Chaz Bono: America ‘Needs to See’ Him on DWTS
The inclusion of Chaz Bono- the then daughter, now son of Cher and Sonny Bono- on the upcoming season of ABC’s Dancing With The Stars has been controversial for the network due to Bono’s gender change from female-to-male.
The calm, soft-spoken and affable Bono may be one of the first people to publicly chronicle their transition- and while LGBT rights have made tremendous strides in the past decade, the reaction to his inclusion on the popular dance competition shows how limited the scope of gains has been. A recent ABC piece on the controversy- ABC being the network that owns DWTS– included both Bono and his opponents discussing their positions.
Monica Cole, director of the benign-sounding OneMillionMoms.com, spoke to the network about their opposition to Bono’s appearance on the show. So what is OneMillionMoms.com? Is it a moms’ club? A site for women to discuss issues surrounding motherhood? Actually, it’s a “project” of the pro-corporate, anti-gay and anti-women’s rights group, the American Family Association- another benign sounding organization that has actually been declared a “hate group” by the Southern Poverty Law Center, a civil rights advocacy based in the south.
Predictably, Cole- whose OneMillionMoms.com site has a badge on the bottom promoting “culture defense”- resorts to the “what about the children?” defense when basically saying Bono shouldn’t be in public. She huffs:
“We will not be able to watch the show with Chaz on there… This is going to be very confusing for children, and should not be included in their cast.”
Note Cole pointedly avoided using gender pronouns in her statement. Chaz was calm when asked about the hate lobbed at him for merely appearing on the show:
“It’s made me realize I’m really glad I’m doing this, because America really needs to see this… You know, it just kind of shows why for me it’s important to be on the show, because so little still is known about what it means to be transgender,” he told ABC News. “And there’s so many just completely inaccurate stereotypes and thoughts that people have.”
Cast and others affiliated with the production have thrown their support behind Bono, and an advisor to the DWTS contestant appearing on a morning show likened the opposition’s vitriol to “writing on a bathroom wall” and hoped Bono would be able to “ignore” his critics. The advisor, Howard Bragman, said that while seeing Bono on television won’t harm anyone, his inclusion on the show can actually serve to save struggling and suicidal transgender kids:
“Watching Chaz Bono dance is not going to make your kid transgender,” Bragman told “GMA.” “But what it can do is possibly save your kids life because young transgender kids, kids with gender identity issues, have a huge suicide rate and if they see one positive influence, one positive role model, this can save lives and that’s why Chaz is here.”
Bono has said that all he is “trying to do” is share his experience, strength and hope. Below, a bit more on the controversy- including mom Cher’s reaction:
