Mike Penner/Christine Daniels: A Sad End

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Mike Penner/Christine Daniels: A Sad End - 3/29/2010 5:18:01 PM

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In late April 2007, Mike Penner published an article unlike any of the thousands he had written for the Los Angeles Times. It was brief, just 823 words, and placed without fanfare on the second page of the Sports section that had been his home for 23 years.

Under the headline "Old Mike, new Christine," Penner explained that he would soon assume a female identity and byline, a decision that followed "a million tears and hundreds of hours of soul-wrenching therapy."

It was "heartache and unbearable discomfort" to remain a man, he explained. Being a woman promised "joy and fulfillment." The article ended on a hopeful note: "This could be the beginning of a beautiful relationship."

Gone was quiet, circumspect Mike Penner, replaced by ebullient, outgoing -- and instantly famous -- Christine Daniels. Celebrity meant a megaphone, and Daniels vowed to use it as an advocate. She told her story at transsexual conferences across the country, becoming a symbol of courage to a transgender community inspired by the most visible coming-out in decades.

A year after the essay, the Daniels byline vanished from the newspaper, and within months Penner was back at work, living as a man and writing under his male name. Once so voluble about the reasons for becoming Christine, Penner was silent about the reasons for abandoning the identity.

This time, there was no essay, no explanation. But friends saw a person in torment. Last November, in the parking garage of the apartment complex where he lived alone, Penner killed himself. He was 52.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-sportswriter27-2010mar27,0,6006529,full.story

I hadn't heard about this until stumbling across this story. It's sad that people can't find peace with what they are, what they need to be.

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RE: Mike Penner/Christine Daniels: A Sad End - 3/29/2010 6:21:21 PM

sophia37

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I Yi Yi. Bummer.

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RE: Mike Penner/Christine Daniels: A Sad End - 3/29/2010 9:41:06 PM

thornhappy

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I saw this on Real Sports (HBO), it was quite a story.

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RE: Mike Penner/Christine Daniels: A Sad End - 3/29/2010 11:44:55 PM

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Yeah it is sad. But, "Christine?"

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RE: Mike Penner/Christine Daniels: A Sad End - 3/30/2010 2:34:36 AM

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Maybe he was also a Stephen King fan?

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RE: Mike Penner/Christine Daniels: A Sad End - 3/30/2010 5:01:47 AM

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Christine after Christine Jorgensen, Pops; the first famous case and the first that didnt go entirely well in the glare of publicity.

At the risk of repeating myself yet again, I cant stress enough how difficult this situation is. In many ways its a no win where youre choosing the lesser of two evils in order to go on living, knowing at the same time that you risk everything else - and most of us do lose everything else. Those few like me who come through relatively unscathed are not typical, and suicide is the leading cause of death - taking into account the enormous losses and the social stresses its hardly any wonder perhaps. It nearly got me too, even as one of the lucky few.

This is why it sets me off like a firework when we're compared to crossdressers, and like an atom bomb when occasionally here we get a crossdresser who thinks it might be "cool" to transition.

E

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RE: Mike Penner/Christine Daniels: A Sad End - 3/30/2010 7:39:17 AM

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One of my customers is going through this. Very successful corporate attorney.....lost all of her clients when he became she. Moving out of state to attempt to find some peace and happiness. I worry about her.

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RE: Mike Penner/Christine Daniels: A Sad End - 3/30/2010 5:06:36 PM

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LadyE, thanks for filling in the blanks regarding the name.

This has to be one of the hardest things in the world for someone to do.

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RE: Mike Penner/Christine Daniels: A Sad End - 3/31/2010 12:11:07 AM

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I can only echo what LadyEllen has said, and that is a sad story but I don't think it's quite as common as some people make out. The thing is, unless someone has completed or is at an advanced stage of their transition or has made legal changes it's hard to say how many for sure conclude their attempts at transition with suicide.

I am going through a similar process myself, I'm still 'at sea' in mid-transition and working to rebuild my career in the performing arts. Apart from Poland, where I was most successful, everywhere else my change has been accepted and there are small theatres for example in Italy and Spain which have been staging my plays. I found fringe theatre in London virtually non-existent to begin with, some discrimination still exists but I have managed to put out a couple of runs and run workshops without too many problems. However I have had to start all over again which is why I have expanded into independent film making.

I can only compare transitioning in Poland to that in the UK and what I have found is that generally people in the UK are more supportive whereas in Poland it's the authorities who are more supportive and understanding. However since late last year I am working pretty much the same as before and am finding acceptance from within the industry and among actors and my main problems are no different to those experienced by other independent film directors. I am currently finishing the last stages of pre-production and after Easter go into filming working on two projects.

I have recently had to think about this as I at some point will be returning to public life and have decided to adopt a policy of discreet openness. I'm pretty much 'behind the scenes' anyway, a sort of anti-celebrity but have decided to be completely open about who I am and who I was, but without going into details unless I am convinced that it will benefit other people from sharing such information. I am Stella, end of.

Transitioning is extremely difficult, you have to make sacrifices and compromises all along the way, and unless you find yourself in a supportive environment or fortunate circumstances you have to deal with an enormous amount of pressure from other people to somehow fit in with their notions of gender stereotypes, or spend a considerable amount of time alone and isolated.

The biggest problem is that this is a medical condition which relies very heavily on self-diagnosis, and there is I feel too much emphasis placed on the superficial, cosmetic aspects of transitioning, the hormone therapy, appearance, looks, etc and not enough emphasis placed on the internal and psychological aspects of transitioning. If you have the money and time you can actually transition somewhere privately like Bangkok within a few months and there are some who are either impatient or try to take the easy way out who go down this route. Faced with the social pressure it's entirely understandable why some choose this route and there are plenty of willing gender specialists eager to assist them.

Thanks to this emphasis there are those who maybe don't need to transition who get through, together with those who either haven't been sufficiently prepared or who just weren't ready at the time because there comes a point when that internal transition kicks in. Another problem with this sort of emphasis is that those who are genuine and who do go through are left to deal with the trauma of the process pretty much on their own. I write from experience here, I went into this thinking it would be easier than it turned out to be, I suffered the consequences and I wouldn't advise anyone to attempt to transition in the way I have done.

I had my suicidal point before I came out publicly and twice almost jumped from the balcony of my Warsaw apartment figuring that my death would be the best solution, both for my personal issues and for my career. However coming through transition I find it becomes easier and easier for me and now the problems of being transgendered are far outweighed by the benefits of being myself and being able to function better than when I was my former self.

It's sad that some people lump those who transition together with the crossdressers and that society isn't more understanding, for this is I feel a significant factor as to why there are so many suicides among the transgendered and what makes it so difficult for many others to transition. This isn't so much an issue of gender but more I feel to do with freedom of personal self-expression. This is why I have decided to remain open as to who I am, and was, irrespective of the consequences because I feel anything which brings increased awareness among people is positive.

I feel that my own career eventually will show that it doesn't really matter who I was or who I am now, because I'm essentially the same person I've always been and all what I am doing is to work towards that dream I have when society judges you not for how you look or what you have but for who you really are inside - irrespective of whether you are transgendered or not.

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RE: Mike Penner/Christine Daniels: A Sad End - 9/3/2010 10:11:30 PM

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The effects of cisgender bigotry suck, and they do kill :)

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RE: Mike Penner/Christine Daniels: A Sad End - 9/4/2010 3:53:37 AM

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I've been watching some documentaries on Netflix about "Drag Kings" and transgendered/intersexed people. Fascinating, and it is so sad that humans in general still reject those who they deem "unfit" to be part of their tribes.

IMO, most people really suck at being followers of the Golden Rule.

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RE: Mike Penner/Christine Daniels: A Sad End - 9/4/2010 6:36:36 AM

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I see that this thread is a few months old, but I hope LadyEllen and Stella might read my question and reply. They are 2 folks on here that I enjoy reading, and I want their opinion, gloves off. I am wondering what others think also.

This story is sad, and I can not imagine what one goes through when they believe they are born with the wrong body. But....

I wonder, if the ones who kill them selves or go mad might have done so anyhow, with out the pressure of an identity crisis. To try to put it in perspective, I have often thought that many of our vets who experience hardships after serving, be it drug addiction, homelessness, PTSD, etc etc, I wonder if they would have had problems even if they had not gone to war and experienced that.

I have discussed this with friends I have who are vets from Vietnam and the gulf. The replies vary for sure, and I may share them later if this conversation goes any where.

Part of the reason I wonder about things like this is I have had panic attacks and been homebound by them in years gone by (many years ago thank goodness), I have acquaintances who have fought depression, addictions and demons of all sorts and never experienced war or gender identity problems.

I just think that some of us are born with chemical imbalances, short circuits in our brains or whatever it is that makes us fight some sort of mental illness demons. I wonder if we concentrate too much on what we think to be the cause, be it PTSD, gender identity crisis, bad childhood, momma didnt breast feed, or whatever, rather than realizing that some people are born to have these types of problems, just as some get cancer, diabetes, lupus, and all that.

It is my belief that mental illness hits all walks of life, all sexualities all races, religions and ethnicities. I think that it is possible the people who have these problems would have them even if they did not have the additional stressers, and I wonder if we are holding back the research on mental illnesses by linking them to some condition, other than just being born with some "defect" (sorry I cant think of a better word) that would have caused them to have issues no matter what they experienced in life, good and bad.

I hope no one takes this as a put down, because, like I said, I have fought demons my self, and still do. I have not been to war, not had any other events that could have caused them, I have just always been a lil off kilter I think-lol.

And I wonder if we should change the way we fight mental illness, instead of trying to look back and find a reason for it, perhaps we could find ways to identify those who are prone to it and heal it before it happens.

< Message edited by JstAnotherSub -- 9/4/2010 6:37:54 AM >

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RE: Mike Penner/Christine Daniels: A Sad End - 9/4/2010 7:19:42 AM

LadyPact

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quote:

ORIGINAL: juliadryad

The effects of cisgender bigotry suck, and they do kill :)

So you dug up a six month old thread to make sure we knew that?

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