Los Angeles Times sports columnist Mike Penner is about to go on the biggest hiatus of his life. Its not so much where hes going thats a big deal, but who is coming back.

Today I leave for a few weeks' vacation, and when I return, I will come back in yet another incarnation.

As Christine.

I am a transsexual sportswriter. 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. I realize many readers and colleagues and friends will be shocked to read them.

That's OK. I understand that I am not the only one in transition as I move from Mike to Christine. Everyone who knows me and my work will be transitioning as well. That will take time. And that's all right. To borrow a piece of well-worn sports parlance, we will take it one day at a time.

Penner believes that his brain was always wired as female and that tests have proved this. He is, of course, in a worldsportswhich has a very poor record when it comes to any sort of sexuality that isnt as hetero as possible. Just a few months ago, John Amaechi became the first NBA player to come out of the closet, and his story was alternately greeted with apathy or, in some cases, outright hostility. Fortunately, for Penner, his coworkers seem to take it all in stride.

When I told my boss Randy Harvey, he leaned back in his chair, looked through his office window to scan the newsroom and mused, "Well, no one can ever say we don't have diversity on this staff."

When I told Robert, the soccer-loving lad from Wales who cuts my hair, why I wanted to start growing my hair out, he had to take a seat, blink hard a few times and ask, "Does this mean you don't like football anymore, Mike?"

No, I had to assure him, I still love soccer. I will continue to watch it. I hope to continue to coach it.

Hopefully, hell get the same sort of reaction that he did as Mike when he returns as Christine.

Margot_Dent

Los Angeles, CA

February 2004

APR 26, 2007 08:09 PM

aww, good for her.

st_even

Milwaukee, WI

September 2006

APR 26, 2007 08:14 PM

I realize I am a terrible person for finding Margot_Dent's comment funny.

xfinitex

East Lansing, MI

August 2005

APR 26, 2007 08:15 PM

Indeed. Good for her. Kind of an amazing thing to do, and I can only imagine how hard it is.

PRockGirlScout

Portland, OR

October 2005

APR 26, 2007 08:26 PM

I'm glad to hear some employers aren't assholes.

Alz

Lincoln, NE

February 2007

APR 26, 2007 08:41 PM

I'm waiting for the day when something like this is no longer a big enough deal to be considered news.

Signon

Austin, TX

June 2005

APR 26, 2007 08:58 PM

Alz said:
I'm waiting for the day when something like this is no longer a big enough deal to be considered news.

What she said.

DevilsReject

Cleveland, OH

February 2007

APR 26, 2007 09:07 PM

Alz said:
I'm waiting for the day when something like this is no longer a big enough deal to be considered news.

it's kind of already like that to me. I read something like this in the newspaper, raise my eyebrows a bit and think there has to be something a tad more newsworthy to print.

Good for this person, i am glad what they are doing what they want.

sixtyfootqueenie

Australia

January 2004

APR 26, 2007 09:44 PM

wow.. good luck!

dragonflower

Austin, TX

January 2007

APR 26, 2007 11:21 PM

that's cool. maybe things are getting an eensy bit better?
i just hope people don't really think it's done by cutting it off.

jrave

Italy

January 2004

APR 26, 2007 11:32 PM

i think it's really funny that the tags for this story are "sports" & "transsexual". there's two tags that are rarely applied to the same story.

ckdexterhaven

USA

December 2005

APR 26, 2007 11:50 PM

took a lot of guts to come out on such a large stage.

diggity

Carrboro, NC

March 2003

APR 27, 2007 09:21 AM

jrave said:
i think it's really funny that the tags for this story are "sports" & "transsexual". there's two tags that are rarely applied to the same story.

True. But Renée Richards's story is of note. link

RileyStClair

Los Angeles, CA

September 2006

APR 27, 2007 10:40 AM

jrave said:
i think it's really funny that the tags for this story are "sports" & "transsexual". there's two tags that are rarely applied to the same story.

and i think that's really what makes it considered newsworthy.

anyway, good for her.
i too long for the day that no one bats an eye over this stuff, but it's a slow process, folks. i'm just glad that the colleagues here seem tolerant.

Evanx

Grand Rapids, MI

June 2003

APR 27, 2007 03:22 PM

He stole this idea from Ryan Murphy & Brad Pitt.

... Murphy will prep his next FX pilot creation, "4 oz.," a drama he will exec produce with Brad Pitt and Dede Gardner.

Murphy, who sold the series to FX topper Landgraf last fall (Daily Variety, Sept. 27), conceived "4 oz." to be a multiseason chronicle of the metamorphosis of a married sportswriter who decides to get a sex change and the toll it takes on his gender-conflicted teenage sons. Murphy will direct the pilot in the summer.

BOARDS:

TOPICS:

New York, NY

November 2004

APR 26, 2007 03:41 PM

Los Angeles, CA

February 2004

APR 26, 2007 08:09 PM

st_even

Milwaukee, WI

September 2006

APR 26, 2007 08:14 PM

East Lansing, MI

August 2005

APR 26, 2007 08:15 PM

Portland, OR

October 2005

APR 26, 2007 08:26 PM

Lincoln, NE

February 2007

APR 26, 2007 08:41 PM

Austin, TX

June 2005

APR 26, 2007 08:58 PM

DevilsReject

Cleveland, OH

February 2007

APR 26, 2007 09:07 PM

Australia

January 2004

APR 26, 2007 09:44 PM

Austin, TX

January 2007

APR 26, 2007 11:21 PM

Italy

January 2004

APR 26, 2007 11:32 PM

USA

December 2005

APR 26, 2007 11:50 PM

Carrboro, NC

March 2003

APR 27, 2007 09:21 AM

Los Angeles, CA

September 2006

APR 27, 2007 10:40 AM

Grand Rapids, MI

June 2003

APR 27, 2007 03:22 PM