They think if they can label some character you like as trans, then that means you like something that is trans, which means that they have a chance at not being despised by you. Or maybe it's just so they can despise themselves less.

Conscious or subconscious, the goal is normalization.

The irony is this behavior makes them more annoying and less accepted. Letting a character like this just exist without making it about themselves, would still push towards normalizing "gender non-conformity." But the narcissism won't let them. So they end up working against their own interests.

They think if they can label some character you like as trans, then that means you like something that is trans, which means that they have a chance at not being despised by you. Or maybe it's just so they can despise themselves less.

Conscious or subconscious, the goal is normalization. The irony is this behavior makes them more annoying and less accepted.