Like My african friend said, manga are not :
You would rather be afro samourai (which is not complex but whose ethnicity is just a visual motive that fed back from hip hop influence who stole asian myth, like wu tang clan and the like) than that, it's a simple fantasy. Also Nadia.
If you are a transgender, ranma 1/2 provide a relatively safe fantasy too, the main character is taking confidently advantage of his "curse" and do not seem particularly affected by it, the drama isn't on the gender swapping but on the identity swapping relative to perception of other, which further deemphasis with different type of transformation which take away from the gender as a problem. It's also shown to be more like a super power than a bad things.
There is plenty effeminate boy which are taken seriously or are strong powerful character that are taken seriously by everyone whithout being mocked (shun in saint seya).
Romance happen regardless of sex, implied (card captor sakura) or not (utena, sailor moon).
Girly women can be strong and leading without being male swap (anything clamp). You still have the male swap (versaille no bara) and everything in between (sailor in sailor moon). When male intervene they do not stole the show (tuxedo in sailor moon).
It's never about tasty, it's all about the pallet. And they succeed at making that acceptable to the many and normal to the straight. Manga is fantasy to anyone.