Let's say it was your standard brick n mortar retail store. This employee would have to face customers.
Let's say the applicant is good, well qualified and apparently reliable.

As a manager/boss, you ultimately have the final say. Let's say this transgender was a... very "obvious" transgender.
You have to balance both sides, morality/ethics vs customer experience. 

Let us respect people's opinions, and just because someone says no, let us not assume they are transphobic or phobic-anything. 
For example, there are some roles which favour females (e.g. receptionists) and it doesn't mean the manager is misandrist, just that the manager wants a female facing their clientel. 

Me? I probably wouldn't, at least not in a job where you face customers daily. We've all been in that situation where we are with someone random, and the only thought in our head is "is that a boy or girl? :o"
That's not really the reaction you want consumers to have. When you see a transgender, you often think immediately "this is a trans-person" even if you completely are accepting of their lifestyle. It's just that thought though and you feel like they would be more of a liability, even if they are completely hard working.

Your answer? be brutally honest and I do not mind if you tell me I am wrong.

As long as they are good and qualified and get the job done, I wouldn't mind if they were transgender. I've seen a few obvious transgender employees around and I haven't seen anyone giving them problems. Last week I even got a haircut from an obvious transgender.

I'd hire them, and keep track of the numbers. If their sales are less than other workers, whether their transness is the cause or not, then I'd fire them.

Honestly, i don't know enough about running a store to know what I would do.

If the store is a part of a big company (as I think you mean), then the answer is probably yes (unless my superiors told me otherwise), because even if I thought it was going to be problem, I wouldn't want to risk a lawsuit.

If you're talking about a store completely owned by me, I probably still would because of ethical reasons (as I believe strongly in equal opportunity), but if the consequences would be such that I'd be losing a lot of customers, my resolve would probably dwindle.

If they show all the qualities of a respectful, hard-working, presentable, and kind person, then yes by all means. It's not a question of "would you hire a purple alien" for me. I would have guidelines to follow that have everything to do with the capability and nothing to do with the gender. (But good point about the presentablilty part). Then again, there are industries that call for a certain type of individual. For instance, I'm not so sure Hooters would hire a transgender individual.

If you're talking a small business then I think location would factor into my decision. For example, I probably would not hire an obviously transgender person for a service position in a rural or small-town community, especially if it's a poor community. Not only because sales probably would suffer but because I'd be afraid of violence, both to the business and to the person themselves.

I know that doesn't sound very brave but usually when you own a small business, everything you have is invested into it and you do what you need to do in order to protect it.

Now, with a more metropolitan area, and if that person really was the best candidate, the odds would definitely improve. Still, a lot would depend on mood of the area.

Ironically I would say refusing to hire a transgender based on those points is kind of lumping you into the same group in a way. Choosing to not give them a chance shows that you don't...... believe in them? Maybe it shows the community member that you share their views? It's very arguable either way but to refuse hire of somebody based upon gender just seems like a kick in the teeth every time.It definitely does not put you on the same level of the discriminators but I would argue that it is still mild discrimination.

If I were the boss, as long as someone has proven themself to be responsible with doing their job, I don't care about any of that stuff, whether they're transgender, gay, non-religious, whatever.

Absolutely. I've experienced enough in my short time on this earth to know that judging someone in that way is simply wrong.

I would treat them as I treat any other worker. So, as long as they are qualified for the position, they have the job. Even if I lose customers as a result, I would refuse to fire them for that. A line has to be drawn when it comes to human decency.

Being in a Jewish country with a lot of other religious minorities, I don't think anybody would be pleased of a TG worker.