Perhaps it’s just the circles I run in (like Fedi, for example), but I noticed a significant percentage of trans folks are really into computers, even before they knew they were trans themselves.

I suspect these are some primary reasons:

1. Computers (esp video games) are a socially “acceptable” hobby that alleviates dysphoria in trans people by enabling disassociation from their body. When we’re enraptured with a computing device, we’re often completely unaware of our bodies. We can, in a way, become pure consciousness and personality. If you’re feeling uncomfortable in your own body for whatever reason, this can be liberating.

2. In many cases, computers are a safe way to explore gender expression through various digital avatars. Whether playing a character of a different gender in a game, or completely adopting a different gendered persona on a social platform, trans people can experiment with their gender expression completely free of the context of their body or existing social expectations.

3. The internet allows connection with communities that are often inaccessible through in-person networks. This appears very well-known in the queer community in general. As trans people are an even smaller subset of this group, finding each other for community and support would be incredibly difficult if not impossible for many without the internet.

I’m sure I’m not the first person to have these thoughts. What are your thoughts on the matter? Am I way off base? Have you experienced any of this?

Disclaimer: I'm referring the the US medical system, but I imagine people in other countries may encounter similar things.

I cannot be the only one who has had this experience, but all my dealings with the medical industry feel like they were refined by a group of psychologists to exploit the weaknesses of those with ADHD.

The volume of calls, appointments, and paperwork I had to full out to get a diagnosis and prescription for treatment is completely unreasonable to expect someone with poor working memory and attention issues to navigate.

Then, to stay on medication, you need to schedule and make appointments with a psychiatrist every month, for the rest of your life, and if you miss a single one, you will run out of meds (and likely charged a fine), which will make it even harder to remember to make the next one. If you miss too many, that psychiatrist will refuse to see you again and you have to go back to your PCP to get a new referral.

Look, I understand that their time is valuable, but this system couldn't be designed any other way to be more accommodating to people who clinically forget things?!

It's like designing a wheelchair ramp that's actually just stairs that are 3x as steep as the regular stairs. Also, if you fall to the bottom, someone takes your wheelchair until you can climb back up.

For the curious, this is the Ducky Origin Vintage.

I'm configuring a Framework 13, and while selecting the ports, I came across a question that I couldn't determine from the pictures, product pages, or configurator:

Is there a dedicated USB-C port for docking and charging? That is, to say, if I don't choose USB-C for at least one of the expansion ports, will I still be able to plug it in to a USB-C dock? If not, how will I charge the laptop? Is there a dedicated charging port?