Many parents do not realize the danger their children can face when transphobia and homophobia guide the policies of local government. All children explore gender to some extent; it is a natural part of our social development to start recognizing and piecing together socially defined gendered habits, from which emerges a gender identity. This gender exploration is not dangerous, but many adults enforce gender roles based on birth sex while attacking any non-cisgender presentations.
I had first-hand experience with this through a parent who volunteered for schoolyard duty. In the first grade, I would wear my sweatshirt around my waist like a skirt to curtsy. One day, the yard duty person grabbed my arm and pulled me behind a building. She looked furious as she twisted my arm and spat in my face while scolding me, “What you were doing was sexual and perverted. If I ever see you doing that again, I will tell your parents!"
Later, while expressing discomfort with how my peers enforced gender roles, a counselor asked if I had any sexual feelings. Fearing additional violence and sexualization, I stopped examining my gender dysphoria till adulthood. This all happened without the knowledge of my parents, who only learned what happened when I eventually came out as transgender.
Please select this link to read the complete article from Psychology Today.