I still shudder when I think about my early days in r/AL and I saw people making this distinction. It's before I learned about autogynephilia and I remember reading all the comments about how post-OP genitalia were indistinguishable and how there is NO excuse for preferring "cis" female genitalia and how that was body shaming and whatnot. I shudder because I think about what kind of mental gymnastics I was trying to contort myself into while thinking "could I be into that" and "that doesn't really sound appealing" and "how is this a human rights issue." Add in the comments I would see about how no one has a right to know the natal sex of their sexual or romantic partner because that's just "private, medical information." These attitudes and comments were confusing and off-putting, but also stated so matter-of-factly, frequently, and with the support of a large volume of upvotes that I really felt like I was missing something, and I noticed there was no discussion or debate allowed. Once I stumbled upon the words "cotton ceiling" and simultaneous summary dismissal of the fact that this rhetoric was even a thing ("this never happens" and "that's TERF propaganda"), it all clicked. I think it was from going to the GCDebatesQT subreddit that I was able to see some semblance of discussion that put everything in perspective. No wonder that subreddit got banned. As soon as discussion is allowed, trans propaganda falls apart.