Subscribe to the BlogBY STEVE ROTHAUS, srothaus@MiamiHerald.com
Transgender activists say they’re hopeful that Chastity Bono’s very public gender transition will generate widespread discussion and raise awareness of gender identity issues.
“Chaz is doing this to honor himself and his own needs,’’ said Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality in Washington. “Is Chaz alright? Yes, Chaz is great.”
Keisling said it’s important for the public to see “that real people are transgender people, that it can be somebody’s son or daughter or somebody's neighbor. And when that person is high profile, people pay more attention.”
Certainly, the public will be interested in Bono’s story – and in how mom Cher deals with his transition.
“The Bono family is a pop cultural iconic family. Publicly how the family will react, how Cher will react, how Chaz reacts, will drive the public impact of all this,’’ said Tobias Packer, pictured at right, a transgender activist who works for Equality Florida, the state’s largest gay-rights group. “Any time we have conversations like this, we move forward.”
Packer, 26, began to transition about 10 years ago, just after he graduated from high school in Coral Springs.
Despite all the talk about gay rights today, few people contemplate transgender transgender issues, Packer said.
“It’s not something that's laid out as an option. Growing up as a small child, you're parents don’t ask you if you're a boy or a girl, or do you feel like a boy or a girl,’’ Packer said. “It's not something that accessible or easy in the vocabulary to establish.”
Gender transition is “an awkward process,” said Packer, adding that it must be especially difficult for someone like Bono to transition so publicly.
It’s a very difficult process,’’ he said. “It’s something that even without public scrutiny can tax a person. What Chaz is going through as someone who has transitioned, I can't imagine what it's like going through that in the public eye.
“Being out as a transgender person brings its own separate set of challenges than being out as gay or lesbian. it reveals something about you that many people feel is very private information,” Packer added. “Different people respond differently. I've stopped assuming how someone is going to react. .. Some people ask questions that seem to be impolite.”
People often ask if the transgender person has had, or is considering to have, hormone treatments or gender reassignment surgery.
“This isn't about surgery. It's about living as your true self,” said Keisling, pictured at right. “I have no idea what, if any, medical intervention or treatments, Chaz is interested in.”
Bono photo by Vince Bucci/Getty Images
