I figured somebody would try and bring up this argument soon enough; the idea that the motive doesn't matter.

Once again, Thomas is being objectified against his will. That's not cool. Private information is being spread against his wishes. That's not cool. He's being treated and viewed as a trendy showpiece, not a person. That's not cool. He's being used as an end to somebody else's means, not as an end for his own. That's not cool.

All in all, it's recognition without the respect. Thomas is already being cited as "the transperson" rather than a person that happens to be trans. His TG-ness is being recognized as the sole of his identity and existence. I am sure any of us with a life will agree that there's more to us than our TG-ness.

The problem with recognition without the respect is it won't last forever. Once the trend dies out (kind of like America's current obsession with going green), all the hipster followers will go with it. Once the recognition is gone, we'll be left with no more respect than what we started out with. It's very healthy for Thomas to be realizing his distaste for such attention on his own already; it shows he's not in some sort of blue fog or in need of a serious reality check.

If these people had respect for Thomas, they wouldn't be bombarding him every which way. They'd be doing the opposite.

I can't speak for Thomas at this point, but I personally would rather the realness of somebody insisting I'm female when I'm not, provided that's how they think. Why? I want to deal with their true emotions, their true feelings about me being trans. I can't stand forced acceptance; we'll never get anywhere that way. To disguise somebody's negative or blase feelings this way makes it a lot harder to detect the warning signs of hate later on down the line. And that can lead to some serious consequences, some far worse than simple resentment breeding. To do otherwise, to rather somebody's negative feelings be masked, is to be coddled in a world that doesn't exist.

Side moment: It would be a lot easier, Logan, if you would cite who said which quote you are quoting, especially when quoting more than one person in a post.