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Friday, March 7, 2008

400-408Wives and girlfriends, would you leave him-her or stay married?
Michael Wallent was married with two children.  He and his wife got a divorce.  He married his second wife, and had a son with her.  He was successful in the business world, becoming the head of the Internet Explorer division of Microsoft.
Then in May last year, on Mother's Day, he told his wife Anh of two years, that he would like to become a woman.
He sent a blast email to his entire staff announcing he would be working as a full time female at the start of the year.
Michael became Megan.
Megan said, "I had two surgeries," noting that all of her surgery was from the waist up.  "One was I had breast implants and the other one was I had what's called facial feminization surgery," she said. "My jaw is different, my ears got tucked back, my hairline got changed. I don't have a brow ridge anymore, my nose got done. My lip got changed and I don't have an Adam's apple anymore."
His assistant of seven years said, "He's a guy's guy.  He's super into sports, hiking. You know, what I consider a guy's guy. He was into all of the things that guys are into."
Her boss, who had interviewed Michael but hired Megan, said, "Actually I never even thought of it," when asked about Megan's sexuality. "I don't. I think I'm talking to a leader who leads a significant part of my organization."
Megan says she's never wavered about her sexual orientation.  "I've never been attracted to men, never even one iota.  All through my transition one of the questions that Anh and I talked about was, 'boy, are you going to all of a sudden become attracted to men? Uh, is that going to be an issue?' And I said, 'no, I can't imagine that.'"
Megan wears women's clothes, but no dresses or makeup.  She's changed her appearance, but not her voice.
"It felt like a betrayal," Anh said. "But it also felt more like a secret that should have come out a lot sooner, and that this big issue that he was dealing with, that in 38 years he couldn't find someone who he felt comfortable enough to open up to and share this."
"I wasn't strong enough, "Megan said. "And I hadn't come to terms with it myself."
Is he being selfish?
"Honestly, the whole selfish issue is one that I've struggled with a lot," Megan said. "And how can it be selfish and how can it be selfish and appear selfish to your children, especially, to model the behavior of being true to oneself? So we always try to tell our kids, you have to be true to yourself. You have to be who you are. You have to be honest with yourself."
Megan and Anh say they haven't lost any friends and their life is remarkably normal, considering all they've been through.
"A lot of those challenges [have] actually become a lot easier than I expected," Anh said. "I think our fears were much more, we thought it was insurmountable. But it's been actually a lot easier."
(:25) Q: "Are you a man or a woman?"  A:  "I'm me.  And I think most people would perceive me as female and that's the way I present myself to the outside world."
(:11) "I have to say when I got that first email, I was shocked.  Not like shocked in a negative way, just shocked in a… I had no idea."
413-423Do you stay or do you go?
428-437 Do you stay or do you go?
443-452We want to know what you think about KKLA! Be a part of the focus groups that shape our sound, hit the "Your Opinion Counts" button at kkla.com for details!  And while you're there, check out our Alaskan cruise July 20-27!  That's kkla.com.
 Should judges prevent foster kids from early enlistment in the military?
• LA Daily News, Anti-war judge rejects foster teen's bid to join military.  Judge Marilyn Mackel of Children's Court in Monterrey Park told foster child 17-year-old Shawn Sage of Royal High School that he may not enter the USMC Delayed Entry Program, thereby losing a $10,000 signing bonus.  Shawn was honored today at the high school.  The judge said she doesn't like the military, we should not be in Iraq, all recruiters lie, and that he was a minor.
458-508Steve Barr, founder and CEO of Green Dot Public Schools (greendot.org), tells us why he started Green Dot Schools. Steve founded the Rock the Vote campaign in 1990.  Get more info at parentsunion.org. 
512-523Steve Barr
528-544 Michael Farris, chairman of the Home School Legal Defense Association (hslda.org), on the recent California Appellate Court decision concerning home schooling.  People can sign a petition to "deauthorize" this ruling at the web page.
"Every California child deserves a quality education and parents should have the right to decide what's best for their children. Parents should not be penalized for acting in the best interests of their children's education. This outrageous ruling must be overturned by the courts and if the courts don't protect parents' rights then, as elected officials, we will."
544-554Matt Tidwell, president of Life Insured (lifeinsured.net). New sponsor welcome interview.
558-608Jacob Dayan, Israeli Consul General for the Southwestern U.S. (israeliconsulatela.org), on the recent massacre at a Jerusalem seminary.
Here is the footage of "impoverished" Gazans handing out sweets and candies to passing motorists honking their horns in joy. I strongly suggest you watch it and ask why the footage is not being broadcast on major Western TV networks. (The clip is from Israeli TV news taken from Palestinian TV news.) Might it spoil the sympathy for Palestinians that the BBC, CNN, and others are trying to ram down viewers' throats all the time?
Are you offended by this? 
628-639We want to know what you think about KKLA! Be a part of the focus groups that shape our sound, hit the "Your Opinion Counts" button at kkla.com for details!  And while you're there, check out our Alaskan cruise July 20-27!  That's kkla.com.  (You could win tickets to Family Life's "Weekend to Remember" conference. For details and tickets, go to kkla.com.)
644-655Calls
• Peggy Noonan, Over the Top.
• Snopes, Daily Snopes.