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mimigoliath
11/30/09

In reply to 'Twitter' Is Word of Sexless Year
I think Twitter is one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse, but I would have expected the verb form, "tweet," to be the so-called "top word." Isn't Twitter a brand name? At least Google has been turned into a verb. Aren't we celebrating the related human activity that Twitter promotes and not the actual thing? Unless they just think Twitter is the verb. Am I overthinking this? Can we spend the next 20 minutes conjugating?
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Magister
11/30/09

Can we spend the next 20 minutes conjugating?

@mimigoliath: If we can do it in 140 characters or less.
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Island of Misfit Toys
11/29/09

In reply to Mike Penner, Sports Columnist, 52
I can't imagine how much pain he/she must have been in. Rest in peace, friend.
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BookishLookish
11/28/09

In reply to Mike Penner, Sports Columnist, 52
Does anyone remember the artist Greer Lankton? [en.wikipedia.org]

Mike's death made me think of her again. She had a sex change at age 21. Greer later said she'd wished she'd been allowed to straddle the line a bit.
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BookishLookish
11/28/09

In reply to Mike Penner, Sports Columnist, 52
This is very sad. Rest in peace/

Sigh. Becoming a woman practically overnight, that would be one of my worst nightmares. It took me a good ten years to be any good at it, and I'm one of the best, babies.

No lectures on the transgen process, please, I'm well familiar with it.
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ngonzogo
11/28/09

In reply to Mike Penner, Sports Columnist, 52
Was she transgendered or transsexual? Also, her name was Christine, not Mike. Are these nit-picking points? Hell no. She fought long and hard for the right to her proper pronoun and if nothing else, it's a matter of respect.
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Foster Kamer
11/28/09

@ngonzogo: She reverted back to the Mike Penner byline later in her career. The pronoun has been adjusted, for news purposes, the proper noun (and byline) has been adjusted, with inclusion of her chosen name outside of her byline. No: these are by no means nit-picking points. It's an important discussion to have.
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triplethreat
11/29/09

@Foster Kamer: What does "the pronoun has been adjusted for news purposes" even mean? Mike Penner wanted to be known as Mike Penner when he died. He was living his life as a man. Nearly every news report I've read has respected that--except Gawker, where you describe "her apartment."
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downlow
11/28/09

In reply to Mike Penner, Sports Columnist, 52
I just want to say I remember when Gawker first covered this story and that I find this news incredibly sad. Some of you may know that I have a lot of questions about transgenderism and I have at least one transgender acquaintance and even though I find it hard to understand I don't find it hard to accept the person. I agree with the commenter below: maybe one day we can all just accept each other for who we are and get along. I won't live to see that day but it is still a nice thought.
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Sanson
11/28/09

@downlow: Don't be so sure; I was 100% sure that I would never live to see gay marriage or a black president in this country.
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Jeangenie
11/28/09

In reply to Mike Penner, Sports Columnist, 52
There is another transgender sports writer. [en.wikipedia.org]
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Foster Kamer
11/28/09

@Jeangenie: Wow. Duly noted. Correction forthcoming.
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plasticene
11/28/09

In reply to Mike Penner, Sports Columnist, 52
It seems she had difficulties that outpaced gender issues. She thought changing genders would help with that, but sadly, it did not. Docs should do intensive work with people who think undergoing a change will save their lives. I don't know if it will help all the time, but it might. RIP.
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TheSometimesWhy
11/28/09

@plasticene: If you listen to the NPR piece that is linked in this post, you will understand that the medical community has formal standards and tests for people who desire to transition as Ms. Daniels did. What they can't treat is the relentless undercurrent of doubt and anxiety that must have dogged this poor woman from the moment she realized her true gender, well past the time she was able to make a break from her false life as a man to a life that at least paid more than lip service to her true essence.

Listening to that piece, you hear the most touching combination of relief, fear, sadness, hope, and, to my ear, exhaustion. One can't help but think that sense of weariness played a major role in the tragic outcome.

May peace be finally yours, Ms. Daniels...
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MyrtleWilloughby
11/28/09

@plasticene: Suicide is a tragedy, and one hopes that people in great pain can find the care and support they need whatever their situation.

I don't know enough to make blanket statements about gender reassignment but I don't think it's going out on a limb to say that many people in the US, in many different situations could benefit from greater access to mental health care. Just something to keep in mind as the political gears of health care reform are turning.
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SybilDisobedience
11/28/09

@TheSometimesWhy: Well said.

May Ms. Daniels find the peace she didn't find here.
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valet_of_the_dolls
11/28/09

@MyrtleWilloughby: Beautifully put.
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plasticene
11/30/09

@TheSometimesWhy: Probably nothing could be done, and that is so sad. I was just thinking that sometimes people think a change will save their lives. I believe their underlying problems do not simply disappear because individuals find their true identity. In a way, things might get more complicated because these probs (depression, loneliness, etc.) were supposed to go away, but did not. I feel for her and her family. I wish something could have been done.
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TheSometimesWhy
11/30/09

@plasticene: Sadly, I agree. You think about how well-entrenched 40-odd tears of dysfunction (living a lie as a man) can get, then to think that making an adjustment, albeit a major one, will solve the riddle your life has been is, I think, almost delusional. When I heard that Christine had reverted to being called Mike, my heart broke for this person. It sounded as if he/she felt like they were trying to catch up with the person they thought they were, and that person kept eluding them. If that last sentence sounded twisted, imagine living your life based on some version of what it portrayed.

In that light, suicide almost seems a rational choice.

Almost.
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Han Valen
11/28/09

In reply to Mike Penner, Sports Columnist, 52
This is sad, but I wonder what the depression/suicide statistics are for people who undergo sex changes in general.
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Seeräuber Jenny
11/28/09

@Han Valen:

It would be interesting to know. No doubt some patients would be reluctant to be honest, knowing the conclusion others would draw.
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Seeräuber Jenny
11/28/09

In reply to Mike Penner, Sports Columnist, 52
I wonder what happened. In addition to the difficulty of being accepted in his field, I wonder if his age had anything to do with it. I've read accounts of middle-aged M-T-F transsexuals who said they weren't prepared for the lessened respect they received as women after having had successful lives as men.

This is so sad.
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Lysergic Asset
11/28/09

@Seeräuber Jenny: An excellent point. That says more about ageism and sexism than any GLBT bias, though, doesn't it?
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MissNormaDesmond
11/28/09

@Lysergic Asset: Please let's not have a deck-chair-on-the-Titanic race. All of those things are intimately linked. Trying to rank them is a mug's game. The point is to try to do away with them, not argue amongst ourselves about who's the most oppressed.
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Lysergic Asset
11/28/09

@MissNormaDesmond: Hat tip to you, miss.
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RachelSklar
11/28/09

In reply to Mike Penner, Sports Columnist, 52
God this is so very very sad. I followed this when it happened and was so amazed and impressed by his candour pre-op and hers, post. In the coming-out LAT article, he describes the struggle to figure out being transgendered: "We are born with this, we fight it as long as we can, and in the end it wins." That takes on such dark, sad new meaning here. RIP.
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Defeater
11/28/09

In reply to Mike Penner, Sports Columnist, 52
Sad story. I was always curious if reverting back to the name "Mike Penner" was a result of any regret over the transition.
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Helio
11/28/09

@Defeater: i don't know much about this story, but i'm confused by your comment...he made the transition and then reversed it? That sounds like a lot of trouble.
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Defeater
11/28/09

@Helio: He transitioned to become a woman and took on the name Christine Daniels (Though perhaps not legally,) but in time went back to writing under the name Mike Penner. No idea if he actually "untransitioned."
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Edited by Defeater at 11/28/09 3:15 PM Defeater was starred Defeater was unstarred

triplethreat
11/29/09

@Defeater: He never got to the point of having gender reassignment surgery, if that is what you mean. But "transitioning" is about much more than genitals. He definitely decided to live his life as a woman, then decided to go back to living as a man. That's pretty much all we know.
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Lysergic Asset
11/28/09

In reply to Mike Penner, Sports Columnist, 52
I hope his suicide is unrelated to his switching genders, but somehow, I doubt it, especially considering his profession.

I hope that someday, humanity evolves enough (in the spiritual/emotional sense) that all people are free to be whomever they want to be, love whomever they desire, worship - or not worship - whomever they choose. It may never happen, but... I can imagine it.
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ms_priestypants
11/28/09

In reply to Mike Penner, Sports Columnist, 52
How sad. I seem to remember he tried to change back at some point? What a difficult situation, regardless, and not one that is very supported in general.
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Seeräuber Jenny
11/28/09

@ms_priestypants: The article I read said he resumed his old byline. Whether he tried to reassume a male identity is not clear.

I found this:

"Penner later took back his original name and resumed living life as a man a year later..."
[www.sbnation.com]
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Edited by Seeräuber Jenny at 11/28/09 3:15 PM Seeräuber Jenny was starred Seeräuber Jenny was unstarred

NickelMD
11/28/09

In reply to Mike Penner, Sports Columnist, 52
Foster, you are obscene. At the very least you could respect Christine Daniels identity in death. She should be referred to by her chosen name and gender.

Its respectful and its also standard in the APA style manual. So in addition to being repulsive, you're also craptastic writer.
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oudemia
11/28/09

@NickelMD: In fairness to Foster, Daniels had reverted back to the "Mike Penner" byline. The status of the transition is unclear.
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Foster Kamer
11/28/09

@NickelMD: I had to decide which way to go. The LAT piece referred to her as Mike Penner. That was where it fell. Don't think I didn't consider this. I did. Also, #fuckoff. @RachelSklar: My sentiments exactly.
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Edited by Foster Kamer at 11/28/09 4:27 PM Foster Kamer was starred Foster Kamer was unstarred

takeouteurotrash
11/28/09

@NickelMD: What is with your profession and the inane comments?

[www.google.com]
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RandomLunatic
11/28/09

@NickelMD: This is way too prickish to be anything but personal on your part.

Foster is just about the ONLY Gawker editor who ever shows a modicum of restraint and respect when covering tragic news like this.
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triplethreat
11/29/09

@Foster Kamer: You referred to him as Mike Penner, but then referred to his apartment as "her apartment." I am not getting your thinking at all.
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Foster Kamer
11/29/09

@triplethreat: A name and a pronoun are different things. Her name can be Mike Penner. She reverted to her former byline, not her former gender.
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triplethreat
11/30/09

@Foster Kamer: You are wrong. He went back to living as a man.
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'Twitter' Is Word of Sexless Year

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