25% of transgender students were physically attacked for being transgender. One in six left school because of mistreatment and one in twelve were kicked out of the house. Jumping from those facts to the conclusion that they are just doing it to feel "valued" is bizarre. You might just as well say they're in it for the money, since they are three times more likely to be unemployed and twice as likely to be in poverty. https://transequality.org/sites/default/files/docs/usts/USTS...

Lots more detail at http://www.ustranssurvey.org/reports if you're actually interested.