Cher says Chaz Bono’s transition ‘wasn’t easy’ but that he’s ‘unbelievably happy’
"I remember calling and the old Chaz message was on the phone and that was very difficult"
Words: Jamie Tabberer; pictures: Wiki
Cher has opened up about her son Chaz Bono’s transition, saying the process “wasn’t easy”.
However the pop icon, in an interview with CNN, said the former Dancing With the Stars contestant is “unbelievably happy” now.
Chaz began transitioning in 2008.
Told by the interviewer “you obviously had no trouble”, Cher says “no, that’s not exactly true. I did.”
“We talked about transgender for many years”
“It was very unlike me to, in the beginning, have a problem with Chaz being gay, and it disappeared like that,” the ‘Believe’ singer said.
“We talked about transgender for many years,” she continued, adding that Chaz initially said: “‘No, I don’t want to do it.’
“Then he went and said ‘OK, I want to do this.’ But it wasn’t easy. I remember calling and the old Chaz message was on the phone and that was very difficult.
“But then, you have one child, but you don’t really lose them. They just go in a different shape. Chaz is so happy, so unbelievably happy. I don’t know what the people’s problems are. They’re fearful. They just don’t understand how to react to it. Some of it’s religious. I’m not sure why it’s such a big thing. And I talk to people on Twitter, or people come up to me. I just say: ‘Just relax, and you guys will get through it. You’ll get through it together.'”
Asked “if the debate is open enough”, Cher replied: “No, I don’t think it’s open at all. It’s really open with some people, a few people, and closed to the rest, to the majority. They don’t want to do it.”
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