Solutions in search of problems, especially the bathroom controversy.
Adult females mostly know how to protect themselves from any advance.
Young children (male and female) should be accompanied by responsible adults in public bathrooms.
Tweens (male and female) learn what to do when approached by a stranger anywhere.
Common sense.
Transgender isn't the same as homosexual.
A transgender person begins to self-identify as being of the opposite sex of which he or she was identified at birth and nurtured socially (clothed, etc.). It is a difficult place to be in once that feeling begins to manifest itself.
It has a medical term, "gender dysmorphia."
That person may begin to show preference for opposite sex clothing, activities, sports, career choices, mannerisms, early on or later. Parents begin to fear their son or daughter may be gay. Classmates may see the person as freakish, not accepted in peer groups.
As one with gender dysmorphia matures, he or she may cross-dress, and may find work cross-dressing in order to find acceptance in a group (and income) if their mannerisms result in their being socially outcast, being labeled freak, pervert, gay, etc., have difficulty getting education and employment. Parents may reject them.
If one with gender dysmorphia is good at sports in school, e.g. soccer, football, tennis, swimming, you name it, they may excel and maintain some self-esteem as a result, all the while suffering inside with the feeling that they "aren't right". Societal pressures can be crushing; bullying is devastating; suicides occur.
Decades ago (and now), parents may become fearful when their little boy shows a preference for dolls, feminine clothing and activities. None of this is an absolute sign that the child has "gender dysmorphia", or is homosexual. Many transgenders and lesbians and gays have said they "knew" as early as grade school. Bruce Jenner (now Caitlyn) has said he "knew" in junior or high school, but being athletic enabled him to feel relatively comfortable in boy sports groups. I haven't read or seen how marrying and fathering children figured into all this.
But a person with true gender dysmorphia wants to BE the gender they believe themselves to be. This is different from being homosexual, which is a sexual attraction to the same sex.
Some (probably many) with gender dysmorphia have been born with organs of both sexes. Example, a baby boy with well developed male genitalia may also have ovaries or a uterus or both. But those aren't outwardly visible, so the boy may (or may not) begin to self-identify as a female as puberty approaches, or sooner.
Decades ago the boy (or girl) discovered to have girl (or boy) parts would be called a "hermaphrodite." This might be discovered should the child have a surgical procedure and the "wrong" organs noted at the time, which occurred when I was an OR nurse in the early '70s. At that time, the parents would be consulted to decide whether to remove certain organs or parts and supplement the child with hormones for the rest of his/her life. In the case of a baby boy with ovaries, it seemed logical that the ovaries would be removed.
As time passed, geneticists and endocrinologists learned that self-identification as a girl or a boy occured later, and to the surprise of many, that boy may self-identify as a girl, despite having had all the girl parts removed. Oops! So now they wait until puberty or later when one's identity is more certain.
If this person is fortunate, they have parental and medical support as they develop their feelings of being in the wrong body and can make informed decisions about what to do.
Medical management to transition is a decision between doctors and the person as to when and how to start the change (and whether one has financial resources to do so, which as far as I know isn't covered by most insurance plans). In the meantime, the person has suffered social rejection, isolation, etc., even by his family, until he/she learns what the problem is, and during the long journey toward becoming what they think they should be.
And, as proven by remarks on this board, they may always be subject to stares, jokes, etc., even as they become the person they believe they are meant to be.
