But I just tried changing one of the variables of her situation.

What if she actually declared that she was transrace. She hasn't. She is saying 'I am black'. But what if she said 'I was born to white parents but have always felt black on the inside'. If she explicitly stated that I think I'd find what she's doing less problematic. But notice...it would be less likely that she would get a scholarship for Howard...less likely that she'd have a high ranking position at the NAACP....less likely that she'd be a university prof in African studies.

I think that's a really important distinction. If she did what Caitlyn did in her context.....she wouldn't lie. She wouldn't take a picture of her doctor'ed hair and say "Going natural for my birthday". The deception proves to me that she knows she will get something of value out of lying. Caitlyn Jenner is doing nothing of the sort. In short....we could conceivably condemn Rachel without closing the door on the existence of a transrace identity. A person who identified themselves as 'transrace' wouldn't receive the benefits that we think Rachel is after. (a more credible voice, victim-hood seeking, etc)

So this kinda opens up some room to move here. When we change our perceptions of Caitlyn from being a man to a woman....we can do so while recognizing that Caitlyn has not had ALL the experiences of a woman. She has not experienced sexist barriers to success. She has not experienced fear of sexual assault the same way that a nontrans woman has. And we're ok with that. But with what Rachel's doing....she's not giving us the opportunity to make that distinction in our perception of her.