Chastity Bono Undergoing Gender Transition

Chastity Bono, the daughter of Cher and the late Sonny Bono, will undergo gender transition to become a man, according to his publicist. “Chaz,” as Chastity now prefers to be known, and is proud of his decision. He hopes his choice to transition will open the hearts and minds of the public on transgender issues, just as his coming out as a lesbian did 20 years ago. Chaz Bono, is an LGBT civil rights advocate, journalist, author and musician, and began the process of changing his gender earlier this year, following his 40th birthday. GLAAD and the Empowering Spirits Foundation, national LGBT organizations, were quick to offer praise and support for Bono's gender transformation announcement.


Writer and activist

Bono worked as a writer at large for The Advocate, a national gay and lesbian magazine.

Bono became a spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign, promoting National Coming Out Day, campaigning for the reelection of Bill Clinton for US President and campaigning against the Defense of Marriage Act.

Bono served as Entertainment Media Director for the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.


Books

Bono has written two books.

Family Outing : A Guide to the Coming Out Process for Gays, Lesbians, and Their Families tells the story of his own coming out, and also the stories of other gay and lesbian people.

The End of Innocence is a memoir which discusses his outing, music career, and partner Joan's death from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Our Legacy as a Transgender Person

I just finished watching "Running the Sahara" in TV this afternoon, and I have to say I am really inspired. As a transgender people we are tackling an amazing feat in transitioning into a gender that matches the person we are inside. We deal with all the psychological issues, hormonal changes, surgery, descrimination, family and whatever else society has to throw at us. We do all of this so that our bodies will match the person we are inside.

The thought that kept comming to my mind throughout the movie was, what am I going to be remembered for other than my gender transition? What will my legacy be? What will my contrabution to society be. Yes, I fight for transgender rights, so the generations to come don't have to go through what my generation went through. But, what is my legacy outside of transgenderism and transgender issues?

I am beginning to feel that we need to be thinking about a higher legacy. Don't let transgenderism be our legacy, but rather be just a stepping stone to something even bigger. For me, being the custodial parent of 2 children with disabilities, I want to use my advocacy skills to fight for kids with disabilites. Not that I will part from my transgender activism, but take it to a higher plain to include more than just transgender issues.

I feel we all need to spend some time thinking, what can we contribute to the larger society? As we take our eyes off ourselves, and reach out to others outside the transgender community, I believe more respect will come to us as a transgender person, and the transgender community at large.