Opinion | Transgender Childhood Is Not a ‘Trend’ - The New York Times

... This girl, whom I call Val in the book I wrote on the history of transgender children, socially transitioned, went to school and participated in extracurricular activities over 80 years ago. And she was hardly alone. In my research, I found stories of other transgender children like Val who were able to transition and go to school despite living in times when their identities weren't commonly acknowledged. They were not forced into transitioning by adults. And they were certainly not transitioning because it was trendy or socially popular...

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/05/opinion/transgender-children.html