>>>I guess this explains why his mother raised him as girl until he was 12.>>>
He wasn't 'raised' as a girl, he said he was 'treated like a girl'.
He wasn't with his mother after the age of 6 or so. She died when he was 12.
And while corresponding with Michael Tracey - the University of Colorado professor whose e-mails led investigators to track him down in Thailand - Karr wrote that his mother "tended to raise [him] as a girl."
http://www.nypost.com/news/nationalnews/from_cradle_to_the_grave_nationalnews_philip_recchia.htm
I HAVE READ THIS MORE THAN TWICE NOW, from several sources.
He (Karr) used the word "raise" - so I am using the word raised.
Karr is a transgender - FOX reported that the Dr. at the clinic said Karr came in due to his current transgender status.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transgender
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http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/opinion/story/0,22049,20190570-5001031,00.html (the same story has been in coming US sources also)
At one point Tracey wrote: "You told me once that your mother tended to raise you as a girl. This must have had a powerful effect on your developing sexuality."
"I will not discuss my sexuality as if it is a psychological disorder," Karr responded. "On the other hand, if you would like to learn something about my sexuality on an intellectual . . . way, I would love to share. It would help you understand a lot about my connection with JonBenet."
Karr said his father was a "strong influence but rarely around" and responded to Tracey's question about whether his "fascination with little girls – which clearly has a strong erotic component – is a way of going back".
"Maybe I am not going back but have simply stayed consistent," Karr wrote. "My peer group has not changed since I was a boy and girls were the people I was with always."
Karr also said he was "tortured" by his situation, which he did not disclose. And at one point he referred to the movie Finding Neverland, about Peter Pan author J.M. Barrie.
"I can relate very well to children," he wrote. "I think you are asking if I am much a Peter Pan. In many ways, the answer is yes.
"In other ways, I suppose it is no because I am trapped in a world that does not understand."