Cher Defends Her Transgender Child's Decision to Dance

The world celebrated when two beloved performers, Sonny and Cher Bono, collaborated in the most intimate way to bring life to their little girl, Chastity.  Years have passed and this family has changed in many ways. Sonny and Cher divorced. Sonny died tragically in a skiing accident. Their daughter, Chastity, became their son, Chaz. 

While Chaz has lived outside of Hollywood’s glaring lights as a man, things are about to change in a major way – he’s been invited to perform, with female partner, Lacey Schwimmer, on Dancing with the Stars.  As some may have expected, ABC’s decision has been polarizing.

There has been an outcry from viewers who believe that a man is born a man and, no matter how many surgeries or rounds of hormone therapy a person endures, there is no changing our chromosomal makeup.  On the other hand, some feel that a person should be who they want to be. Besides, with so many people indulging in plastic surgery, who can tell what’s real and what’s not nowadays?

Famous mother, Cher, has showed support for her son saying: “If you've got that excess time and that amount of hostility, I'm not so sure I can say anything to you that would make you change your feelings.  I don't know that I would have any magic words to make you feel more comfortable and to soothe you into not being terrified of my child dancing on Dancing with the F*#%ing Stars."

Chaz, who reportedly lost almost a pound a day during that first week of training, thanked his mother and then brought the focus back to the rehearsals: “My first dance is pretty good, the Cha-Cha. The Quickstep gives me nightmares, but I'm starting to feel pretty confident. We did it for some of the other people on the show today, and they seem to really like it."

Dancing with the Stars premieres on September, 19, 2011 on ABC.