The Sexes: Girlish Boys

Paul is a nine-year-old pariah. Schoolmates taunt him, and even his own family has begun to reject him. His offense: he insists on dressing up in his mother's clothes and playing dolls with his sister rather than joining his brother in outdoor games. His lot is not a happy one, but it is common enough among the patients at a unique psychiatric clinic at U.C.L.A., the Gender Identity Research Treatment Program.

Begun in 1967 by Psychiatrist Richard Green, 37, to study homosexuality, the program's current enrollment includes 50 boys between the ages of...