Chaz Bono

Chaz Salvatore Bono (born Chastity Sun Bono; March 4, 1969) is an American transgender advocate, writer, actor, and musician. Bono is the only child that American entertainers Sonny and Cher begot together, though each begot other children. Bono is a female to male transgendered person.

In 1995, after several years of being outed as lesbian by the tabloid press, Bono publicly declared herself as such in a cover story in a leading American gay monthly magazine, The Advocate. Bono went on to discuss the process of coming out to oneself and to others in two books. Family Outing: A Guide to the Coming Out Process for Gays, Lesbians, and Their Families (1998) includes the author's coming out account. The memoir, The End of Innocence (2003) discusses the author's outing, music career, and partner Joan's death from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Around age 39, Bono underwent female-to-male gender transition. A two-part Entertainment Tonight feature in June 2009 explained that Bono's transition had started a year before. In May 2010, Bono legally changed gender and name. Bono has made a documentary about his life, which OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network will debut.

Gender transition

In mid-2008, Bono began undergoing a physical and social gender transition from female to male. This was confirmed in June 2009 by his publicist, who identified Bono's preferred name as Chaz Bono and said, "It is Chaz's hope that his choice to transition will open the hearts and minds of the public regarding this issue, just as his coming out did. GLAAD and the Empowering Spirits Foundation were quick to offer praise and support for the announcement. Bono's legal transition was completed on May 7, 2010, when a California court granted his request for a gender and name change. Bono made a documentary film about his sex change that premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network acquired the rights to the documentary and will debut it later in 2011.

LGBT activism and spokesperson

In April 1995, Bono came out as lesbian in an interview with The Advocate, a national gay and lesbian magazine. The 1998 book Family Outing detailed how Bono's coming out "catapulted me into a political role that has transformed my life, providing me with affirmation as a lesbian, as a woman, and as an individual. In the same book, Bono reported that Cher, who was both a gay icon and ally to LGBT communities, was quite uncomfortable with the news at first, and "went ballistic before coming to terms with it: "By August 1996, one year after I came out publicly, my mother had progressed so far that she agreed to 'come out' herself on the cover of The Advocate as the proud mother of a lesbian daughter. Cher has since become an outspoken LGBT rights activist.