Inside the life of Chaz Bono: Cher had problems with him being gay

But according to Chaz himself, his mom actually “went ballistic” when he originally came out to her.

Then, at the age of 39, Chaz began his transition to the male gender.

Transition into a man

It wasn’t until 2010 that Chaz officially became a man, when a California court granted his request for a gender and name change.

In the documentary Becoming Chaz, which was shown at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and aired on Oprah Winfrey Network, viewers got the chance to follow Chaz’s transition into a man.

“My mother went through a kind of mourning period. It was difficult for her, and we didn’t see each other for about the first year of my transition,” Chaz told SBS Australia.

Just as Chaz said himself, his mother Cher had a tough time in the beginning.

The Oscar-winning actress and singer has always been a great supporter of the LGBTQ community, but in the beginning, it sure wasn’t easy, as she recalls it.

“It was very unlike me to, in the beginning, have a problem with Chaz being gay, and it disappeared like that,” Cher told CNN in 2020, as she recalls her initial reaction.

“Then we talked about [whether Bono was] transgender for many years. And he would say, ‘No, I don’t want to [transition]. And then he went and said, ‘OK, I want to do this.’”

Hard time listening to voice message

Cher recalled calling Chaz and his old voicemail message was still on the phone. For her, it was difficult, but as hours and days went by, she slowly started to remember that nothing will change Bono essentially.

“You don’t really lose them. They just are in a different shape,” she said.

As early as 9-years of age, Cher had her first encounter with the gay community.

“One day I came home and there were these two men in my living room with my mom and my aunt,” she recalled

“They were doing their hair and talking, and I was thinking, ‘Why haven’t we ever had these kind of guys around? Because these guys are the coolest. That was my [introduction to] the gay world,” Cher said, adding that “gay people don’t feel like they fit in, and I never felt like I fit in.”

Since the aforesaid documentary aired in 2011, Chaz has appeared several times in Hollywood. The same year as the documentary was released, he actually became the first transgender man to participate in Dancing with the Stars.

Chaz Bono today

It marked the first time a transgender man had starred on a major network television show for something unrelated to being transgender, according to Advocate.com.Continue reading…