Originally Posted By future pet
Years ago I visited a country school museum in SC. It had been in operation into the early 20th century. I remember one of the things one could be "disciplined" for was being left-handed. The fact that we so recently considered a common genetic trait to be a flaw to be corrected sets sobering expectations for the acceptance of non-binary sexuality.

The history of wishing people weren't what they are and punishing them for it is long and dark and shows no signs of relenting. As a corollary, abortion is closer to illegal now than it has been for decades; not to mention nearly unavailable in vast areas. There are, for example, 2 Planned Parenthood clinics in the entire state of Louisiana; 1 in Mississippi.

We are not at the Handmaid's Tale tipping point. But we aren't headed in the other direction either.



Sorry I digress a bit
It's good that you're contemplating how things used to be.
Time wise, in the current defacto "Pax Americana" we are in a small island of Utopia. Certainly, it is not perfect, but it is closer to what most people consider perfect than any other time in history, which was an unrelenting horror show. People need to study history and pay attention to details. Eugenics, slavery, race riots, lynchings, normalized torture, arbitrary arrests and no presumption of innocence, genocides, mass murders, brutal punishments for non-conformity and differing inherent sexuality the list goes on forever.

po