Jump to content

Chaz Bono

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by SuperNova (talk | contribs) at 22:59, 11 June 2009 (→‎Coming out: sentence actually makes sense in context without the confusing "told his mother he was gay" phrase -- see Talk). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Chaz Bono (born Chastity Sun Bono March 4, 1969) is an American LGBT rights advocate, writer, actor and musician. Bono is the child of the American entertainers Sonny and Cher.

Family life

Bono was born biologically female, and later in life began to identify as a trans man. She is the child of Sonny Bono and Cher, well-known as pop duo Sonny & Cher. Bono was named "Chastity" after the title of Cher's first feature film, which had its première shortly before her birth in 1969.[citation needed]

Childhood

Bono recalls being a tomboy as a child, and when he made appearances with his parents on The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour, he insisted on being dressed to match his father rather than his mother.[citation needed]

Bono's relationship with his father, Sonny Bono, became strained after he took office as a Republican Congressman from California.[citation needed] The differences in their political views separated them, and the two had not spoken for more than a year at the time of Sonny Bono's skiing accident in January 1998.[1]

Sexual orientation and gender identity

Coming out

Bono came out to his parents at age 18. In his memoir Family Outing, Bono surprised many when he revealed that Cher was quite uncomfortable with the news at first and "went ballistic for a few days", before coming to terms with it. Cher has since become an outspoken LGBT activist. However, when Chaz told his father, Sonny, he found immediate support. Bono was outed as lesbian by the Star in January 1990. He was not ready to be out to the world, and denied the tabloid's assertion. In April 1995, Chaz voluntarily came out in an interview with The Advocate after a series of non-published meetings.[1]

Gender identity transition

On June 11, 2009, Bono's publicist confirmed that "Chaz" (né Chastity) Bono was currently undergoing gender transition, which began shortly after his birthday in 2009. The publicist added, "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."[2] GLAAD and the Empowering Spirits Foundation, national LGBT organizations, were quick to offer praise and support for Bono's gender transformation.[3][4]

Career

Musician

Bono began his career with a short-lived music career with his band, Ceremony.[5]

Ceremony released one album, Hang Out Your Poetry, in 1993. The band featured Bono on vocals, acoustic guitar, and percussion. Other members were Heidi Shink a/k/a Chance, Pete McRae, Steve Bauman, Louis Ruiz, and Bryn Mathieu. All the songs except one were written or co-written by Bono, Heidi Shink, and Mark Hudson. There are no synthesizers or digital effects anywhere on the album.

We turned our back on technology. Everything you hear was played by humans. It's reminiscent of the 60s, but more a tip of the hat than emulating it. We took the music we love and rejuvenated it, made it 90's.

— Heidi Shink, [citation needed]

The song "Could've Been Love" was released as a single from the album. The album's other tracks are "Goodbye Sunshine", "Steal Your Heart", "Day by Day", "Ready for Love", "Ready for Love (Refrain)", "Hang Out Your Poetry", "Turn It Over", "Trust", "2 of 1", "First Day of My Life", "Breathless", "Living in a Paradise," and "Livin' It Up." Sonny and Cher also took a small part in recording the album: the last song includes vocals (uncredited) by Sonny Bono and Cher.

The album was not successful and the band was dropped by their record label (David Geffen's DGC).

Writer and activist

Bono worked as a writer at large for The Advocate, a national gay and lesbian magazine.[5]

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.[5]

Bono served as Entertainment Media Director for the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.[5]

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, his music career, and his partner Joan's death from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.[5]

Books

  • Family Outing (with Billie Fitzpatrick) (1998) ISBN 0-316-10233-4
  • The End of Innocence: A Memoir (with Michele Kort) (2003) ISBN 1-55583-795-6

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b Freydkin, Donna (1998-10-14). "Chastity Bono opens up about coming out". CNN. Retrieved 2007-02-20.
  2. ^ "Chastity Bono Undergoing Gender Change". seattlepi.com. June 11, 2009.
  3. ^ "GLAAD--Bravo to Bono". TMZCNN. 2009-06-11. Retrieved 2009-6-11. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  4. ^ "ESf Applauds Chastity Bono's Gender Transition Announcement" (PDF). Empowering Spirits Foundation Press Release. 2009-06-11. Retrieved 2009-6-11. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  5. ^ a b c d e Marcus, Lydia (2006-03-21). "Interview with Chastity Bono". AfterEllen. Retrieved 2007-02-19.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chaz_Bono&oldid=295873235"