This is where you have it backwards. The government doesn't care a smidgen about the *individual*- they'll run you over with the trolley put it in reverse and run you over again if there are two people on the other track. That's why this is interesting- https://twitter.com/GalvanTheGod/status/1294132766741684224

The only thing that matters is the collective good. So it's not just about respecting the rights of trans individuals- individual rights aren't that important here. This ruling means that the courts opinion is that respect for transgender identity is in the public interest.

Likewise any ruling on civil unions will only happen if the consensus is that recognizing these relationships and giving the legal standing is in the public interest. Which is a tough call because we have a birthrate problem and closeted Chinese have kids at a fairly normal rate.

You legalize civil unions tomorrow and you're going to have a whole lot of lesbians calling off heterosexual marriages and the inevitable kids that come with them. Given our wife shortage- that could be the definition of socially disruptive.