THERE BUT FOR THE GRACE OF GOD GO I?:  The case of the 7-year-old boy whose mother says he is a transgender girl is really frightening.  If the mother has her way, her son will be given puberty blockers when he turns eight and later estrogen hormones.

Lots of children “identify” as the opposite sex or at least like to imagine what it would be like to be the opposite sex.  Most grow out of it.  When I was this child’s age,  I wanted to be a boy. And not just any boy.  I wanted to be Illya Kuryakin on The Man from U.N.C.L.E.  I carried a cool toy gun and insisted that everyone call me Illya.  Fortunately, it was the 1960s, so nobody tried to give me testosterone (though in fairness to my mother and father, even if it had been today, I am confident that they would not have been susceptible to this particular fashion).

My transgender phase tomboy phase ended when NBC aired The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.  Stefanie Powers had a cool gun too … plus a more extensive wardrobe.