Long road to acceptance for man who became woman (From man, to woman, to political force)

[Kadie]

Long road to acceptance for man who became woman
Julian Guthrie, Chronicle Staff Writer

Saturday, May 8, 2010


He was a family man and a guy's guy, running companies and keeping the wife and kids in million-dollar homes. He collected cars, souped up his pickup truck and wore diamondback snakeskin cowboy boots when riding his Harley.



Theresa Sparks, who was a man before transitioning in 2000, has reconciled with her sons and is now running for supervisor.

Then one day in 1997, he gathered his children near the family home in Kansas and delivered the news: He was going to transition into a she. It was something he had wanted for decades and could no longer suppress.

"I asked a lot of my kids," said the woman now known as Theresa Sparks. "I think our story tells you that family really is the one thing that truly sustains. The love between children and parents can get you through something even as difficult as this."

Getting through, though, came with unimagined pain and alienation. Sparks lost her home, her job, her life savings. She sold everything she had - from the cars to a Cartier watch - and teetered on the edge of homelessness. Her sons didn't speak to her for a decade. Her siblings think she is a freak.

Today, Sparks, who rebuilt her life in San Francisco, becoming a political force and the onetime head of the San Francisco Police Commission, is reunited with her kids.

Adam Sparks, who is 32 and the youngest of Sparks' three children, admits, "The first time you hug your dad and feel breasts, it's like, 'This is weird.' But once you start talking and you have a real conversation, you realize it's the same person. You realize it's not about the exterior, but what's inside. I felt really stupid that I hadn't had contact for so many years."


Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/05/08/DD2L1D8NVH.DTL#ixzz0nLoytMHZ

[nickinSTL]

1. her experience sounds so very familiar

many transgendered persons who go through the change lose everything.

And an awful lot of them don't bounce back as well as she has, which is a testament to her strength.

Not everyone does as well, unfortunately.

[IndianaGreen]

2. Suicide rate is high among the transgender

and it appears to be prevalent among those without a support group, such as in the tragic case of Mike Penner.

I am happy that Ms Sparks has such a wonderful support group, and I wish her well in her political pursuits.