+ M3tz - 1.1 (Report Archived by Dizzle)

[Kouki]

The word "ladyboy" is used to specifically refer to trans women from Thailand, but the Thai expression for it which it originates from, "kathoey", can refer to trans women, transvestites, and/or feminine-presenting gay men. This is the grey-area I was talking about. It is a blanket term.

When used out of context, it is derogatory because not everyone can be on board with being a "ladyboy", therefore not necessarily a woman.

I am a linguist, and a principle of language is that like an electric current, people will find the most straight-forward way to use language. And in real-life usage, the word "ladyboy" out of context is used alongside other derogatory terms, making it into a derogatory term.

The word "ladyboy", in its current state, is also used to refer to transgender sex workers and that is where the divide is, and what makes it derogatory for other people.

This is my confident etymological explanation.