Paula Sophia Schonauer was a hero until he became a her.
When she was a man, Paula Sophia Schonauer was a local hero and the recipient of the Police Offer of the Year Award from Exchange Clubs International. But when he was diagnosed with Gender Identity Disorder everything changed. He told his diagnosis to a few close friends who then told several others and the rumor mill quickly began to churn out stories far from the truth — including how Paula could be a pedophile. The hero, however, had nothing to do with the man or the woman and everything to do with the inner person. Paula told her story in an episode titled “Tough As Nails” on NPR’s Snap Judgement. Check it out:
And check out this short documentary on Paula by Peter Hermes: