LA Times: Sex Ed in the Sports Section

Photo of Kristen Fyfe.

Sports fans checking the box scores this morning got a lesson in "transsexualism" when they opened the LA Times. Mike Penner, one of the paper's sports writers, announced in his column he is taking a few weeks off. When he returns he’ll be known as Christine Daniels.

The column detailed Penner's 40-year struggle with “transsexualism.” He said that “extensive therapy and testing” show that his brain was “wired female.” He defended the “medical condition” as “widely misunderstood” and a “natural occurrence.”

Penner describeed his coming out process and said he “gave it as good a fight as I possibly could. I went more than 40 hard rounds with it. Eventually, though, you realize you are only fighting yourself and your happiness and your mental health – a no win situation any way you look at it.

“When you reach the point when one gender causes heartache and unbearable discomfort, and the other brings more joy and fulfillment that you ever imagined possible, it shouldn’t’ take two tons of brinks to fall in order to know what to do.”

He detailed the painful and reluctant coming-out process he started a few months ago and said that his friends and colleagues “almost universally have been supportive and encouraging.” He added that he is now “happier, more focused and more energized” when he writes, no longer suffering from “wicked writer’s block.” He shared his therapist’s opinion that such freedom is what comes when transsexuals “integrate.”

While no one can deny that Penner has been through some intense personal struggles, his column read like a brochure from the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD). One wonders how many young sports fans opened up the paper to find out how their favorite team did and ended up with an unexpected sex-ed lesson.


Comments Policy

All comments are owned by whoever posted them and are subject to our terms of use. They should not be assumed to represent the views of NewsBusters.

Viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.

I can't imagine what he/she h

I can't imagine what he/she has been going through...not a clue, not an inkling, but if it makes him/her feel better or complete, or whatever, well, go for it.
I can't judge the guy/gal because I can't get my mind around his/her situation.
I think they call the outcome whacked and stacked.

interesting, but irrelevant

there are certainly better examples of liberal bias in the media other than this. though interesting, i doubt that this should stir in any hives of political outrage in either democratic or conservative camps. Transgender studies is a serious field in the realm of the medical community, and not really a source of important politics at the moment. Good for her/him. We can all stand to learn about the struggles of people that we never usually encounter in real life.

Does the general public need

Does the general public need to know about his personal problems? Do sports fans need to have a trans-gender primer when they turn to the sports page?

If I were his editor, I would've thrown this back at him and said, "you're a sports writer! give me something the sports fans want."

"Yeah, right! Who's the only one here that knows illegal ninja moves from the government?!" --Napoleon Dynamite

curiosity

surely, they would have been curious when the sports writer they usually read is replaced by a nom de plume a bit more feminine. who reads the la times anyway.

First post-op article could

First post-op article could start out with: I had a sex change, I now go by Christy (or whatever name he's picked). Now, for the sports...

We don't need a big production about it. We don't need to validate his decision. It's none of our business, and it certainly doesn't belong on the sports page.

Isn't part of being a reporter supposed to be being a disinterested party? At least it used to be.

"Yeah, right! Who's the only one here that knows illegal ninja moves from the government?!" --Napoleon Dynamite

i see

lol. if you're going for the funnier more succinct route, that's the perfect segue

And donated his organ

Mike Penner, who today underwent a procedure known as a Lopitoffomee, has donated his organ to Rosie Odonnel who will undergo an Addadictumee.

Riled-- I am appalled- disgusting---

Riled-- I am appalled-  disgusting---LOL can I use it??? Really funny!!!!LMAO

PS----------

PS---------------- Is it a hand organ or a wind organ?????

Don't jump the gun

I think he went off halfcocked, but it was his decision

riled just got to read it-

riled  just got to read it- LMAO---funnneee!!!!

go for it

you bet

As an oversexed lesbian tra

As an oversexed lesbian trapped in a big man's body, I have no idea what he must be going through. I can only imagine his PMS.
No surgery for me though, but I must confess to a once a month butch looking haircut.

Don't understand the "

Don't understand the "bias" in this story or why it is relevant to Newsbusters

For Wisdom (or the lack thereof)

Relevance to NewsBusters: its publication in a major newspaper.  Besides, if this is YOUR website, you can decide what is relevant and what is not.  NB is less of a democracy than you think.

"Bias": painting something that some consider deviant behavior in a very positive light.  Personally, I could care less, but why should he air his dirty laundry in a newspaper like that? 

"HAV3 TH3 BRIDG3S OF INSANITY B33N CROSS3D AND FOR3V3R R3TRACT3D???."  - Meshuggah, "3ntrapm3nt", from Catch Thirty Thr33 (2005)

Unsane, you stepped on a Trol

Unsane, you stepped on a Troll "Landmine" :-(

"Too bad Ignorance isn't painful..."

Disarming

I'd like to think of it as a disarming of the landmine. 

"HAV3 TH3 BRIDG3S OF INSANITY B33N CROSS3D AND FOR3V3R R3TRACT3D???."  - Meshuggah, "3ntrapm3nt", from Catch Thirty Thr33 (2005)

Oh, so you get pleasure from

Oh, so you get pleasure from taking candy from the deaf, dumb and blind? I see Wisdoms' screen name and posts as an oxymoron, but that's just my humble opinion :-)

"Too bad Ignorance isn't painful..."

Sorry pal, as a member of the

Sorry pal, as a member of the "medical community" I have it on good authority that you can't change your chromosomes, add a uterus, or re-live your childhood as a little girl; subsequently experience the pains associated with becoming a woman. That is to say, a real woman not only has the extra transmission, but the mileage to  go along with it.

Therefore, you failed to do your homework Penner. Transgenderism is as fake a science as global warming alarmism. Penner and his ilk cannot seem to deal with the reality of an inborn identity that they don't want. It's sad, but it's true.  Stop spending so much time running away from yourself.

-PJ

THANK YOU tracheostomy ,  I

THANK YOU tracheostomy ,  I always knew it was  something to be rationalized as the leftist do . I couldn,t phrase it as well as ,reality of an inborn identity that they dont want. That was the best definition i could ever hear. I totaly  concur ...   These are the excuses they always come up with .Do you mind if I use that  phrase? 

I read this site every day an

I read this site every day and love the intelligence of the posters. I am not the best writer in the world , or anywhere near,but I know quality when I see it .Thank You Newsbusters.............

Zm,That's probably the nicest

Zm,

That's probably the nicest thing I've ever seen a new poster here say.

Welcome to the board.

Hey BLONDE,,,as i said ,ive b

Hey BLONDE,,,as i said ,ive been reading for over a year ,and i know quality when i see it .i LOVE watching you and others drop the trolls as well

Aye

To be honest, I thoroughly enjoy watching Blonde drop kick people... but hey, that's just me. And I have to agree with her -- you have said something incredibly nice, and it is greatly appreciated -- even though you were talking about Blonde, obviously...

hehe


"Stop global warming! Asphyxiate a liberal!" -
Show us how far you're willing to go to stop "global warming"

Zmead, be my guest. I have to

Zmead, be my guest. I have to caution you though that saying such things to a transsexual will enrage them; probably to the point of physical violence. They've heard it before, and angrily refuse to discuss that point in particular. Just warning you.

-PJ

Thanks for the heads up trach

Thanks for the heads up tracheostomy, its not for freak bashing but for my own peace of mind .I just didnt know the real reason,thank you.

If "transgenderism"

If "transgenderism" is a fake science, Does that mean Ann Coulter is still a man?

From a liability perspective,

From a liability perspective, if I were a team General Manager I would not want this person in my lockerroom and risk this obviously unstable individual misinterpreting a situation and making a public and legal issue over it with one of my players.

I take it from your "extensiv

I take it from your "extensive quote marks" that you "believe" this "man" is "imagining" his whole "condition"? I can sense your genuine "sense of concern" for all those "young sports fans" who were traumatized by this "pornographic" story.

What are the chances that this is just a stunt?

What are the chances that this is just a stunt?  With journalists' record for telling lies and concocting misrepresentations about the news, I'm inclined to believe that there's at least an outside chance that this is a big fat fake story designed to evoke a reaction.  Then he/they come back in a week or so and reveal all of the "anti-whatever" letters/comments etc and play like their hoax was for the purpose of promoting "pro-everything goes" (you know the usual liberal boilerplate ya-da-ya-da).

From my vast inexperience in

From my vast inexperience in these matters, I understood that a person undergoing a sex-change had to live a year as the gender of choice before undergoing the operation.  How is it that he can leave as a guy and come back two weeks later as a woman?

But as I said, my vast inexperience is showing.

Had to? It may be a good id

Had to? It may be a good idea to consider the idea quite carefully and over a long time, but if you've got the money right-now, there's a doc somewhere who'll do it.
JMR

Well, not really. Most docto

Well, not really. Most doctors who do Gender Reassignment Surgery abide by a set of guidelines for treatment that includes, as its final step before surgery, something called the "Real Life Test". The patient must commit to living 12 consecutive months as the other gender. This step is in the guidelines because many of the effects of preparation for Gender Reassignment Surgery are irreversable and can cause serious health issues (i.e., hormonal treatments, especially estrogen/progesteron, which can cause life-threatening blood clots and cancer). So, this reporter couldn't write as Mike and be Christine (IIRC, this is actually covered in the guidelines) or he wouldn't meet the requirements of the Real Life Tests.

Yeah, there are doctors who will let you skip the RLT, but if I were in this situation, I don't think I'd want a doctor with that kind of lack of ethics treating me.

Yes, but that's you. Assumi

Yes, but that's you. Assuming unlimited money and the almost-unlimited nuttiness it would take to want to cut off something THAT important, I'd guess a nut could find the right "Lorena Bobbitt surgeon" without too much trouble... And docs can be pretty crazy, too. Here in central FL, one made the news by getting dressed-up as a pretty-realistic Captain America, getting himself stinking drunk, stuffing a burrito into his tights, and molesting women with lewd references to the burrito. Sadly, I wasn't a witness, except for the booking video on TV.
JMR

What about a foreign GRS surg

What about a foreign GRS surgeon? Do they follow guidelines, or do they do the surgery upon full payment? I'm sure Mike/Christine's lawyers are fully involved in this, so he's probably set up any necessary contingencies for this choice of his.

And who says he hasn't been living as a woman for the past year, but retaining his name for his column only?

Either way, I still don't think we need to know about it and we especially don't need to read about this kind of crap on the sports page.

"Yeah, right! Who's the only one here that knows illegal ninja moves from the government?!" --Napoleon Dynamite