Mike Penner/Christine Daniels, An Obituary

Christine DanielsWhenever the "transgender" topic comes up in public discussion, I am always surprised and appalled anew by the public's reaction.  You think we have come so far as a society, where public figures feel comfortable being openly gay, and (not to trot out the increasingly tired cliché) a black man can be elected President of the United States.  But mention a transgendered person, and people freak the [censored] out.

 Unlike so many other topics, like race and homosexuality, people don't even bother to have a coded conversation.  Transgendered people are flat out called "wrong" and "deviant," and seem to bring up a deep, gut level reaction from the masses.  

Traditionally, there has even been tension between feminism and transgender issues.  Which is completely crazy, but there you have it.  Even feminists sometimes feel  the need to draw a line in the sand between "real women" and "them."  Take the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival,  which officially excludes anyone who was not born a woman.  

Luckily, third wave (modern) feminism tends to be much more inclusive with regards to birth gender.  Feminism is about the rights of women, and how are transgender issues NOT about the rights of women?  Who are we, any of us, to judge who is or is not sufficiently womanly, and on what basis?  

As I write this, I'm wearing sweats and a Threadless t-shirt, no makeup, and eating a bowl of ramen.  Does that make me more or less a woman than someone wearing a push-up bra, heels, and lipstick?  What feminist would make a judgment based on those two models?  But clearly a lot of people feel comfortable making judgments based on what those clothes are covering.

These aren't just abstract issues.  Transgendered people are literally being killed over it.  Every year, the International Transgender Day of Remembrance  is held in November to mark the deaths of those who were murdered out of hatred or prejudice.  

Aside from the risk of being murdered, the suicide rate for transgender people is absolutely shocking.  The national cisgender suicide rate is about 1%.  Studies give the transgender suicide rate at somewhere around 20%, and in some cases as high as 50%.

Such is the case for LA Times sports correspondent Mike Penner, who underwent MTF transition and became Christine Daniels in 2007.  Christine Daniels transitioned back to being Mike Penner in 2008.  And over the holiday weekend, Mike Penner committed suicide.

Penner/Daniels was never keen on offering public information as to the transitions, either to Christine or back to Mike.  What we do know is that in almost all cases of "detransitioning," the choice is made to return to the original gender due to external pressures.  In other words, no one regrets what they have done - but they are made to regret it by their friends, family, coworkers, and society at large.  (According to USA Today, about 5% of transitioned people subsequently detransition.)

Regardless of why Mike Penner committed suicide (he left no information behind on that, either), we are all in a sense to blame for it.  Although the proximate cause of his suicide may have been some entirely unrelated event (like massive layoffs at the LA Times), the incredible difficulty of being a transgendered person in America in the year 2009 certainly exacerbated things immensely.

You can't help Mike Penner.  He made his own fatal decision.  But you can help other transgendered people.  Why not make a donation to your local suicide hotline in Penner's name?  And speak out against anti-transgender prejudice whenever you see it.  It isn't acceptable, and we need to do a better job of letting people know it.