The third story from DayBreak Magazine is The Gender Plague by K. D. Wentworth. It's a story of a nano-virus switching peoples gender overnight. It sounds a bit crazy and initially feels like an idea with not much of a story. However the story keeps going and going, taking the idea to it's end. An end which is a bit predictable, but definitely optimistic.
Along the way the story has some clichéd moments but also some moments that made me laugh. My favourite line:
He jerked the bed sheet off and averted his eyes from the wobbling upper portion of his semi-naked body until he pulled on a crumpled T-shirt to hide the offending bioware.
Bioware, ho ho.
It's interesting reading this just after reading The Left Hand Of Darkness and comparing the two. The Left Hand Of Darkness is of course a more subtle study of what a world without gender might be like, whereas The Gender Plague is a full-on fast romp (and vaguely reminiscent of that Mel Gibson film where he can read women's thoughts). Consequently The Left Hand Of Darkness feels more realistic, but not as much fun.
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