Lynn Conway, who died Sunday at 85, was a leader in the development of personal computers and microprocessor technology, and a symbol for generations of transgender individuals.

I have mixed feelings on the pronoun use, but having read some of her autobiographical writing I don’t think she would have taken much issue with it. This piece is more focused on her work in computer engineering, so I felt it was appropriate to post here.

  • Tywèle [she|her]English
    10•4 months ago

    Transition can refer to different aspects like your appearance or how you present socially. So transition is still the right term.

    • Resol van LemmyEnglish
      6•4 months ago

      That’s why the prefix “trans-” exists, not just for transgender people, but for other things like transportation, transposition, transition, transformation, Transjordan (sorry, I just HAD to make that joke), it simply means “the other side”.

      • Rhaedas
        3•4 months ago

        That emphasized my point. If someone feels that they had always been a certain way in the past even though they didn’t look it or act it in public, there is no “other side” of themselves. I’m not trying to change the vocabulary, just was an observation of using a word past its usual meaning. That’s how words evolve.

        • Tywèle [she|her]English
          5•4 months ago

          There can still be another side, like I said, just in another aspect. Their gender identity might have been the same througout but their presentation would’ve probably changed with time. Thus a transition.