Sports Journo Pleasantly Surprised By Support

Journo’s Transition A Breeze

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No doubt Christine Daniels celebrated David Beckham’s goal last night. The Los Angeles Times‘ sportswoman – formerly known as sportsman Mike Penner – recently told NPR’s Day To Day that David’s LA coming out marked her coming out as a woman. IThe British soccer player was Daniels’ first interview as a woman.

A true gentleman, Beckham welcomed Daniels with open arms and, despite the sports world’s homophobic reputation, so did Daniels’ colleagues.

Michelle Brand: So what was it like being out there for the first time as Christine?

Christine Daniels: It was a day I dreamt about for years.

MB: Because here you are with your colleagues and people that you’ve covered sports with for years as Mike Penner –

MD: Uh-huh.

MB: And they’re seeing you for the first time as Christine.

MD: They looked at me and – I’ve been out in public enough where I can tell the looks where they’re kind of startled, and they looked at me, and it was like they were greeting their long-time friend, Christine, after they hadn’t seen her for awhile, and they ran up – Christine, how are you? And they got my name right, they got the pronouns right pretty much. It was beyond my fondest dreams, and so much of my transition has been like that.

Of the 500 or so emails Daniels received immediately after making the announcement last April, only two were negative. If you’re a fan of Daniels – and you should be – check out her blog, the ingeniously entitled Woman In Progress.

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