Jackie Reese, a Houston-area psychotherapist with a transgender child in graduate school, experienced mixed feelings after hearing the Obama administration's directive last week that public schools allow transgender students to use restrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity.

On one hand, she was thrilled to hear the issue discussed on a national stage. On the other, she worries about what consequences it might have for transgender children in classrooms, playgrounds and, of course, bathrooms.

"I want the schools to be prepared for it," Reese said. "They should have plans in place to deal with bullying, to deal with any nonsense in the bathroom, to keep those places safe."

As Houstonians consider the implications of the federal guidelines, their reactions range from support and acceptance for transgender rights to outrage over the government's decision. Some say they reflected what many schools already did, while others hold misgivings about the standards they set and voice concerns about student safety.

Alison Schmieder, president of the Parent Teacher Association at Harvard Elementary School in the Heights, said forcing students to use a bathroom they do not identify with creates more problems than allowing everyone to use the bathroom they feel comfortable with.

"It's sad that a directive has to come from the federal government to stop hate," Schmieder said. "We are teaching tolerance, and this fits in with that."

For the most part, Schmieder does not plan to spend a lot of time explaining the issue to her daughters, 6-year-old Elise and 8-year-old Hannah. She compared it to helping them understand same-sex couples: She would tell them sometimes a classmate may have two dads or two moms. When the girls grow older, Schmieder said she will elaborate as needed.

"The world is a complicated place, and it's changing, and we need to teach our kids to accept and change with it," she said.

Little change for schools

Not everyone agrees. "It makes me sad for the children because I think it really confuses them about what's right and wrong," said Bob McElroy, who lives near downtown Katy and has five children who are home-schooled. "It potentially puts them in situations young children shouldn't have to be in. For me, your sexuality is not something you get to choose. It's given to you by God. We seem to be concerned with only one set of rights. We're not concerned about the rights of the children who aren't confused by their sexual identity."

Katy resident Kathy Self, 74, who worked at Spring Branch ISD for 26 years as a principal's assistant, said transgender students should have their own bathrooms.

"I worked with high school kids. I know how those boys' minds work. They can come in (bathrooms) and say, 'I'm transgender,' just to get their butts in the restrooms with the girls. It will happen," Self said.

How schools ultimately manage mixed expectations from parents and students is far from clear.

Clinical psychologist Robert McLaughlin said he doesn't believe the presidential mandate would create any significant change, as schools have always been obliged to treat kids with respect and equanimity.

McLaughlin, a Baylor College of Medicine faculty member who helped to found the local advocacy group Gender Infinity, works with families of transgender children.

He has helped them to talk with teachers and peers about how a transgender or gender-questioning child should be treated. In most cases, McLaughlin has seen schools do a "reasonably good job making suitable accommodations," he said.

Negative comments voiced by some in response to the news Friday seemed to McLaughlin a "broad, general response to the idea," rather than reflective of communities that have had to grapple with directly with the issue of how to treat a transgender student. The naysayers responded to a "highly politicized" version of the issue, he said, rather than considering it as the personal, private topic that it is.

"There will be communities that are very negative and hostile and will react poorly to a specific case, but I have a sense that at this point it is more of a knee-jerk reaction," McLaughlin said.

Changes in design

Having parents come forward to say their kids are transgender is rare, though more are beginning to feel comfortable doing so, he continued.

"Many of those schools will probably step up and, for the most part, do the right thing anyway when the time comes," McLaughlin said, adding, "It wouldn't surprise me to learn that they would manage it in a reasonably respectful way, out of their obligation to kids and the general tendency of school people to do right by children."

Reese pointed to how bathrooms are designed in some college dormitories as a smart way to offer more privacy to everyone.

Her son received his undergraduate degree at a university that had gender-inclusive dorms where the bathrooms were open to men and women. The walls and doors around the toilets went from the floor to the ceiling.

"There was no way to peek over or peek through," Reese sad.

The showers also were essentially separate rooms with space to change.

One family in Conroe ISD was overjoyed by the news. What discouraged them was the reaction of others.

Their 11-year-old son is transgender. The family does not wish to be identified to protect their privacy. Reading and watching the people comment about President Barack Obama's directive was disturbing. The boy's mother felt wounded. Her gut feeling about all the negativity was to get away from it.

"Maybe I don't want to stay in this state anymore," she said.

The opposition to the letter sent to schools was in stark contrast to their experience so far.

Their child began transitioning to a male identity when he was 9. The school district, the kids in his class and the rest of the community have always been accepting and accommodating. There was no teasing when his name changed. The district has him use the nurse's bathroom as an accommodation. When he's in public, he goes with his father into the men's room. If he's with his mother, he goes with her.

'Normalize' the issue

Despite her initial impulse to run away, the mother knows they are fortunate to have such a supportive community. She acknowledges society's perception of transgender individuals is changing rapidly.

"It's a topic of discussion now," she said. "I think things will get much better very soon for him."

Reese said people should work to "normalize" the issue.

Parents should explain to their children that they should not be afraid of or feel hatred toward their transgender peers, and that "what's in their brain doesn't match what was given to them body-wise," Reese said.

She said many children already do understand.

"Kiddos are way ahead of the game," she said. "They just look at it as, 'This is my friend. He's a boy. He got the wrong body when he was born.' "

Sebastian Herrera and Emily Foxhall contributed to this report.