Scheller hopes his 'coming out' will help others
CCC board member reveals transgender identity
Posted: Monday, February 11, 2013 11:14 am | Updated: 3:48 pm, Mon Feb 11, 2013.
By CHELSEA GORROW
The Daily Astorian
http://www.dailyastorian.com/news/local/scheller-hopes-his-coming-out-will-help-others/article_4ddb0cb6-747f-11e2-a759-001a4bcf887a.html (http://www.dailyastorian.com/news/local/scheller-hopes-his-coming-out-will-help-others/article_4ddb0cb6-747f-11e2-a759-001a4bcf887a.html)
Jim Scheller is dressing a little differently these days.
His hair is longer, his earring dangles low, and his dress fits just right.
But beyond the outward appearance, an appearance he has never felt fully comfortable with, is something more: Confidence.
And for the first time in his life, 61-year-old Scheller finally feels free.
Scheller, a member of the Clatsop Community College board, a husband and a father of two, is coming out as transgendered.
"I wake up in the morning and I never feel like myself. I look in the mirror, and I have a male body, I know how to act like a man, I have done everything in my life I could do to be a man, and hide what's inside of me, which is a feminine shadow," Scheller said. "But the truth is it's healthier for me, it's healthier for anyone, to tell the truth. Secrets are toxic. And it got toxic for me. I thought I was going to die with this secret and never be my true self."