LGBT POV

Many of us were stunned by news last November of the suicide of Los Angeles Times sports columnist Mike Penner – who we had come to know as Christine Daniels. I confessed that I was confused about which name to call Christine – as I knew her after my interview with her for IN Los Angeles Magazine and I asked Pam’s House Blend columnist Autumn Sandeen if I could cross-post her story about the difficulties transgender people suffer when transitioning. Autumn said that Christine wanted to be known as Mike and we should respect that.

Yes, understood. But then what about those left behind? The friends of Christine Daniels who helped her make her original transition – her friends at MCC/LA Church who she thanked profusely in her interview with me – want to remember the person they knew, too. To that end, they are holding a memorial on Saturday, Jan. 16. Here’s the notice:

Hi All,

All of you who know, or have been inspired by Christine Daniels’ transition or her blog, Women in Transition, are invited to attend her memorial service at Metropolitan Community Church of LA (MCCLA) on Saturday, January 16 from 4:00 P.M. to approximately 5:30 p.m. The church is located at 4953 Franklin Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90027.

Franklin Avenue is off of the Hollywood (101) freeway just north of Hollywood Blvd. between Norman die Ave. and Vermont Ave. Get there a little early to give yourself time to find parking on the street.

Please pass this information on to others in the trans-community who might know Christine.

Sincerely,

Amy LaCoe

I’ve known Autumn Sandeen for some time now as a highly respected transgender blogger at Pam’s House Blend. She lives in San Diego and we finally met when she attended the Equality California dinner and we waited turns to interview honoree Congressmember Judy Chu.

I reached out to Autumn so I could better understand the death of Mike Penner, formerly known as Christine Daniels, the sports columnist for the Los Angeles Times. I interviewed Christine shortly after her transition and we hit it off. I got to meet her at the National Lesbian and Gay Journalist Association convention in San Diego in 2007. But I failed to follow up when Christine “de-transitioned” back to Mike. I thought Mike wanted his privacy. I also felt Christine was still an integral part of Mike’s identity – but it was not my place to say anything.

Autumn, however, had written about Christine’s de-transition – which she re-posted on PHB Sunday. Autumn gave me permission to cross-post it on LGBT POV. We both hope this might provide some insight into the struggle that may have been behind what appears to have been Mike/Christine’s suicide. Please click inside to read her essay.

I confess – I’m confused. I don’t know the proper, respectable way to write about Mike Penner – who I only knew as Christine Daniels. We talked about a lot of things that I didn’t write about in the interview. Deeply personal things, like thoughts of suicide. Hearing the news today was a gut-check and as a suicide survivor myself – I haven’t yet processed the feelings. But the struggle – as I read the comments from those who were also deeply saddened by the news – is whether to write about Mike Penner or Christine Daniels. Here is what she said about the Metropolitan Community Church of Los Angeles in West Hollywood and the Rev. Neil Thomas who, Daniels said, “have been instrumental” in her transition:

“In the first place, they have never seen me as Mike. They just accepted me as another woman” and have been “so excited and supportive about my coming out.”

Me, too. So with apologies to anyone who might be offended – I will write about Christine because that’s who I knew. Click inside to read some of the reaction to Christine’s death and the LA Times obituary.

The Los Angeles Times just reported that veteran sportswriter Mike Penner – who announced in 2007 that he was transsexual and publicly transitioned into Christine Daniels – only to return to The Times in 2008 as Mike Penner – was found dead in his home today. Suicide is suspected. Click inside for the LA Times report, Penner/Daniel’s original coming out column and my interview with Christine Daniels.