If drag queens are only into dressing as a job, are probably not T, unless they're LGBT when not "working".
Who said that we all firmly [no pun intended] identify as males Some days I'm sot so sure.
Some assorted responses without quoting.
That's the problem with labels; they're not specific enough. Remember, T stands for Transgender, not transexual.
As for passing. I've seen many GGs who don't pass as women as well as I do.
I would probably call myself bigender or gender fluid. Am I CD or T.
Don't forget that you can be a non-op T.
Some people believe that the difference between a crossdresser and a transwoman is 2 years. So, at worst, we're only 2 years from T.
I happen to personally know a lot of Ts who fit that cliche. Maybe they knew that they were T at the when I met them as a CD, but they had me fooled; I thought that they were "just a CD".
Lastly, if you are assaulted on the street while dressed, do you or they care whether you're CD or T? If the person assaulted you thought you were T, that could be a hate crime. If that person thought you were a CD, no hate crime?