>> teresa sparks is navy vet former husband, devoted parent and grand parent.the unique position to empathize with the journey bruce jenner is apparently making. she used to be a self-described alpha male. >> i was the epitome of white affluent white male, dominance. white male entitlement. and it didn't make me happy. >> teresa sparks left that life behind about 20 years ago. twice divorced with three children. she began her journey as a transgender woman. >> this is not something say, okay, i'm going to be transgender tomorrow. this is something you thought about. that you lived. that you have experience heed all of your life. and at some point you just have tocy say you know, it's time. i have to be who i am. >> reporter: becoming an activist, here she is in 1999. one of the first remembrance days for transgender victims of violence. she had an appoint on the the police commission in 2004 and later an historic vote as its president. >> a shock for me and the police. >> reporter: now san francisco's human right commission, the 66-year-old knows a thing or two

>> teresa sparks is navy vet former husband, devoted parent and grand parent. in the unique position to empathize with the journey bruce jenner is apparently making. she used to be a self-described alpha male. >> i was the epitome of white affluent white male, dominance. white male entitlement. and it didn't make me happy. >> teresa sparks left that life behind about 20 years ago. twice divorced with three children. she began her journey as a transgender woman. >> this is not something say, okay, i'm going to be transgender tomorrow. this is something you thought about. that you lived. that you have experience heed all of your life. and at some point you just have tocy say you know, it's time. i have to be who i am. >> reporter: becoming an activist, here she is in 1999. one of the first remembrance days for transgender victims of violence. she had an appoint on the the police commission in 2004 and later an historic vote as its president. >> a shock for me and the police. >> reporter: now san francisco's human right commission, the 66-year-old knows a thing or

teresa sparks says watching his story is like reliving his life. >> i transitioned in mid40s. whether it is your mid40s rather than mid60s and the question is why not? why not? why didn't i have the nerve to do it 20 years earlier. >> reporter: carmen stuart who works with transgender youth is inspired. >> the reason i didn't want to tell people is because if i could skip past this part of life and live but it is not helping other people. it is not looking up to the older people who did it like bruce jenner and not able to come out. it max me proud to be out. >> they are transgender married and the parents of a 2-year-old. >> bruce jenner presented a complex human picture of one way to be transgender. i was glad they didn't present it as the only way to be transgender. i'm glad they said he has access to money that a lot of transgender people don't. >> for him it is what is on the inside and not on the outside. people on the media get fixated with the outside. >> tiffany wood said people who haven't lived through this shouldn't play arm chair quarterback. >> this is not footba

teresa sparks made her transition 20 years ago. she lived her life as a self-professed alpha male until she decided it was time to be herself. she has made a name for herself as head of the san francisco human rights commission. she says jenner is facing intense scrutiny and friday's interview will be revealing. >> you can see it now. his fingernails whether he has breasts or to the. i am hoping people go okay, i get it or i am not afraid of it. >> the interview is expected to give jenner a chance to address the gender transition journey of his own. you can see diane sawyer's interview friday night at 9:00 here on abc7. hope you will join us for that. >>> with the state facing mandatory water restrictions, the abc7 news i team is looking into one company who is wasting tens of thousands of gallons every day. there is huge amount of water keeping the area green. >> he made a report about the water leaks in 2011 shortly after he took over as the superintendent. >> they continued how long? >> they haven't been fixed. >> now the superi

teresa sparks says watching his story is like reliving his life. >> i transitioned in mid40s. whether it is your mid40s rather than mid60s and the question is why not? why not? why didn't i have the nerve to do it 20 years earlier. >> reporter: carmen stuart who works with transgender youth is inspired. >> the reason i didn't want to tell people is because if i could skip past this part of life and live but it is not helping other people. it is not looking up to the older people who did it like bruce jenner and not able to come out. it max me proud to be out. >> they are transgender married and the parents of a 2-year-old. >> bruce jenner presented a complex human picture of one way to be transgender. i was glad they didn't present it as the only way to be transgender. i'm glad they said he has access to money that a lot of transgender people don't. >> for him it is what is on the inside and not on the outside. people on the media get fixated with the outside. >> tiffany wood said people who haven't lived through this shouldn't play arm chair quarterback. >> this is not footba

teresa sparks says watching his story is like reliving his life. >> i transitioned in mid40s. whether it is your mid40s rather than mid60s and the question is why not? why not? why didn't i have the nerve to do it 20 years earlier. >> reporter: carmen stuart who works with transgender youth is inspired. >> the reason i didn't want to tell people is because if i could skip past this part of life and live but it is not helping other people. it is not looking up to the older people who did it like bruce jenner and not able to come out. it max me proud to be out. >> they are transgender married and the parents of a 2-year-old. >> bruce jenner presented a complex human picture of one way to be transgender. i was glad they didn't present it as the only way to be transgender. i'm glad they said he has access to money that a lot of transgender people don't. >> for him it is what is on the inside and not on the outside. people on the media get fixated with the outside. >> tiffany wood said people who haven't lived through this shouldn't play arm chair quarterback. >> this is not footba

teresa sparks made her transition 20 years ago.ived her life as a self-professed alpha male until she decided it was time to be herself. she has made a name for herself as head of the san francisco human rights commission. she says jenner is facing intense scrutiny and friday's interview will be revealing. >> you can see it now. his fingernails whether he has breasts or to the. i am hoping people go okay, i get it or i am not afraid of it. >> the interview is expected to give jenner a chance to address the gender transition journey of his own. you can see diane sawyer's interview friday night at 9:00 here on abc7. hope you will join us for that. >>> with the state facing mandatory water restrictions, the abc7 news i team is looking into one company who is wasting tens of thousands of gallons every day. there is huge amount of water keeping the area green. >> he made a report about the water leaks in 2011 shortly after he took over as the superintendent. >> they continued how long? >> they haven't been fixed. >> now the superintende

teresa sparks made her transition 20 years ago.ived her life as a self-professed alpha male until she decided it was time to be herself. she has made a name for herself as head of the san francisco human rights commission. she says jenner is facing intense scrutiny and friday's interview will be revealing. >> you can see it now. his fingernails whether he has breasts or to the. i am hoping people go okay, i get it or i am not afraid of it. >> the interview is expected to give jenner a chance to address the gender transition journey of his own. you can see diane sawyer's interview friday night at 9:00 here on abc7. hope you will join us for that. >>> with the state facing mandatory water restrictions, the abc7 news i team is looking into one company who is wasting tens of thousands of gallons every day. there is huge amount of water keeping the area green. >> he made a report about the water leaks in 2011 shortly after he took over as the superintendent. >> they continued how long? >> they haven't been fixed. >> now the superintende

sparked the hash tag respect for zayne. joining me now is josh barro, maria teresa kumar, and jess macintosh.make of that assessment? >> i thought the joke was kind of tacky and comes in a line of comments that mahr has made that have drawn a lot of negative attention, but i think you have to look at the joke in the context it is. when you say this guy looks like this guy, it is about these broader senses that we have about people of muslim heritage. i don't think it was a good joke to make. >> maria teresa it is two subjects where there is a lot of sensitivity. one the boston marathon trial is ongoing and, b, our relationships with muslims are incredibly fraught. this is in the context of a whole lot of other stuff. what do you think of the criticism? >> i think that's right what you mentioned. the boston marathon is still fresh in everybody's mind and it's painful. i think it is what josh was saying. unfortunately, it's a pattern that keeps popping up on bill maher maher's show. i commend the fact that the majority of the folks are saying enough is enough. it is a young tweens and teens are