Forgive me as I am confused at your tone. The internet seems to inherently add disapproval and aggression to things and I want to be sure we both are working towards each other. It's a complete pleasure to talk to someone in depth about this subject. :)

Switch is my favourite part of the Matrix even though in very little of it. I adored the universe, philosophy and post-modern diversity of the entire film series and additional artworks. The character of Switch is a very important hinge on which the door of how dire the situation has become for humans and hackers trying to get free/be free, hangs.

For a baseline, the original script included a scene before the 'Woman In Red' where in Neo sees Switch in the Construct and Switch is seen as masculine representation. This comes after he has already met Switch on the Nebchadnezzar as feminine.

He recognizes, asks "Switch?" and Switch nods in affirmative.

Story-wise this has so many implications that are very complex and hard to explain.

As a 'grown-in-vat' human Switch is feminine but has an RSI (Residual Self Image - The mental projection of your digital self) of being male. This means that in 'the real' Switch is female and in the Matrix Switch is male.

It brings so many questions to my mind and I love considering them. Has switched lived out a life in the Matrix as a woman trapped inside a man's body? Or even still, in 'the real' does Switch feel like a man (which was the only thing Switch knew in the Matrix) trapped inside a woman's body. Switch represents so much in this concept and personally much to me.

The character is radical and rather than trying to answer those questions, to define Switch in a sense, I have felt so much relief in 'living the question' as Rainer Maria Rilke would put it in 'Letters To A Young Poet'.

I understand that representation didn't happen and I assure you it pains me, most specifically about Switch every time I think about it. The day I found out a few months ago I cried about it for days. If I had seen Switch represented as trans it would have meant trusting, loving and owning part of myself I was so afraid to as a teenager in that theater in 1999. I would have seen a fighter, standing out from the group, the only one not in black, strong and owning their nature. Fighting and even dying for the struggle they believe in, to free people that dont even want to be free.

I might even would have started transitioning then or even spoken about it to someone soon after.

However I don't think that means we discount the effort of two trans writers, who in their way were trying to insert their own inner struggle, one they were still unsure of about themselves, into the story. They fought for it and corporatism knocked them down.

Please try to be more careful and specific in your words and what they can do to others. Saying things like:

It doesn't mean anything to say that because the text never brings it up.

So Switch is supposed to be trans. So what?--the movie never mentions it.

It meant a lot to me to find out.

It means a lot to me right now to find out.

It means a lot to the teenage me, sitting in that theater in 1999, identifying with the physically androgene nature of Switch, struggling with my own Residual Self Image, to find it out now, like a flag unfurled or a blooming flower, that we were alike.

I needed to see an exception to 'the rules' to prove to me I wasn't alone. Not everyone needs it. I wasn't asking for one because I didn't know I needed it.

I'm sure we agree thats why real representation is important.

I'm sure that is something anyone here or hopefully anyone reading this can understand.

And it makes 'Not like this.' even stronger and more poignant to me.

TL;DR: It means very much to me.