Well, in Iran and South Asia, gender correction is supported due to homophobia (if I am sexually attracted to a man, maybe I should become a woman instead).

Hijras/Transgender are still relegated to an inferior status and it is still treated as a "mental illness" in Iran legally speaking.

But, then again, if you are a closeted gay man in a very traditionalist household in a conservative town and from a lower class background, you could either remain closeted your whole life, openly come out and get lynched, or choose to transition and then "only" get shunned and stigmatized.

You're right; there are a lot of places where gay men transition purely because they could be killed for being gay, but transitioning is an easy out to be with the man that they love without dying for it (because heterosexual relations are legal and transitioning is legal, but being gay is not).