Chaz Bono, the child of ‘70s greats Sonny and Cher, has filed to legally his gender to male and his name to Chaz Bono according to TMZ.
For those that haven’t been following this story, Chaz was born Chastity Bono in 1969. The only child of Sonny and Cher, Chastity grew up in the spotlight, often appearing on her parent’s television show. When Chastity turned 18, she came out to both her parents as a lesbian. She wrote in her 1998 “Family Outing” memoir, “as a child, I always felt there was something different about me.” Chastity also wrote that she knew by age 13 that she was gay.
It took Cher a while to become comfortable with her daughter’s sexuality. Chaz said in her memoir that her mother went “ballistic” when she first told her. But in 1996, a year after Chaz came out to the public, Cher appeared on the cover of The Advocate as a proud parent of a lesbian. She has also become an activist for gay, lesbian, and bisexual rights.
While Sonny may have been more accepting of Chaz’s sexuality, the two had a falling out about political views. Sonny, a Republican Congressman in California, had reportedly not spoken to his daughter for a year before his death in 1998 due to these differences.
Since coming out, Chaz has been a vocal advocate for gay rights. He has been a writer at large for The Advocate, a spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign (which promoted National Coming Out Day and the Defense of Marriage Act). He has also served as the Entertainment Media Director for Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD).
In June 2009, a publicist for 41-year-old Chaz confirmed that he was undergoing gender transition from female to male. Apparently the gender transition is complete because Chaz filed a petition last week to have the gender on his birth certificate changed to male and his name officially changed from Chastity to Chaz. The doctor who performed the transition last year signed a declaration that was filed with the court. A hearing for the petition is scheduled for May 6.
Chaz calls the transformation “the best decision I’ve ever made.”