They tried with all of the mid-cycle redistricting measures to try to gerrymander their way to victory.

It backfired. Republicans got flattened.

Even r/Conservative is finally smelling the Spirit of Hartshorn.

I’m not sure anyone will take you up on that bet, it’s all but certain.

The thing about ‘reading’ someone is that most humans who don’t know you look for visual cues to decide how to interact with you.

For people who do know you, for some it can take a lot of time for them to re-wire their brain to use the proper pronouns. It took several family members (all very supportive) about five years to finally get my pronouns (she/her) down, simply because my old name and pronouns were just so automatic to them having known me for literal decades before I came out (almost 10 years ago).

It’s easy to get frustrated and down, though its important to remember that it’s a normal part of transition. It’s not just you who is transitioning, but also family and friends around you: the relationships you have with other people transition as well whether we realise it or not.

Small things help a lot: mode of dress (note: not just wearing dresses), jewellery, hair style, mannerisms, voice (not just pitch, but intonation - feminine voices have a ‘musical’ presentation), make up and grooming (even something simple as basic skin care/sunscreen), and so on.

Name can help, but remember that names don’t really matter in situations where you’re not giving it anyway, so you need to rely on other cues to be ‘read’. Names are a deeply personal thing; you shouldn’t change your name just because you feel like it might alter your misgendering rate.

If you do decide to change your name, I’d strongly encourage considering names that were common around the year you were born in your country (or your country of birth), as it can be another flag to help people ‘read’ you correctly.

The more small things you add together, the easier it is for someone to ‘read’ you correctly. All humans do it when they’re interacting with someone for the first time or when they don’t know the other person.

It’s hard work, it took me several years to work out what worked for me. I’m almost always a t-shirt, jeans and boots type, though earrings (just a pair of simple sleeper loops I never take out), hair style, and getting the intonation part of my voice down certainly helped.

I almost never get misgendered these days, even though my voice is a bit deeper than most other women I know. Intonation does a lot of heavy lifting.

Don’t lose hope, and don’t give up. You’ll find what works for you eventually.