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There are things Jing Yi expects when he flies through the window to his rooms.
Like his rooms. Like the floor being where he expects. Like all the furniture being out of the way of anyone flying through a window.
He finds none of those things.
There may or may not be a crashing noise. Or a very undignified yelp.
The immigration social work office has a woman at the front desk with blue hair and six piercings in her left ear. She says, "Glad to see you! Please take a seat, we'll be with you shortly."
The seats are very uncomfortable and made of a material Jing Yi doesn't recognize. The only entertainment in the room is the row of pamphlets, with titles as follows:
-Contradictions In The Bible
-It's Okay To Be Gay!
-It's Okay To Be Trans!
-Questioning Your Gender
-Questioning Your Sexuality
-Safer Sex: Questions You Were Afraid To Ask
-Unwanted Pregnancy? Know Your Options
-Coping With Nightmares
-Coping With Panic Attacks
-Coping With Depression
-Coping With Eating Disorders
-Substance Addiction? Need Help?
-Sex Addiction? Need Help?
-Porn Addiction? Need Help?
-Are You In An Abusive Relationship? Know The Signs
-Divorce, Child Custody, And You
-Helping A Friend With Trauma
-What's Wrong With Me? A Guide To Mental Health Self-Diagnosis
-Understanding Informed Consent Clinics
-Do Cascadians Kill Babies? And Other Questions You Might Be Scared To Ask
What a selection of pamphlets to exist.
...for lack of anything better to do, he picks up 'It's Okay To Be Trans!' because this a cultural thing he is probably going to have to pick up a passing understanding of so he doesn't spend his time he constantly going "?", and also 'Do Cascadians Kill Babies? And Other Questions You Might Be Scared To Ask' because while he is pretty sure they wouldn't (they're in short supply), he has to know why they feel its a thing people need to be reassured about?
It's Okay To Be Trans
People can be born in male bodies, female bodies, or intersex bodies. Usually, people born in male bodies live as men and people born in female bodies live as women; people who are intersex are assigned to one or the other gender. Sometimes, people want to live as a different gender than the one they were born as. This is called being "trans." People can want to live as a different gender for lots of different reasons. Some people believe that they have the "soul" or "essence" of another gender-- they're "born in the wrong body." Some people feel uncomfortable with their sexed body. Some people feel a strong longing or desire to live as a different gender and they don't know why. All of these reasons are okay.
Some people who grow up in countries with strong gender roles want to be a different gender because they want to do things they weren't allowed to do. It can be hard to know whether you're trans or not! You may want to take your time and ask for a gender-competent therapist or to join a peer support group for people questioning their gender. For more about figuring out whether you're trans, please see the Questioning Your Gender pamphlet.
You don't have to do anything if you're trans, but there are lots of things you might want to do. Some people ask people to use different pronouns, most commonly "he", "she", or "they." Some people use a different name, start dressing differently, or do things that they associate with a different gender. Some people take cross-sex hormones, which can have the following effects. Some people have their breasts removed or get breast implants, or get surgery to transform their penis into a vagina or their vagina into a penis. You can receive hormones or be put on the waiting list for surgery upon request by going to any informed consent clinic. (The informed consent clinic will also arrange for you to bank sperm or eggs if you take hormones.) Adolescent trans people may request puberty blockers to give them some time to think about whether they want to hormonally transition. You don't have to do any of these to be a valid trans person. It all depends on what you feel comfortable with and what makes you feel okay in your body.
It's okay to think you're trans for a while and change your mind. Lots of people do.
It's okay to be a trans person. Trans people can be as happy and healthy as anyone else. Hormones don't make you sick or give you permanent health problems, and the fertility problems are treatable through sperm or egg freezing. Surgery and hormones don't mutilate your body. Many trans people have jobs they like, fulfilling sexual and romantic lives, and wonderful relationships with their children. Trans people are not predators or sexual fetishists; it's safe to share bathrooms and locker rooms with them.
If you talk to a trans person, you should use the pronouns, name, and gendered words they prefer. You shouldn't ask them questions that you wouldn't ask a nontrans person, like about what their genitals are or whether they've had surgery. It is rude to make jokes about trans people getting murdered. You should not harass or assault trans people for hitting on you. Being attracted to trans people doesn't mean you're gay, because trans people are members of their identified gender. If you make a mistake, don't worry! Trans people are very understanding of sincere, honest mistakes. As long as you're trying your best, you're not being offensive.
Do Cascadians Kill Babies? And Other Questions You Might Be Scared To Ask
Euthanasia of children in great pain or who are going to die anyway is legal in Cascadia with parental consent; abortion is also legal. The pamphlet is at pains to point out that no one will force you into an abortion or to euthanize your child. Cascadians have a wide variety of opinions on euthanasia and abortion.
Cascadians do not murder elderly or disabled people. Euthanasia is legal but no one is ever euthanized without their consent.
Anyone can vote in Cascadia if they pass the voting tests or have turned 18. People who pass the tests are competent to vote. Many of them know more about their government than the average Gileadite or Mexican knows about theirs!
People who have passed their GED test and voting test are high school graduates and can vote, but they are not legally adults. Some privileges, like using intoxicating substances or working in certain jobs, are reserved for those over the age of 18.
The age of consent is twelve in Cascadia. Twelve-year-olds can consent to sex sometimes. If you aren't ready to have sex, you shouldn't have sex. It's fine for a twelve-year-old not to have sex if they don't want to. If someone forces you to have sex you don't want, that is a crime and you should report it to the police. I
Sex trafficking is not legal in Cascadia. All sex workers are consenting and over the age of 18. They have a union.
Public sex is only legal in certain areas, at night, away from main streets. There are clearly posted signs about areas where public sex is legal and you will not walk into one without your knowledge.
Polygamy and gay marriage are legal in Cascadia. Everyone is consenting. No one will force you to be polygamously married against your will. Many polygamous relationships are all men, all women, multiple men with one woman, or two men and two women.
Line drawings and photographs of sex are shown during Cascadian sex ed. It is opt-in and requires consent from all parents and the child. These are not pornographic images: they're artistic depictions that allow visual learners to have a better understanding of the mechanics of sex.
It is not legal to sell babies in Cascadia. Pregnant people may be paid for the work of carrying a pregnancy to term, as a way of encouraging them to give their babies up for adoption instead of having an abortion. This is a very effective way of reducing the abortion rate. Pregnant people should be paid for their work.
Many drugs are legal in Cascadia, mostly harmless ones. Use of more serious drugs is handled through treatment, not punishment, but it is still illegal.
Cascadians do often raise their own pigs and chickens and eat them. But the pigs and chickens have much better lives than they'd have on a farm. Many people find it meaningful to participate in the whole cycle of life and know precisely what is on their plate.
The pamphlet is in general very reassuring about how no one will make you do any of these things that you happen to have ethical objections to.
Jing Yi has No Feelings about the first pamphlet. Apart from the 'don't make jokes about murdering people' that just raises questions about why they felt the need to specify?
The other pamphlet raises such wonderful questions about what on Earth is going on in Cascadia and in other countries. Why did they feel the need to specify this. And also where on earth are other countries getting their pork? (Okay so it's not like he's raised his own meat animals, unless throwing seed towards Chu Chu's Office Chickens on occasion counts, but he lives in a city and is rich? Everyone else raises their own chickens if they want the eggs and the delicious extra roosters?)
The receptionist calls him in to speak to the social worker.
The social worker's office has an Impressionist painting of an ocean that is bland to Cascadians, a shelf full of books that would be worth a small fortune in Great Tang, and a significantly more comfortable chair. The social worker is sitting at a desk in front of another goddamn rectangle. She has bright pink hair and a piercing in her nose and she is very unreasonably perky.
"Hello! I'm Aurora, I'm going to be your immigration social worker today! Can you tell me the legal name you'd like to have?"
She double-checks the spelling and which of those is his surname. "And which gender do you currently identify with? You can put it down as male, female, or nonbinary, and you can change it at any time."
"And your birthdate?"
Blink blink.
Aurora recovers her cheeriness and composure. "...I'm sorry, I'm going to need a year that occurred within the past hundred years."
"I'm... going to need what the current year is for that." ('1715' is a reasonable guess if Lev is right about how much time has passed, but he Does Not Want To Deal With any "...no, not that year either.")
Aurora is Fully Capable Of Dealing With This Problem.
"The current year is 2049 CE!"
"All right!" She asks for his height, weight, race, eye color, and hair color, then says, "would you like to be an organ donor?"
He... has no clue what that is. And also would rather not confuse this poor woman any more by asking what seems like an astonishingly ignorant question. "Am I allowed to change my mind? If I am, I'll go down as 'no.'"
"Yes, of course." She types some more. "All right, we've got you set up to get a PIN and an ID card. Step over here for a photograph, please."
Photographs involve standing on this line, looking at this dot, "smile please!", a bright flashing light, and another goddamn rectangle.
"We'll have your ID card and PIN card by the end of this appointment," she says. "Try not to lose them. Your first is free but replacements will cost $33 each."
He nods seriously. He has no clue how much money 33 dollars is, so he just going to assume it's a Lot. He will treat it like his pass into the Three Judicial Offices, where losing it would be a Whole Thing.
"Would you like to provide optional demographic information?"
There is no good way to ask 'will this end up going like asking about my birth year?' but it probably wouldn't. Hopefully. Maybe.
"Sure!"
"What is your religion?"
...
He has had just enough conversations with Monotheists to predict that trying to explain 'I worship ancestors and the Buddhas and the gods as is applicable to current situation" to a bureaucrat would be an incredibly circular and difficult conversation.
"I don't have One," he technically-not-lies.
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