Calm down and give them a break

The other day my friend was at the checkout line and a transgender woman who wasn't passable was in front of her.  The cashier accidentally started placing her things in the woman's bag and my friend accidentally said "wait that's his bag, not mine".  The woman got mad and started cussing my friend out and rudely saying things like "I'm a woman now you stupid bitch".  Yikes!  First off forget gender and just be a respectable human being.  Second, get used to it girl friend!  I've been living as a woman for about 7 months now and I can usually pass, but my masculine voice that I'm constantly struggling with gets me "sir'ed" all the time.  Cussing out my friend (who's an LGBT supporter) isn't helping matters any.  Yes, I understand the frustration as I'm sure most of us on here do too.  I want to be addressed with female pronouns al the time too, but the guy at the cash register saying "have a good day sir" is hardly the worst thing someone has said to me nor is it something to get worked up over.  Grow some thick skin, work on your voice, learn how to put on make up better, and overall do your best to present as a woman.  If you're getting "sir'ed" figure out how to improve yourself so that will quit happening.  If you've done everything within your power to present as a woman and you still can't pass, you're going to have to find a way to live with it.  Self-evaluate, counseling, talk to a friend do whatever you have to do to cope with yourself, but above all hold your head up high and don't let the world get you down.  You're a woman and people can just deal with it!

This scenario reminded me that the majority of people simply don't understand our situation or are misinformed.  In society when you perceive someone to be male, it's polite to address them as "sir".  Crossing the gender lines suddenly makes things not so black and white anymore.  Most people I've encountered aren't trying to be disrespectful, they just don't understand who we are and often I've been the only transgender woman they've ever actually met.  I've had LGBT supporters who didn't understand either and slip up as well.  My point is, give them a break.  It's up to you if/when to correct someone, but unless they're clearly being disrespectful to you, cut them some slack and maybe take a minute to educate them; it's better than causing a scene by raging.