Just chiming in with a direct response to the OP.
I'm not sure there is a hierarchy. At least not in my mind.
I don't feel that TS women are anything like CDs, atleast not enough for their to be a hierarchy. I mean sure, both are usually genetic males, both born with a penis, both wear clothes intended for the gender opposite to that which their genitalia denotes.
But that's all.
TS women are women. They aren't wearing the clothing of the opposite gender, they are wearing gender appropriate attire, where as CDs wear clothes of the opposite gender.
This you already know, or at least I hope you do - This is at least how my mind separates the two, and I'm aware it's the broadest of broad strokes.
I could go on for days about the differences between the two but that's not the point I'm making.
Now I do think that many CDs might have the misguided opinion that TS is like graduating from CD school.
I see this mindset a lot on omegle, chatrooms, even in this forum. And I think it comes down to one factor - lack of education on the matter.
Yeah, I know, in this age of the internet, your only excuse for being uninformed is laziness. So if you don't know, a little known website called google can help you out.
http://bfy.tw/5x3Z
Come back when you've read and understood everything on the first 2 pages of results
If I sound sarcastic, good. Because if you took offence then it was probably aimed at you.
And if you took it with the humor it was intended, then you may already have searched the same thing a few times yourself.
Honestly, I don't feel that their is a hierarchy. Could just be simple ignorance that looks and feels that way?