SOUNDBITES — “Chaz is embarking on a difficult journey, but one that I will support. I respect the courage it takes to go through this transition in the glare of public scrutiny and although I may not understand I will strive to be understanding. The one thing that will never change is my abiding love for my child.” —Cher on daughter-cum-son Chaz’s decision to undergo a sex change [People]
Meanwhile, was Chaz shopping a reality show about his transition? Ted Casablanca: “Despite Chaz’s famous family connection and fascinating operation, no one was interested in televising it, at first. According to impeccable TV sources, Chaz and his team, including mama Cher, were pitching the sex-change show to the big networks, as opposed to a niche cable network like TLC that prolly woulda snatched it up to run between Jon & Kate marathons. They were hoping for a big get. But there weren’t too many bites, it seems, for Chaz’s story.”
Fitz
What is she going to say? “I don’t believe in cosmetic surgery and HRT just so that you like how you look”? This will bring them closer than ever.
B-Gad
Argh! Even a queer-related site can’t get the idea behind gender transition correct. The verbiage is still that of a “sex change” and “the operation” and such, as if it’s some snap decision and quick snip-snip and it’s all over.
I’ve been transitioning for -four years- in the same manner that Chaz is pursuing, and that’s still considered “early on”, in the big picture. A transition is just that: a transition, gradual and drawn-out over a long span of time. You don’t go from Chastity Bono to Chuck Norris overnight.
And as for “the operation”: which one? Chest surgery? Okay, then bilateral-incision or peri-areolar? Bottom surgery? Okay, then simple clitoral release, metoidioplasty, or phalloplasty? And do you realise that lower surgery for guys like Chaz and myself can be up to ten surgeries to finish the process entirely, barring complications?
Hell, most guys like us opt not to have lower surgery at all, because right now, medical science has not progressed nearly so much for our surgeries as for transwomen’s surgeries in form nor function, as well as being well out of our reach in regards to cost.
So please, -please- enlighten onesself about gender identity disorder before using sensationalist terminology. Yes, even when reporting on someone who is in the public eye.
B-Gad
@B-Gad: Though with that being said, good on Cher for having the same attitude as my own mother: Your child is always your child, and the most important thing is that they are healthy and happy and living life as the best person they can be.
Vanhattan
Way to go Cher & Chaz. God I wish I had a mom who was that understanding……So cool to see that kind of love in the real world.
Rudy
If Chaz is unable to market his gender reassignment surgeries as a television series, maybe he should consider gastric bypass instead.
It might appeal to a wider audience.