Ok, seriously...
I agree with Nikki. Anything less than "man" and "woman" differentiates us from the rest of the world. Since the point for most of us is to blend in, not stand out, it's only natural that most of us don't want to add any other qualifier. Personally, I'm okay with "trans woman" as I am different, that can't be helped. It's what "trans" means that is the root of the problem. To far too much of the world it means we are incomprehensibly bizarre, eccentric or completely insane. The truth, as I see it, is the opposite. We know who we are, that's no small thing. A large portion of the world spend their whole lives trying to figure that out. Our break from convention often has a terrible cost in friends and family, sometimes income and financial security. Plus, of course, there is the considerable physical danger from people who can't or won't understand and decide violence is a better solution than examining their own discomfort. To know that such violence is possible and transition anyway, that's bravery and strength enough for the epic heroes of the ancient world. Which brings me back to my flippant answer above, you're all awesome just for being who you are.
Christine, I couldn't agree more. "It" is dehumanizing. I think using "it" is a way to make whatever cruelty that follows (and it almost always does) okay with the individual using the term. I find it as terrible as any racial or religious epithet used by the bigoted and closed minded. Being misgendered still leaves us human. "It" makes us something less than human and so is never okay.
Anyway, that's what I think...
