Chastity Bono starts transition process

Congratulations to Chaz Bono on his decision to transition from female to male. This is a deeply personal commitment that obviously isn't taken lightly and is probably made even more difficult by his celebrity. Bilerico Project family sends warm wishes and good thoughts his way as he starts his transition.

Bono, the child of legendary entertainers Sonny and Cher, began the process earlier this year, shortly after his 40th birthday

"Yes, it's true -- Chaz, after many years of consideration, has made the courageous decision to honor his true identity," confirmed Bono's publicist, Howard Bragman.

"He is proud of his decision and grateful for the support and respect that has already been shown by his loved ones. It is Chaz's hope that his choice to transition will open the hearts and minds of the public regarding this issue, just as his 'coming out' did nearly 20 years ago.

We ask that the media respect Chaz's privacy during this long process as he will not be doing any interviews at this time."

And congratulations to TMZ.com for correct gender usage. Even most mainstream news outlets screw that part up!

Waymon Hudson | June 11, 2009 4:52 PM
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Chaz,
You will be in my prayers and my thoughts. May your journey be a full of beauty and wonderment.

MonicaHelms | June 11, 2009 6:36 PM
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Congrats to you Chaz. I hope that you read this post and I'm glad that you are taking this step toward yourself.

Rob Barton | June 11, 2009 9:35 PM
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Congratulations, Chaz.

Rebecca Juro | June 11, 2009 9:37 PM
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Chaz was always a guy.

It's possible for a while if you're a straight male lumbered with a female body to pretend to be a butch lesbian.

But it doesn't fit. It itches. And the mismatch becomes more pronounced the older you get.

Eventually you realise that you can't keep up the pretence any longer. You stop fighting, and transition, no matter what the cost.

I don't understand men, be they gay, bi, or straight. But I do understand where Chaz is coming from. I understand transition, and the soul-searching he had to have done before embarking on this. The quest for his true identity. And I wish him every possible blessing.

Zoe Brain | June 11, 2009 11:26 PM
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Chaz! Chaz meister! Chaz a rama ding dong! Dude! Welcome home to the frat bruh! Chazarenoramaaa....
C.B.!

Sean | June 12, 2009 8:50 AM
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Congrats, Chaz - what bravery, especially given the public attention this will bring...

In other news, now we have to go out and check the articles for proper usage: looks like TMZ did well (though added little commentary on the release from the rep). I wonder about the phrase "becoming a man" - while it probably drives hits, is this generally considered a respectful phrase?

Setting that phrase aside, ABC News did (IMHO) a nice job, getting all the pronouns right or at least not intentionally wrong. Curious question: there's a line "when he came out as a lesbian" - would the fact that Chaz was presenting as a female at that time mean that you use the female pronouns/name there, or does the contemporary affirmed gender identity dictate? (I'd imagine this is probably personal, since I've seen it done with the mixed pronouns in a respectful way and seemingly no problem) Not looking for a "representative" of course, but opinions would be good to hear.

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/CelebrityCafe/story?id=7817716&page=1

The AP, surprisingly (since don't they have a stylebook partially written by GLAAD that says not to do this?) refers to a "sex change" twice...

In a surprising turn of events (NOT!) FoxNews does the worst version of this news report that I've seen thus far - http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,525869,00.html
Yes, they changed the gendered pronouns in the news release to feminine ones - yikes!