Sports columnist: 'I am a transsexual'

[oberliner]

Source: Yahoo News

LOS ANGELES - A veteran sports writer for the Los Angeles Times said in his column Thursday that he is a transsexual.

Mike Penner told readers of his struggle to embrace his gender, and said when he returns from vacation in a few weeks he will be known as Christine Daniels. He did not say whether he was having surgery or why he's changing his last name.

"I am a transsexual sports writer," Penner wrote. "It has taken more than 40 years, a million tears and hundreds of hours of soul-wrenching therapy for me to work up the courage to type those words."

The 49-year-old Penner said his brain has been "wired female" and he's tried to fight off the urge to change sexes. He called writing a story about his sexuality the "most frightening of all the towering mountains of fear I somehow had to confront and struggle to scale."

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070426/ap_on_re_us/transsexual_sports_writer;_ylt=Ao6T0yZxv8ghYh8u9EMxE.ys0NUE

[Blue_Tires]

1. it will be interesting to see how the athletes he covers accept this

[yardwork]

3. The athletes she covers. She is a woman.

[Name removed]

6. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[yardwork]

7. Educate yourself about transgendered people.

You know how to use the internet. Google transgender. They are born in the wrong body. She is a woman.

[FiddlersGreen]

10. in a cultural sense

Assuming post-operation here...

I understand the arguments of mental self, the cultural impact of patriarchy, preferences and ease to identify them as their post-op gender. I am also a firm believer that people can call themselves what they want.

However, in an apolitical, acultural sense, between male, female, and sexual organ cosmetically modified to resemble the other sex, the last one is most accurate.

Ultimately, the distinction between male and female on Earth is the production of repoduction tissue. Females produce ovum. Even species that do undergo sex changes start producing the new reproductive cells.

[LeftyMom]

24. You are still confusing sex and gender.

Nature doesn't always link the two.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

8. She is a woman.

The proper English way to address transsexuals is with the gender they identify with.

[LeftyMom]

9. You don't get to decide that.

She does and she did, and the rest of the world can deal with it or not. Gender is how she sees herself, and it's not always linked to sex, which isn't always clear cut anyhow.

[Blue_Tires]

17. my bad...

fwiw, the sportswriter was also referred to as "he" in the story

[yardwork]

2. Good for her! Here's to you, Christine Daniels!

[angstlessk]

4. How sad for people like this that there is not universal acceptance

for them to live the lives THEY wish..instead of imposing some sort of 'I would never want to do that so you are wierd' view of the world. :grr: and good for her!

[IndianaGreen]

13. Even within the LGBT community there is no universal acceptance

This is not unusual. Lesbians into bondage have to keep to themselves for fear of being ostracized by other lesbians.

There are closets within the closet!

[AndyA]

5. You go, girl!

Be yourself. Only you know who you truly are.

Be happy, life is too short, and you have to make up for lost time!

[DKRC]

11. Good for her! nt

[Stuckinthebush]

12. That is the ultimate in courage

Good for her!

[WindRavenX]

14. I wish her good luck

:thumbsup:

[undergroundpanther]

15. Good for her!

I hope the more regressed sports fans can deal with her changes and grow up about it.Good luck Christine may contentment be found in both your body and soul at long last!

[aaronbees]

16. Good for her ...

That takes some serious guts and integrity, particularly in the sports writing news department, I think. I wish this writer well.

[hang a left]

18. A very brave human being.

She must have been tormented for a very long time. Seems to me she is ready for the world to accept or reject her, which may signal she has reached some type of peace inside.

I don't imagine she will be embraced by the sports world, unfortunately. Hopefully she is strong, and talented enough to be able and willing to move on. I hope she has a strong support system.

[DarkTirade]

19. Is it really THAT hard for people to use the right (&*%ing pronoun?

Seriously. Every time I see a news article about someone coming out as a transsexual, they use the wrong pronoun. Consistantly. EVERY SINGLE TIME.

[Maraya1969]

20. I wish her all the best. This is one of the most cruel birth defects ever.

And to think some religious folk want to label it an "abomination". Such ignorance.

[shenmue]

21. Wow

That is pretty brave.

[Singular73]

22. I respect that decision.

And thats a decision everyone makes for themselves, but I Reserve the Right for it to give me the willies.

[yardwork]

25. It's too bad that you feel compelled to share that personal weakness on your part.

Do you go around saying that African Americans give you the willies? Do Jewish people give you the willies, and do you say so? For some reason I am guessing that you are male. How would you feel if I said that "men give me the willies."

You'd probably :eyes: which would be the appropriate response to comments like this.

[Forkboy]

28. Well,men got the willies to give.

:evilgrin:

[Solly Mack]

23. Best wishes for a happier life for her

and how can they not be happier? She will be whole.

[maddezmom]

26. Very Brave

wish her the best :)

[Lisa]

27. does anybody recall the story of the transsexual scientist, a few years ago?

I think she overheard a conversation between people who did not know her background, who were dissing articles which she had written as a woman ... comparing them unfavorably to ones by the person with the similar name, whom they assumed was a spouse or male relative!

Best wishes to Ms. Daniels -- I'm sure that her loyal readers will continue to support her.

[Forkboy]

29. Very courageous.