I thought things were getting too heavy on the blogsite, so I decided to head off into the future of my XLGBT short story once more. In CE 2209, the Oortwomen are holding a referendum about whether or not to allow vanilla females into their leathery domain…

Report: Vanilla on Ice: The Oortwomen Citizenship Referenda, CE 2209:

When the Oort cometary and transplutonian settlements were being developed, it was a period of anti- leather prejudice and social exclusion on Earth, Mars and some of the Asteroid Settlements. Although the Gallilean Confederacy colonies were far more liberal on matters of sexual politics, especially samesexer-settled Ganymede, cybercetacean-colonised Europa and the multiple-personality enclave on Callisto, many restless fetishwomen looked outward, to a realm where they could establish their own independent communities.

From 2074 onward, many leatherwomen became involved in the frontier mining industry, and established settlements on transplutonian dwarf planets like Eris, Makemake, Haumea and Sedna, the most distant world in our planetary system. As time went on, it became obvious that leathersexuality wasn’t the only characteristic amongst these women. Eris became boomworld, an industrial processing centre for many of the other Oortwomen worlds. Haumea was closer to the outliers, who were more culturally conservative, while Makemake benefited from its thriving Centre for Extrasolar Cultural Studies at New Birmingham University.

As happens with all initially isolationist societies, the Oortwomen began to debate whether or not to let vanilla settlers into their worlds. As the debate mounted and the Oort Kuiper Consortium of Outlier Worlds called a referendum, they began to realise that perhaps fetishism wasn’t the overall defining attribute of their lives after all

Results:

ERIS:            Population 4.3 million

Apple City    Yes   75.4      No 24.6

Inward Harbour    Yes 80.2    No 19.8

Penhaligon        Yes 58.5   No 42.5

Interpretation: As the oldest and richest Oortwomen world, Eris tends to be a haven of liberalism compared to some of the other transplutonians. Apple City is the oldest settlement and has a history of robust political debate. Inward Harbour is looking forward to the investment capital that will flow in, once the referendum result is confirmed.  Penhaligon is an older leatherwoman’s community, and more inclined toward social conservatism.

MAKEMAKE:       Population 2.8 million

Junctura          Yes  80.5     No 19.5

New Birmingham    Yes    95.8        No 04.2

Kali Eviscera           Yes   57.3        No  42.7

Interpretation:  Makemake is somewhat of an anomaly amongst the Oortwomen worlds, as it is home to the Terran Federation’s leading research establishment into extrasolar sentient life, New Birmingham University. As a result of its relative affluence and levels of higher education, that settlement recorded the highest Yes vote anyway in the outer system on this issue.  As a port city, Junctura will also benefit. As for Kali Eviscera, named for a Hindu leatherwomen’s religious community, religious conservatism may explain their strong level of antipathy. However, generational differences blunted the overall impact of the no vote.

HAUMEA:                               Population: 500,000

Results:

Samoisia                   Yes 51.5     No 48.5

Califiaine                   Yes 53. 6    No 46.4

Rubin Rise                Yes 58.6     No  41.4

Interpretation: Unlike Eris and Makemake, Haumea is a more typical extraction colony. It is more reliant on Oort volatiles mining, and more susceptible to market fluctuations in the cost and availability of those essential materials for inward system habitats. During the 2190s, it had the highest unemployment rate in the belt during the outlier worlds recession. Rubin Rise is a local anomaly, because of its exogeology training and educational institute, hence the stronger support for reform evident there.

OUTLIERS:  Population: Estimated 250,000

Aggregate:                Yes       50.5      No 49.5

Interpretation: Here, we’re getting to the more hardscrabble, arduous mining worlds. For that reason, religious conservatism has made more inroads, and the denizens have fewer applied industries or professionally educated personnel. They tend to be bastions of social conservatism for that reason.

SEDNA: Population 150,000

Nihilata Military Base     Yes   40. 6            No    59. 4

Interpretation:  This is the remotest world in the Terran Federation home system, and tends to be a bastion of military conservatism as a result. It is a haven for traditionalist leather culture, and has closer ties to the equally conservative lesbian soldier caste of Hestian insectoid society. Over time, the affirmative referendum result elsewhere may result in higher levels of trade, commerce and cultural exchange with Alpha Centauri as a result.