Well you said it yourself - "navigates the world identically to a cis man". Trans men do not do this, and cannot do this, by nature of being trans. There is always some aspect which separates the experiences of trans men with cis men, even if the trans men themselves are stealth.
For example, a trans man who has had all of the surgeries and all of the hormones and all the legal document changes still
1. Had to live a life experience before all of that happened, and unless they never interacted with anyone ever, there runs the risk of people from their past outing them.
2. In that same vein, can never talk about their foundational experiences growing up unless they heavily bend the truth or lie (or unless they transitioned at, like, 3 months old??)
3. Still had to go through the surgeries, which is accessing a medical system, which may or may not have discriminated against them for being trans (rather than privileging them for being a man)
4. Some countries, like mine for example, keep a record of your name change on your birth certificate, so even if I had all the legal and physical changes, having to provide proof of citizenship would immediately out me. In a similar vein, to prevent fraud, many government organisations ask if you have ever been known by any other names. This outs people immediately.
5. Again, with medical care, you would need to provide a list of your medical history to your practitioner, which would out you
6. Most trans guys that pass are still on testosterone, they do not stop it. This is another area where trans men may be discriminated against - for example right now in the US they are trying really fucking hard to ban HRT. Some insurance companies won't approve of prescriptions because of the nature of the prescription. This is not a privilege
Not all trans men who are stealth have had all or any surgeries (like myself). This means:
1. I can still get pregnant and need care for that, which outs me, and opens me up to discrimination cis men would never face
2. I have to piss sitting down, because I can't afford an STP + packing underwear. I know this isn't a huge deal bc I know some cis men pee sitting too, but if you're in an area where people are constantly transvestigated or just a transphobic area, this may cause problems.
3. I can't wear certain shirts or tops because my binder will show. I can't go swimming. Tell me how that's a privilege lmao
4. When accessing medical care, I put myself at serious risk for transphobic treatment and harassment to the point where it might even be life ending - people may not do their proper duty because I am trans, and therefore something important may be missed that could risk my life
5. There is very little research about trans men's bodies and how things interact with testosterone HRT and other such things. For example, the symptoms of a heart attack look different for cis women and cis men. What do they look like for trans men 8 years on HRT? Do you know? No, seriously, do you know? I need to know this. I have a history of heart failure in my family.
Like I won't deny that stealth trans men can recieve social benefits/privileges when people misread them as cis men. I should know, I pass pretty fucking well all things considered. It's really weird when people talk to me when a woman I'm with has asked a question. However that is not the same as real systemic privileges, because at almost every turn interacting with systems throughout our lives, we will be outed or open to discrimination.
On top of that, even though I am stealth, as soon as people find out I'm trans, that privilege disappears immediately.
I don't think it's a privelige to also never be able to talk about my childhood or my experiences as a trans person. I don't think it's a privelige to have to hide a part of myself and my identity for safety.
To put this another way, do you think bisexual people have straight privelige because they can date someone of a different gender and never talk about their queer identity? Or is that just being trapped into hiding who you are? Is that different for stealth trans men?
