SameSame.com.au ~ Inside Out Australia

Chaz Bono: Life's Perfect

International News, By Joal, 20th November, 2009

Chaz Bono recently told Good Morning America that his gender transition has been tough, but “feels so much more comfortable” than he’s ever been.

In the recent interview, Chaz, the child of Cher and Sonny Bono, tells the GMA reporter that he believes “gender is between your ears, not your legs.” Chaz also says that he’s only been taking hormones for 8 months and there is a little way to go.

The report shows images of Chaz growing up as a woman, coming out as a lesbian, and images now of the celebrity with his girlfriend [both pictured right].

Chaz also raised the fact that something that is an incredible difficult decision and process for most people was made worse by the fact that he had to transition publicly. “Just an incredible hurdle was the idea that I wasn’t going to be able to do this privately, like most people can,” says Chaz. “That took me a really long time to get over. And then it was about dealing with the people in my life and how it was going to affect them. And finally, it came down to realising that I’ve got to live my life for myself and life is short and life is precious.”

Chaz also explained to his interviewer that lesbian was an easy fit at the time, but he knew he was a man as far back as he can remember.

“A lot of female-to-male transgender people end up doing a stint in the lesbian community because it just kind of makes sense. At 13, 14, I was real clear at that point that I was attracted to women. So I was like, ‘I’m attracted to women, I am a woman, I guess I’m a lesbian.’”

“Who you’re attracted to has nothing to do with gender identity. A lot of people find that really confusing, but they’re two completely different things. One is how you view yourself and how you feel, and the other one is who you’re attracted to.”

Now 40-years-old, Chaz says life’s looking pretty perfect. “At this point, nothing scares me. I’m living the life that I’ve always wanted to live now, and that’s amazing.”

The Huffington Post also indicated that Chaz has signed a deal to write a memoir about his transition.