IIRC,
Transvestite is a person that dresses up in clothing of the opposite gender;
i.e., man wearing women's clothing
Transexual is a person that undergoes surgery and hormonal treatment to
imitate the opposite gender;
i.e., a male that gets hormones to grow breasts and at least has his
"naughty bits" removed.
I'm no expert on these matters, but spent enough time in Los Angeles to read
stories in The Los Angeles Times to pick this up.
Thanks for the explanation. That's some freaky stuff.