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Loading ...Chastity Bono announces sex change
06.12.2009 7:45am EDT
(Los Angeles) Chastity Bono is having a sex change to become a man. A spokesman for Bono, born a girl to Sonny and Cher, says he “has made the courageous decision to honor his true identity” and began the sex-change process earlier this year. Publicist Howard Bragman said Bono is proud of his decision and hopes “that his choice to transition will open the hearts and minds of the public regarding this issue.”
The 40-year-old writer, activist and reality-TV star came out as gay 20 years ago, Bragman said.In the book “Family Outing: A Guide to the Coming-Out Process for Gays, Lesbians, & Their Families,” Bono describes the realization of being “somehow different – specifically different from who my mom expected me to be.”
A message left with Cher’s representatives was not immediately returned Thursday.
Bono’s second book, “The End of Innocence: A Memoir,” details how relationships with Joan, a lover, and Sonny and Cher changed after coming out.
In 1995, Bono posed for the cover of the gay magazine The Advocate and began working for the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD).
My question is, Why is this news? I would think this was a personal choice, which should be kept personal and not spread across the media for people to make comments upon, regardless of whether or not they are in agreement or not. I wish him the best, but I still wonder why it should be important enough for a “public announcement”?
vanndean–Are you saying that Chaz should just “stay in the closet?” No wonder it has taken forty years for us to get SOME rights. Marriage is ALSO a “personal” decision, yet the entire country believes they get a vote on my personal decision. The PERSONAL IS POLITICAL! I hope Chaz becomes VOCAL and is on EVERY show! OUT AND PROUD TO BE WHO HE IS!
I wish him the best of luck. Living in this word – regardless of gender – is hard work. May he find that which makes him whole, whatever that may be.
i am appalled at the number of hateful comments on here, especially because we are ALL apart of the LGBTQ community. as a transman, i would like to say that although i found shelter, love, and acceptance in the lesbian community, i was never felt comfortable in that identity. so many women feel that they are losing beautiful butches to the trans community and that isn’t true. there are still a number of butch women in the community, but many are hiding because they are afraid that no one wants them any more. my roommates are prime examples. if lesbians are afraid of losing the butch community, then be more proactive showing your love for them and you’ll see how many there are who are not trans. butch and trans are not the same thing. don’t let the L word fool you! people need to understand that being trans is not a choice, just like being gay and lesbian is not a choice. it comes with the same fears, insecurities, and self-processing and many times it involves coming out for a second time. stop hating and start accepting. none of you would like it if the community in which you are supposed to feel safe treated you like a plague or freak instead of offering unconditional love and acceptance that should come from others who understand a marginalized identity. i hope that everyone who posted a negative comment will look deep within themselves and try to understand that at our core we are all humans–just different permutations of XX or XY.
I agree with AJ; some of the comments on here are hateful; I really hope that the posters aren’t part of the LGBT community but are trolls looking to start a fight but somehow I doubt that is the case; we all know that straight people don’t have a monopoly on bigotry and hate
AJ and theo: Don’t feed the trolls it means they win.
365gay Admins: I believe I am correct in saying there is a policy of banning users that are overtly racist or sexist. Should the people who have made overtly transphobic posts here be treated any differently?
I wish him all the best!!! Being true to yourself is never wrong.
If Chaz is doing this b/c she feels trapped in the wrong body, more power to her. But if she is doing this solely so she can beat the system and get married legally to a woman… HUGE mistake. I work w/ a lot of transgendered people as an RN case manager, and while most are content w/ their surgical transformations, not a single one of them (that I’ve worked with) has ever truly come to grips w/ the reality that they are not (nor have become) exactly what they wanted, nor has a single one of my patients managed to form a functional relationship, life, etc… in which they are truly living as the sex they thought they should be. It’s like plastic surgery–people think it will make everything better, but all it does it change a physical trait (that most can tell was surgically changed) and it The existing research out there shows that those that change gender continue to deal w/ psych issues for life, mainly b/c their new body isn’t truly the body they thought they were buying. Just a thought… I’m sure I’ll get yelled at for this one…. But take the advice from Hedwig and the Angry Inch… never undergoe a sex change unless you (and your MD) and 100% convinced that it’s necessary for your physical and mental health. NEVER do it just to get married!!
AJ, thank you for your comments! Congratulations to Chaz for taking this courageous step in his life! As a transwoman, I was about 40 before I started down the road of transition. It seems to be a pretty common age group. I have lived and worked full time as female for almost two years now. I’ve never had an interest in men, but as time goes by, I’m noticing a change in that. I will probably be more bisexual than anything. I don’t know if hormones are the sole cause of this or whether socialization comes into play also. This may or may not be the case with Chaz. Anyway, best of luck to Chaz! Maybe the publicity from this will give others the courage to be true to themselves!
I am one of those LGBT members who can’t relate to this issue. I won’t say I don’t understand it, because the issue of transgenderism has effected me, as a lesbian. I’m early 40-something (the age another blogger stated was typical for transgendered “lesbians” to come out). I came out over 20 years ago and I’ve observed many changes in gender politics within the lesbian community since then.
As I’ve gotten older and more successful, I’ve grown far more comfortable with my womanhood and my femininity. But when I came out, it was to an overtly masculinized lesbian culture. Power was associated with masculinity. Women who expressed their feminine side were called “high maintenance…fifi…artificial.” There was much disparaging of femininity–as though you weren’t a true “dyke” if you didn’t wear your hair a certain way or dress a certain way or walk a certain way. It was very oppressive.
Being in my early 20s, I felt the pressure to conform. I’m not a masculine woman, but I cut my hair short, I wore men’s jeans and T-shirts. The more I tried to fit in, the more self-loathing I felt. I remember hearing “FAGGOT!” yelled at me from cars driving by. I remember feeling terribly uncomfortable and confused about my identity and how to present myself. There were no decent role models. If only there had been a Cat Cora or a Bridget McManus or smart, attractive, feminine, confident, well-put-together lesbian teacher or neighbor or guidance counselor who offered by example a mainstream alternative to masculine lesbians who knighted themselves for being aesthetically “out.”
The sad part is that the majority of those “lesbians” whose influence so confused and conflicted me have since transitioned and now define themselves as men.
I wish Chastity happiness. I feel that maybe the younger generation of lesbians will recognize who they are sooner. It will be easier for them than it was 20 years ago, when there was “no such thing” as a female to male transsexual.
I’ve read all the comments on this and I don’t understand what AJ and Theo meant by referring to all the “Hateful comments”. Except for Andrew’s comment I’ve only seen comments that suggested an unknowing or confused response, but then followed by a good luck. Maybe some comments were removed before I logged on though.
I think it’s good for people to share their honest feelings if they don’t understand and have real questions. This is a safe place (for the most part) to share those feelings and I’ve been grateful for the trans people and those that have worked close with/ are friends with our trans brothers and sisters who have also shared their experiences here in the comment section.
As a lesbian, I have not had to deal with the SAME struggles and so appreciate learning of the struggles and dealing with and overcoming of those struggles.
Your stories, regardless of your backgrounds and personal journey help me so much; that is why I glean more from the comments on this site than the stories themselves (more often than not.) SO keep on sharing those stories people, and keep asking the questions as well. That’s the only way we’re going to know how best to support each other.
Christina in AZ
Congratulations. I hope this will be an encouragement to all our Trans brothers and sisters that it is okay to be who you are.
EQUALITY: I would consider The Menstruator’s and Matt’s comments to be pretty hateful as well.
Frankly, any post that refers to Chaz as “she” or “Chastity” is at least mildly transphobic because it refuses to accept that this is his identity and our responsibility as fellow human beings is to acknowledge and accept his identity for what it is.
Of the few female trannies I know,most get on male hormones,which reshapes the body and you get facial hair.Then they get rid of the boobs.Most leave the down below plumbing alone,because the operation is more successful with the male to female transexuals.
Kari- I understand your feelings and am glad we are on the same side of this issue as I notice we are on most things. I don’t know that anyone who refers to Chaz as “Chastity” or “she” is necessarily doing it out of spite; ignorance maybe. The article referred to Chaz as Chastity only and I personally didn’t know that that is what he now prefers to be called. So, I would be in that ignorant group until now. I have never heard Chaz speak on his own feelings regarding what he’d like to be called or to which pronoun he would prefer to be used. Like many here, 365gay.com was the first & only place I’d heard the story.
Also, I have a trans friend that refers to herself in both ways and so our friends (including myself) have found ourselves using both and she’s NEVER brought it up nor batted an eye.
Matt just sounds plain ignorant and The Menstruator is asking valid questions, but she’s also known for being terribly blunt and doesn’t pull any puches on any topic (so I don’t consider this hateful coming from her in the least). If we can’t have questions from our own, which many trans would consider softballs comparably, then we are never going to be able to be good advocates for each other. Could people be nicer? Absolutely! But people like you and me are listening, so lets sit back and learn, and in the mean time hope that those who are asking the questions are really ready to listen to the answers.
Christina in AZ