Sportswriting Requires No Specific Genitalia

If you're a reader of the LA Times sports section, you might be familiar with the work of Mike Penner. He's covered almost every sport for the paper, and after a vacation, he's going to continue to do so ... but after the vacation, he'll be a she.

I'll let him explain.

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.

Well, there's a story to start your day (and thanks to Sports by Brooks for the link).

Among readers here, there's going to be a very wide variety of opinions and theories on transexuals, and that's to be expected There are, however, two concrete facts you should keep in mind, too.

1. No matter how weird or gross or insane you think it is, Mike Penner/Christine Daniels has gone through, and will continue to go through, something more difficult than most people will ever experience.

2. Through it, Mike Penner/Christine Daniels will retain the exact same writing ability and knowledge of sports.

Number two is the more important one. Our relationship with Mike/Christine is that of writer/reader ... and other than the name in the byline, the dynamics of that relationship don't change here. If you thought he was a hack yesterday, she'll be a hack a month from now. If you enjoyed his work yesterday, you can enjoy his work a month from now. Best of luck to her.

(Note: I had no idea what kind of picture to run with this story ... so that's Squatch playing the drums. Why? Because I like Squatch, that's why.)