Transgender Executive

[Dragonsend]

Read the full story and video here

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=4394493&page=1

Megan Wallent is an executive on the go.

At Microsoft's Redmond, Wash., headquarters where male executives far outnumber their female counterparts, Megan is a standout, especially for one significant difference. Until few months ago, she was a he.

Photos
Becoming Megan: The Journey"Well, I'm me," Megan said. "And I think most people would perceive me as female these days. And that's the way I present myself to the outside world."

Watch this story tonight on "Nightline" at 11:35 ET

But Megan used to be Michael, a longtime Microsoft executive who oversaw the entire Internet Explorer division of Windows for years, a leader of hundreds and an executive who interacted frequently with Bill Gates.

She still has her original Microsoft badge picture that was taken Aug. 11, 1996, the day she joined Microsoft.


Michael led a successful career and active social life filled with travel, an intense obsession for Boston sports teams and a beautiful house and family.


He's a Guy's Guy
Tina Dunn has been Michael's administrative assistant for seven years and says Michael gave no hint of being a man conflicted about his gender or anything else for that matter.

"He's a guy's guy," Dunn said. "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."

Michael's secret had been with him and him alone for his entire life.

Video
Nightline: The Transgender Exec"[The] feeling that I had for the longest time -- since I can remember being really small -- is that something wasn't quite right," he said. "And I didn't know what it was. I didn't know what the label was. I didn't know what the outcome would be."

It would take more than three decades for those early feelings to take hold and for him to do something about it. But Michael's secret was about to change more than just his life. He had to tell his wife.


Wife: 'I Was in Tears'
After two years of marriage, wife Anh says she had no clues about her husband's struggles. The first she knew was the day day he told her.

"I was in tears," she said.


I put this in here because I wasn't sure if General Discussion was the proper place as it'll probally turn into a rant but what do you guys think of this. I personally think he should have decided this before he got married. No wonder his wife was in tears. It's great that he has found his true self however bad timing. I'm not judging him because he decided to be a she but rather when he decided it. Come on. Didn't you have a clue before you got married and had a kid!

 

[dakeyras]

Because society still looks down upon this kind of stuff, anyone who feels this way is bound to ignore his/her feelings for a long while, thinking/hoping it will change. Up to the moment where they just can't ignore it any longer and it has to come out. Kind of like you see with older gay men/women who also have a family before they realize that it's not a choice , that ignoring it is not gonna make it go away and that, until they're gonna except it, they're gonna be massively unhappy.

Yes, his wife might be in tears. But honestly, if that was your wife/husband, wouldn't you rather have that they were happy about who they are instead of them living a lie because of you?


((and I think off topic would've been a good place for it even though it would end in lame joking))

 

[Dragonsend]

Because society still looks down upon this kind of stuff, anyone who feels this way is bound to ignore his/her feelings for a long while, thinking/hoping it will change. Up to the moment where they just can't ignore it any longer and it has to come out. Kind of like you see with older gay men/women who also have a family before they realize that it's not a choice , that ignoring it is not gonna make it go away and that, until they're gonna except it, they're gonna be massively unhappy.

Yes, his wife might be in tears. But honestly, if that was your wife/husband, wouldn't you rather have that they were happy about who they are instead of them living a lie because of you?


((and I think off topic would've been a good place for it even though it would end in lame joking))

It is true what you say about society. However if I were his wife I would have wanted to know before he decided to become that way. To not even tell her he had such feelings was selfish and unfair to her. Sure I suppose if she were in love she'd want him to be happy but at the same time he should have thought about her happiness and not just his own. This should have come out before the marriage. Who knows she might have married him anyway but not to know until after the fact was just plain cold. Especially since there's a child involved. To me that is selfish on his part period.

 

[PapiChulo]

This is freak-nasty and my old work had two of these benders and they gave everybody the creeps. There are also people who don't accept their body image with certain limbs so they become elective amputees. And there are people who want to marry animals. Society shouldn't accept everything at face value. There's institutions for this sort of thing. Yes, it's harsh. So is life. Deal.

 

[matriculated]

Well it's probably not the easiest thing to accept to yourself ("WTF? I'm a girl?") hence why s/he got married - probably to feel "normal". I'm not excusing her as she did hurt someone in the process.

The creator of M.U.L.E. was a transgender female. MULE is probably one of the greatest games ever and not to mention one of the first multiplayer games.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danielle_Bunten_Berry