A profile in courage

It may not be young John F. Kennedy in PT-109, but Los Angeles Times sportswriter Mike Penner has plenty of courage of his own.

During my 23 years with The Times' sports department, I have held a wide variety of roles and titles. Tennis writer. Angels beat reporter. Olympics writer. Essayist. Sports media critic. NFL columnist. Recent keeper of the Morning Briefing flame.

Today I leave for a few weeks' vacation, and when I return, I will come back in yet another incarnation.

As Christine.

I am a transsexual sportswriter. It has taken more than 40 years, a million tears and hundreds of hours of soul-wrenching therapy for me to work up the courage to type those words. I realize many readers and colleagues and friends will be shocked to read them.

To call this "unprecedented" is a little like saying Rush Limbaugh is an obnoxious bag of assholes. In other words, it's a profoundly inadequate understatement.

Mike/Christine continues:

People have asked if transitioning will affect my writing. And if so, how?

All I can say at this point is that I am now happier, more focused and more energized when I sit behind a keyboard. The wicked writer's block that used to reach up and torture me at some of the worst possible times imaginable has disappeared.

My therapist says this is what happens when a transsexual finally "integrates" and the ever-present white noise in the background dissipates.

That should come as good news to my editors: far fewer blown deadlines.

So now we all will take a short break between bylines. "Mike Penner" is out, "Christine Daniels" soon will be taking its place.

From here, it feels like a big improvement. I hope with time you will agree.

This could be the beginning of a beautiful relationship.

Perhaps Christine's life will be easier in Los Angeles than it might be if she did this in, say, Dallas or Atlanta. But it's still going to be a tough road, and I admire her for not only coming to this decision, but for announcing it with good humor and the appropriate amount of care. And I applaud the colleagues and friends quoted, for taking the announcement in stride.

The more you see of this, along with similar statements by athletes and public figures like John Amaechi, the more the ignorant, hate-filled comments of people like Tim Hardaway and Don Imus will be marginalized, and people will be accepted for what they are, not for the degree to which they conform to some arbitrary "norm."

Hardaway redux

Remember Tim Hardaway? He's getting what he deserves: contempt.

Tim Hardaway's anti-gay comments are forcing him out of this weekend's NBA All-Star activities in Las Vegas, but it landed the former Miami Heat guard in the center of a debate Thursday over how open-minded sports is compared to society in general.

[...]

Criticism of Hardaway arrived from both near and far:

• NBA Commissioner David Stern canceled the remainder of Hardaway's appearances in Las Vegas, where Hardaway participated in an NBA Cares outreach event Tuesday. "It is inappropriate for him to be representing us given the disparity between his views and our views," Stern said.

• Heat President and Coach Pat Riley said he was "shocked by some of the words" Hardaway used. Riley, speaking on Miami radio station WQAM-560 AM, said he intended to talk with Hardaway and that attitudes like that "wouldn't be tolerated in our organization."

He added: "We as a country have realized that throughout the course of our problems, it's always been something that had to do with discrimination or bigotry and judgments and we've got to get that absolutely out of our psyche."

But Riley also said Hardaway had a "good spirit and I'm sure now he wishes he could take all of that back. I hope he's not so severely judged by the spewing of some of those words."

• Hardaway was fired as chief basketball operations adviser of Trinity Sports, owner of the Indiana AlleyCats of the Continental Basketball Association. Former Dolphins quarterback Jay Fiedler, Trinity's majority owner, said Hardaway's comments "in no way reflect my views or those of anyone else in our organization."

• Former NBA player John Amaechi, whose new autobiography, Man in the Middle, initiated recent discussion about gays in sports, said Hardaway's comments should be a wake-up call.

"I think people look through rose-colored glasses when we start talking about bigotry, racism, sexism and homophobia," Amaechi said on ESPN Radio's Mike & Mike in the Morning. "The number one thing that people say is, 'It's 2007. These things don't exist anymore.' "

Read the whole article for more. I think this is going to lead to more inquiry into and consideration about the role of gays in sports ... and in society. And, assuming the consideration is legitimate, honest, and open (yes, a big assumption), that's a good thing.

Okay, this time, hate the player

Since I first heard it, I liked the saying, "Don't hate the player, hate the play." But former NBA player Tim "I'm Not Penny" Hardaway took hate to a new level yesterday, in an interview on Miami radio.

With former NBA center John Amaechi disclosing last week that he's gay, Hardaway was asked by host Dan LeBatard on 790-AM The Ticket how he would have handled having a gay teammate. Hardaway said gays don't belong in the locker room and would destroy a team's chemistry.

"You know that what you're saying there, though, Timmy, is flatly homophobic?" LeBatard said. "It's bigotry."

Said Hardaway: "Well, you know, I hate gay people, so I let it be known. I don't like gay people. I don't like to be around gay people. I'm homophobic. I don't like it. It shouldn't be in the world or in the United States."

First off, good for Dan LeBatard to point out Hardaway's blatant bigotry. It's not hard to imagine how different the reaction might have been had Hardaway been talking to, say, KSFO.

And regarding a guy named "Hardaway" saying he hates gay people, well, insert your own joke in the Comments below. Sure, Hardaway later apologized, but it's hard to put the toothpaste back in the tube, as Rush Limbaugh, among others, has discovered in similar situations.

When John Amaechi came out last week, I wrote that perhaps it was emblematic of a burgeoning acceptance of all people in sports, regardless of their race, color, creed, or sexual orientation. Yes, I know there's still a long way to go, but Hardaway's screed just reminds me that we're probably going nowhere fast, with the hate and misunderstanding and stereotyping that long has been a hallmark of the American (usually male) locker room.

It's a shame that people like Hardaway think the way they do ... but even more of a shame that their fame allows them a forum to spew their hateful message.