In the U.S., it seems like being the parent of a transgender child / child with gender dysphoria is rather in vogue. Among my female friends I specifically see this... I feel like these parents are desperate to show their approval and acceptance of this one specific element - almost in lieu of having a healthy or nurturing response the more usual, garden variety dysfunctions or failures that their children may have. It is a very trendy thing, to be that mom who has a child who identifies as a different gender - to the point that it romanticizes having a condition that is associated with potentially lifelong suffering (post sex change individuals have 20x the suicide rate of the rest of the population... this is after they are reassigned to their desired gender). At times it feels like parents are using their children as a proxy to derive gratification and attention from their peers... their own moment to be the "good guy", when the situation should really be about the good of the child... I think once the sensationalism of GD dies down a bit, it's more likely that people with it will be helped in a real, meaningful way.
Their extremely high suicide rate even after transition might be the result of a lack of acceptance by their peers and by society and/or the result of some of them still experiencing some gender dysphoria even after they transition. After all, there is only so much that things such as facial feminization surgery can do. This surgery could be enough for some people to pass as their desired gender, but not for everyone.
I do wonder if the suicide rates for trans men who transitioned are anywhere near as high. After all, I get the impression that it's easier for trans men to pass. Of course, they might also complain about inadequate plumbing even if/after they got bottom surgery.
The criteria for GD also includes being uncomfortable with the roles assigned to their gender - which almost signifies a sociological pressure or expectation for genders that may be ultimately too restrictive or unfulfilling (lacking meaning) for individuals. When taken into account with the higher ratio of males looking to transition to females, it makes it seem like there may be some underpinning in society that is causing men to want to evade the narrowness of accepted gendered behavior. (<--- Just my own American crackpot theory

).
Honestly, I think that someone who is gender non-conforming but not transgender isn't going to be able to permanently live as the other sex. I suspect that they'll feel compelled to transition back to what they previously were at some future point in time. For instance, there is the male model Van Burnham (Google him). He transitioned to female and lived as a woman for four years but then felt that living exclusively as a woman wasn't quite right and thus resumed living as an androgynous male (albeit as a male who previously fot facial feminization surgery done).
As far as looking at the potential for racial dysphoria... I would apply a similar American crackpot theory there as well - specifically that society has expectations of one race that is not extended to another and that individuals wanting to identify with a different race are somehow not comfortable/distressed at the prohibitions/freedoms put on their own race versus another.
Yeah, that's certainly possible. Of course, one could also genuinely believe that some races or ethnic groups are prettier than others. For instance, I'm of Slavic and Jewish descent but wish that I was Anglo-Saxon (and also much less fat and hairy, but that's neither here nor there

).