Chastity Bono -- Becoming a Man

[hadrons]

Chastity Bono, civil rights advocate, journalist, author and musician, is in the early stages of changing his gender -- transitioning from female to male, TMZ has learned.

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."

http://www.tmz.com/2009/06/11/chastity-bono-becoming-a-man-2/?icid=main|classic|dl3|link1|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tmz.com%2F2009%2F06%2F11%2Fchastity-bono-becoming-a-man-2%2F

[Teaser]

1. It'll be much cooler when we can do this with transgenic modifications...

although I imagine it might get a bit messy, like Jeff Goldblum in "The Fly", extra pieces falling off and whatnot...


still end result will be pleasing, I imagine.

[LeftinOH]

2. Whatever Chaz feels must be done, but he was a button-cute little girl:

[Ilsa]

3. I didn't know Chaz considered himself "male". I thought he

thought of himself as a lesbian in a classic sense.

I wish him well with his transformational surgery. The neighbors' son across the street is now a happy lady. We know much good and happiness can come from gender transformation.

[Arkansas Granny]

5. I didn't know this either. I hope all goes well for him.

[Raine]

17. Yeah me too

I wish him the best and hope he finds complete happiness.

[GKirk]

4. I have an ignorant question...

...by ignorant I mean I don't know much about sex change operations or the gay/lesbian lifestyle.
If Chastity is a lesbian then obviously she is attracted to other women; women who are also lesbians. After the sex change she will be a man, and I assmume still attracted to women. Will lesbian women still be attracted to her/him? Or would his object of attraction be straight women? And if that is correct would it not be a small portion of straight women that would reciprocate?

[JenniferJuniper]

7. Not that I'm much of a Blur fan

But, hey it works.

"Girls who are boys
Who like boys to be girls
Who do boys like they're girls
Who do girls like they're boys
Always should be someone you really love"

I think this world is just way too hung up on gender.

[mtnester]

8. It is not a lifestyle

you have to understand that first.

[tekisui]

9. He has to be who he is.

One must be able to love themself before they can love another or receive another's love. In short, those questions you ask work themselves out. Love is not about labels.

[FreeState]

11. Some not so ignorant answers:)

If Chastity is a lesbian then obviously she is attracted to other women; women who are also lesbians.

Shes actually not a lesbian. Chaz is male and falls in love with women (unless his is bisexual which I have never seen any indication of). More than likely Chaz as always viewed himself as male - however until he answers this its all a guess.

After the sex change she will be a man, and I assmume still attracted to women.

Sexual orientation and gender are two separate things. So what ever sexual orientation Chaz has that will not change - in fact its not possible to change someone's orientation.

Will lesbian women still be attracted to her/him?

I doubt it - why would a lesbian be attracted sexually to a man? If they are bisexual maybe but if they are a Kinsey 6 (meaning 100% of their attractions are towards the same sex) they will not. That being said if someone is in a relationship already with someone and they then transition its common for the relationship to last despite the non-transitioning persons orientation - this has several reasons that are too complex to post here but if your interested in stories and what not let me know and I can provide you with links to personal stories from spouses of Transgendered spouses.

Or would his object of attraction be straight women?

His object of attraction will be willing women of any orientation I imagine - unless he states otherwise (I dont know if Chaz is bi-sexual on any level so I cant answer that 100%).

And if that is correct would it not be a small portion of straight women that would reciprocate?

It is very difficult for anyone thats transitioned to find a partner unfortunately - however as people become educated they become less likely to discount someone their attracted to based on their gender of birth.

Thanks for the questions. I hope this helped some. The only thing Id recommend is not referring to GLBT as a lifestyle - there are many wasys to be GLBT.

[Ilsa]

12. That helped me alot. I think I had already figured out the part about

it being difficult to find a mate after gender correction.

What is the typing you referred to as "Kinsey 6"? What do I type into Google to educate myself further on this type of sexuality typing?

In advance, I thank you for your considerate response.

Ilsa

[FreeState]

15. Kinsey Scale

http://www.kinseyinstitute.org/research/ak-hhscale.html

What is "The Kinsey Scale?"

The Heterosexual-Homosexual Rating Scale, sometimes referred to as the “Kinsey Scale,” was developed by Alfred Kinsey and his colleagues Wardell Pomeroy and Clyde Martin in 1948, in order to account for research findings that showed people did not fit into neat and exclusive heterosexual or homosexual categories.

Interviewing people about their sexual histories, the Kinsey team found that, for many people, sexual behavior, thoughts and feelings towards the same or opposite sex was not always consistent across time. Though the majority of men and women reported being exclusively heterosexual, and a percentage reported exclusively homosexual behavior and attractions, many individuals disclosed behaviors or thoughts somewhere in between.

Rating - Description
0 - Exclusively heterosexual
1 - Predominantly heterosexual, only incidentally homosexual
2 - Predominantly heterosexual, but more than incidentally homosexual
3 - Equally heterosexual and homosexual; bisexual.
4 - Predominantly homosexual, but more than incidentally heterosexual
5 - Predominantly homosexual, only incidentally heterosexual
6 - Exclusively homosexual

----

The site linked above has a lot of information it - if you have any other questions please feel free to ask:)

(Edited for formating)

[Ilsa]

20. Thank you. I'm bookmarking the site with other Health matters.

I've looked over the front page, and I'll read more tomorrow.

I saw part of the Kinsey movie with Liam Neeson and it looked really interesting. Over the years I've read a few tidbits about his groundbreaking work, but never jumped into reading everything that was researched. Nursing school barely mentioned him and his team.

[Ilsa]

21. dupe. nt

[elehhhhna]

13. Sonny & Cher's heir will ALWAYS get hit on.

Every gender has its moneyhunters.

I wish him well.
It must be rough growing up and living in the public eye. IIRC, he has a longterm paramour.
Also hope the tabloids lay off, but they won't.

[Missy Vixen]

18. Thank you for the answers

I know little on this subject, and I appreciate the honest responses. I'm glad to know a little more now.

Best of luck to Chaz.

>It is very difficult for anyone thats transitioned to find a partner unfortunately<

I hope that it becomes easier.

[GKirk]

19. "The only thing Id recommend is not referring to GLBT as a lifestyle"

I shall remember that and thank you for answering my questions so nicely.

[Th1onein]

16. It doesn't make a difference

I was born and continue to be a hetero female, so I'm not an expert, but people are attracted to who they are attracted to, no matter their gender. I watched a couple of documentaries about this and what I got from them was that gender identity is something completely different from sexual attraction. There was this beautiful MTF transexual on one program and she had been attracted to women before her transition and was still attracted to women, afterwards. When she was in her male body, I guess society saw her as a hetero, but she was actually a lesbian. The only thing that changed, after her operation, was her outward gender, not her preferences in terms of sexual attraction.

[Hugabear]

6. Good for him!

Hopefully this will draw some much needed positive attention to the transgendered issue in this country.

[roguevalley]

10. I wish him peace. Cher will be good with it when she gets it all

thought out. It took a moment to think about her daughter when she came out. This would be a mind bender but she will be good about it. Cher rules.

[elehhhhna]

14. Cher's probably the reason it took Chaz so long to do this.

She took more than a moment getting over the gay.

[roguevalley]

22. but she got over it. don't forget that. sometimes it takes a moment.