Ty knew about Neil’s longing to be a woman, but he hoped his brother would get past all that.

Just before Christmas, sometime shortly after the century turned, Neil Garcia called Ty. He wanted Ty to know that he was going to Thailand to have a series of operations performed by a transgender surgeon. When he came back, he would be “Nicole.”

Ty was angry with Neil, and he begged him to think it over but Neil was adamant. He had waited all his life to be the person he felt he was, and he would not be dissuaded.

A decade later, Ty still believes that no one is actually...