Zoey Tur makes history as first transgender national news reporter
“I’d been told by people that I would never work again if I came out as transgender, which was depressing.”
–Zoey Tur, special correspondent for CBS’s Inside Edition, speaking with the New York Post ahead of her return to the show. Tur marked her return — she took a break from television after a successful career (she was known as “Chopper Bob” for her coverage of the L.A. Riots and OJ Simpson’s police chase) to make her transition in private — by discussing her journey with Inside Edition‘s Jim Moret.
She told Moret that “trying to erase 53 years of being a macho aggressive guy… trying to be a woman… is [the] greatest challenge of my life.”
It’s not been without its difficulties. “Seventy percent of the time I’m perceived as female, thirty percent of the time it is like [shows an awkward stare] and I look at them and say, ‘Pick one.’”
“Did you have any doubts?” Moret asked of her transition.
“No,” Tur responded.
With regards making history, Tur credits Inside Edition‘s executive producer Charles Lachman. “I reached out to [Lachman] and he called me back three minutes later and said, ‘So you wanna make history?’ I was floored. ‘Inside Edition’ has chosen a side in what’s shaping up to be the last civil right battle in the US — transgender acceptance.”
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