suggesting that AI can analyze face photos to decide who would make a good hire

it's vitally important to them that they be able to treat the "wrong" people poorly and the "right" people well

it's baked into how they see society needing to be

@chimerror @me It would also be interesting to know how many of the long-haired people in unisex clothes would have described themselves as "non-binary", had the term been as well-known in the '70s as it is now.

Or how many eventually came out as trans or non-binary.

Because I very strongly doubt that number is zero.

@chimerror @me augh I just read (skimmed) that article and I'm pretty sure it gave me acid reflux

@chimerror @me they will see patterns in the noise wherever possible if it means they can say science justifies racism