I think there is a conceptual issue at stake here. Personally, I don't consider passing as being seen as cis, but rather how people relate to you. IMO, even if they know you're trans, but naturally use the pronouns of your target gender to refer to you (i.e., without having to be reminded to use them), then you pass. If they know you're trans, but naturally use the pronouns of your assigned-at-birth gender to refer to you (which may be accompanied by attempts by you to "correct" them or their catching themselves and unnaturally "correcting" themselves), then you don't pass.
Passing can be beneficial for these reasons:
1.) Gain of male privilege for trans men.
2.) If you attempt crowd funding for a procedure to make you look even more like your target gender, such as FFS, electrolysis, or SRS, you are much more likely to be successful than otherwise.
3.) People are more likely to think that you "need" SRS or other procedures because your appearance and demeanor just screams your target gender, and so you are more likely to get a leg up from, say, a relative.
4.) You can use the toilets and other facilities of your target gender with little difficulty.
There is one con to passing:
1.) Loss of male privilege for trans women.
As even discussed on GenderTrender, passing is important. It was like that one trans woman who got beat up by those two cis women after she used the bathroom at McDonald's in Baltimore; in reality, her trans status didn't have anything to do with it. The cis women assaulted her for supposedly flirting with a boy they liked, or something. Gallus Mag acknowledged that she basically passed and was not attacked for being trans.
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"You have a responsibility to consider all sides of a problem and a responsibility to make a judgment and a responsibility to care for all involved." --Ian Danskin
01 Feb 2015, 3:58 am
