Quote:
Originally Posted by patchwork
I would think the opposite, actually - Centrum can be officially antireligious without shedding any of the deeply ingrained customs of religious culture, and in fact that seems to be exactly its state. Consider the Soviet Union under Stalin, thoroughly antichristian yet utterly prudish, and calling the more open sexual expression under Lenin deviation. By contrast, transgender (at least binary transgender) seems a no-brainer...we could spend years trying to figure out what's gone spang in this person's head and correct it, assuming that's possible and has no important side effects...OR we can spend 6 months to a year reshaping their body and call the job permanently done. The second is the obvious choice for Centrum (among others).
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But Centrum is also anti-racist, with basically no prejudices at all (except towards out-of-timeline Indentureds). Homophobia would be inefficient.
Ending homophobia would require a social transformation, but so would ending sexual and racial discrimination. While the U.S.S.R. continued much of the prejudices from pre-revolutionary times, Centrum seems to have broken much more dramatically. Also, Centrum's change was worldwide - even if a state wanted to end prejudice(s), it would still face them in other parts of the world.
I suppose it depends what kind of Centrum it is;
Infinite Worlds leaves room for a range of Centrum, from enlightened meritocracy to socialist totalitarianism. It could go from free love to
1984-style repression.
Maybe Centrum officially anti-homophobic, but is sexually repressed in general. Sex is inefficient and leads to all sorts of problems (plus, the limited number of uniforms don't lend themselves to fashion). It's okay to be gay, but public displays of sexuality (of any sort) are 'frowned upon.'
Centrum might have quietly accepted transgender once it discovered the operation on other worlds. But it would be very rare, and without the concurrent psychological work, not very effective.
Besides, it's highly doubtful that Interworld or Uplift would have any transgender agents, just because they wouldn't fit in on other timelines.