Sorry, I am not a tgirl (which is the term I use to described transsexual ladies), but this is an interesting, and important, question.

I often find myself using simple terms like "girl," "lady," or "woman" on this forum since everyone knows by the context what I mean. I don't personally use terms like "shemale" or "ladyboy" even though a lot of porn DVDs use such labels and I am a consumer of such titles.

I hope that doesn't sound hypocritical of me as I do realize that is a possibility. From what I have gathered, however, most tgirls do not identify with those terms (at least in the US...I am not personally familiar with regions such as Asia and their outlook on the term "ladyboy.")

It is important to show respect to the ladies here (says I, "Captain Obvious"!) and I'd hate to think I have offended any of them. I certainly am willing to conform to any consensus of terms (though since individuals are so different that may be easier said than done).

Perhaps, in the long run, the most important thing is to allow the tone and context of your posts to *show* respect. And that's not a knock at ANYONE here as I think the vast majority of posts I have read here...and I've read A LOT of them!...have shown respect. I think that's a large part of why I enjoy this forum so much and hope to be a positive contributor when I am able.