Rotation by Zackerly, Stacey

because the desire to change gender had nothing to do with ones sexual orientation. It took quite a while for the general public to grasp this basic concept but over the years as the technology improved and more and more people transitioned to new lives the old ideas were all but forgotten. With gender transformation such a routine procedure it was not only commonplace it was now also mandatory. Everyone was required by law to spend three "rotations" of one year each living as a member of the opposite sex. The first rotation took place around the age of 6 or 7. The second around 12 or 13 and the final rotation was to be completed around the age of 19 or 20. There was some flexibility to accommodate the schedules of individual families and so on but most people knew pretty far in advance when their turn was coming. At the end of the third and final rotation each person was given the opportunity to declare their chosen gender which would remain constant, theoretically forever. After 10 years you could file an appeal and have your case heard and there were emergency options with a doctor's consent but the idea was to discourage frivolous "body hopping" as it was called. The procedure was free and paid for by the government, who also controlled the exclusive right to perform the transitions, but there were underground clinics and one could always try a foreign country if one had the money and the desire. The idea was simply that if everyone knew what it was like to "walk a mile"