There are many forms and degrees of transphobia just like there are many forms and degrees of racism. And continuing to do it in the media only slows down progress.
I think you should try to see it from ours instead. Yes absolutely. The word transgender adequately describes the situation. Simply describing her as a transgender woman and perhaps linking to the wikipedia article about transgender for the people who might be confused. All the article does is take a very brave womans story and uses it to further misconceptions about trans people, and as someone who has also done journalistic work the lack of research and thoroughness of the article is appalling as well.I would've thought transphobia is reserved for things more... vitriolic, perhaps.
This is not a good thing; but it's that she was forced to live like a man, and not that people are not yet prepared to linguistically deal with her situation, that is the primary problem.
See it from their perspective.
Is it "transphobic" in your eyes, indeed, for me to say that he was a man who became a woman?
How else are we to talk about it? It would be confusing if they had used "she" and >"Ashley" throughout; it would not read well, and would do a worse job of getting the story across. Perhaps "a woman in a male body changed her body to that of a female," yes
Pardon my phrasing; I slept little. Anyway, I was just sticking up for the underdog. I can acknowledge that incorrect pronoun use is perhaps a form of (latent) transphobia; I merely wish to say that these people thought they were doing good. You're quite right in saying that discrimination comes in many forms and degrees.