LOS ANGELES, Feb. 4 (UPI) -- Zoey Tur, known for years as Chopper Bob, successfully completed her gender reassignment surgery and will debut as the United States' first transgender television reporter on Wednesday's airing of "Inside Edition."
Before becoming Zoey, "Chopper" Bob Tur piloted news choppers in Los Angeles, famously following O.J. Simpson during his 1994 police chase in his white Ford Bronco.
"The timing was right," Tur told The Wrap when asked about her gender reassignment and return to television.
"2014 was a good year for transgender rights. [Attorney General] Eric Holder included gender identity in the 1964 Civil Rights Act, and there was some good news coming out of the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) prohibiting discrimination against transgender people in the workplace. 'Inside Edition' had called me up wanting to do another interview with me and document my transition. I had a conversation with [executive producer] Charles Lachman, and I said, 'Do you want to make history?' And he said, 'Yes!'"
Tur, who has an ex-wife and two adult children, said her family is supportive, but the decision was a tough one for them to accept.
"My kids were in a state of shock," Tur told CBS Los Angeles in 2013.
"They have been going through this mourning process. Bob Tur has got to die. And that's going to happen within the next three or four months."
Tur concedes his ex-wife was "not pleased" about the transition, but their children are understanding.
"My son was very understanding, and my daughter [NBC News Correspondent Katie Tur] took it very hard. You see your father a certain way. Your parents are your parents. She had this very macho heroic father, and she learned her father was not only human but suffering from a genetic problem."
