Dave or Diane -- being different no reason for guilt
BY MARK BROWN SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST


Each time I talk to Diane Schroer it gets a little bit easier to accept what's happened to my old roommate Dave, a little less worrisome about whether I've slipped up and used the wrong name or called her "man" as in "thanks, man" or "hey, man." That's not to say it didn't come as a shock at first or that it still doesn't have its awkward moments or that I don't think there's anything unusual about a man becoming a woman.

But she's convinced me it's the right thing for her, and that has helped make me aware that this is one of those areas of human experience about which I had previously chosen to remain willfully ignorant.