I don't think it's a valid hypothesis anyway. The culture around anime profile pictures is that you pick a character that you at least somewhat relate to - or

I don't think it's a valid hypothesis anyway. The culture around anime profile pictures is that you pick a character that you at least somewhat relate to - or used to in the past and embraced that. For trans people that's usually a character that is at least in some way gender-bending - like being mistaken for the other sex by other characters or people unfamiliar with the franchise.