"Like I said, this was no great surprise to me I mean, it was obvious what was happening. The sixty-four dollar question came next. 'What do I do?' I asked the learned doctors. Well, when you ask a doctor what to do and he's stumped, he hedges - and I was sent to one of the staff psychiatrists. In the meantime, I went back to classes, but on recom- mendation of the doctors and the dean, my program was changed. Which probably made the coach happy. I even had to change rooming houses. So for the next several months, the psychiatrist asked me dirty questions -- not really, but honestly, some of them were really stupid. I began to anticipate him most of the time and I'll bet I gave him a lot to think about. Maybe I fooled him; maybe not — it doesn't matter because he made his recommendation to my doctor and I went back to the conference room and they told me I would probably be happier living as a girl, but that I needed further treatment, etc., before I could hope er, marry and that sort of thing.

to

“Like I said, none of this surprised me too much, but once I got the official word, well, things changed a lot. Mentally, that is, because I was more or less committed now to a certain course instead of being in limbo. It was exciting in a way thinking about it and I felt more re- laxed than I could ever remember. Unfortunately there remained one great problem --and the fact that school was ending for the year brought it even closer: my parents.

"I mentioned this to my doctor and he said he would be only too glad, under the circumstances to help in any way he could. And so, he called them. I don't know what he said, or what they said, but when I got home finally, the atmosphere was pretty thick. Well, I decided to just let it lie until something happened. Several things did all at once. I and nobody

had come home sporting about six months worth of hair said anything much, although my Dad made some remark. Then, about two weeks later, I decided to make the point clear and I came home one day wearing a blouse with a brassiere underneath it - which I really needed by that time. When I got home, my grades had arrived from school and well, with all the time out and everything, I hadn't set the world on fire. And the old man came home soused to the gills. And he called me every name he could think of, and he beat the hell out of me, and I called it quits. I just walked out, with nothing to my name but the clothes on my back and a few dollars.

"I never went home after that. I hitch-hiked back to the University -and that's something else too, let me tell you. I very nearly got raped twice and got thrown out of one car completely and finally staggered

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