Yeah, it's quite Ironic that Iran is incredibly transgender friendly, at the expense of homosexuals.
Are they really, or do they lump anything with the word "trans" in it into the "needs physical sexual reassignment" camp? I'm honestly curious how their treatment of transsexuals compares to that of the transgendered, intersexed, or any other non-heteronormative people... especially considering their treatment of homosexuality and women.
O there's lots of lumping going on. It's bad. If you're anything but truly transgender and get lumped in there, then you're screwed. However, if you are actually transgender, then you're relatively ok.
Granted, again, they treat women like crap, but at least you're now the same as any other woman in their eyes. That is you will be treated like crap, but no more so than any other girl. The real benefit is, strangely enough, family acceptance as a daughter. This is because the religious figures tell your family that you're not gay (which they hate) and are instead trans, which is somehow ok according to the supreme leader. Moreover, the government pays for everything.
You have to remember, it is a total theocracy over there. Even the president really doesn't have any authority until and unless it comes from the Supreme Leader, Khomeini, who is the head cleric. Khomeini has the last word on everything. Khomeini found he couldn't ignore the problem of children being born intersexed when he saw them with his own eyes and basically saw an opportunity to deal with his hatred of every other non heterosexual out there. Thus, Khomeini says it in Iran and that's it. He says transsexuals are ok, so they are. Are you gonna go against the guy they call Supreme Leader? Exactly.
I don't really like this idea and wouldn't like gaining from other people's suffering.