Chaz Bono

Chaz Salvatore Bono ^{[ 1 ]} (nacido como Chastity Sun Bono ; 4 de marzo de 1969) es un escritor, músico y actor estadounidense. Sus padres son los artistas Sonny Bono y Cher , y se hizo ampliamente conocido por sus apariciones de niño en su programa de televisión, The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour . ^{[ 2 ] [ 3 ]}

Chaz Bono es un hombre trans . En 1995, cuando se presentaba como mujer, y varios años después de que la prensa sensacionalista revelara que era lesbiana, Chaz se identificó públicamente como lesbiana en un artículo de portada de una importante revista mensual gay estadounidense, The Advocate . Posteriormente, Bono habló sobre el proceso de salir del armario, tanto consigo mismo como con los demás, en dos libros: Family Outing: A Guide to the Coming Out Process for Gays, Lesbians, and Their Families (1998), que incluye su relato de su salida del armario. Las memorias The End of Innocence (2003) tratan sobre su salida del armario, su carrera musical y la muerte de su pareja Joan a causa de un linfoma no Hodgkin . ^{[ 4 ]}

Entre 2008 y 2010, Bono buscó una transición de género . En un reportaje de dos partes de CBS TV Entertainment Tonight de junio de 2009, Chaz explicó que su transición médica había comenzado un año antes. ^{[ 5 ]} En mayo de 2010, cambió legalmente su identificación para que coincidiera con su género y nombre. ^{[ 6 ]} Un documental sobre la experiencia de Bono, Becoming Chaz , se proyectó en el Festival de Cine de Sundance de 2011 y posteriormente se estrenó en televisión en la Oprah Winfrey Network . ^{[ 7 ] [ 8 ]}

Bono nació el 4 de marzo de 1969 en Los Ángeles , California, Estados Unidos, hijo único de Cher y Sonny Bono , del dúo pop Sonny & Cher , estrellas de un programa de variedades de televisión en el que el pequeño aparecía con frecuencia. Bono recibió su nombre por la película Chastity , producida por Sonny, en la que Cher (en su primer papel en solitario en un largometraje) interpretó a una mujer bisexual . ^{[ 9 ]} Por parte de su madre, Bono tiene ascendencia armenia , irlandesa, inglesa, alemana y cherokee . Por parte de su padre, tiene ascendencia italiana. ^{[ 10 ] [ 11 ]}

Bono was enrolled at the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts in New York City.^[12] Bono came out to both parents as a lesbian at age 18. In Family Outing, Bono wrote that, "as a child, I always felt there was something different about me. I'd look at other girls my age and feel perplexed by their obvious interest in the latest fashion, which boy in class was the cutest, and who looked the most like cover girl Christie Brinkley. When I was 13, I finally found a name for exactly how I was different. I realized I was gay."^[13]

Bono began a short music career in 1988 with the band Ceremony,^[4] which released one album, Hang Out Your Poetry, in 1993. The band featured Bono on vocals, acoustic guitar, and percussion. Other members were Steve March Tormé (backup vocals), Heidi Shink a.k.a. Chance, Pete McRae, Steve Bauman, Louis Ruiz, and Bryn Mathieu. All but one of the band's songs were written or co-written by Bono, Shink, and Mark Hudson. They used no synthesizers or digital effects on the album; Shink noted, "We turned our back on technology. [ ... ] It's reminiscent of the 60s, but more a tip of the hat than emulating it. We took the music we love and rejuvenated it, made it 90s."^[14] Critical reception of the album was lukewarm, with Roch Parisien of AllMusic describing Hang Out Your Poetry as a mildly psychedelic take on early 1990s pop, "pleasant, accessible, well-produced ear-candy that's ultimately toothless".^[15]

The songs "Could've Been Love" and "Ready for Love" were released as singles from the album. Sonny and Cher also recorded backing vocals for the track "Livin' It Up" on the album.

In April 1995, Bono came out as a lesbian in an interview with The Advocate, a national gay and lesbian magazine.^[16] 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."^[17] In the same book, Bono reported that Cher, who was both a gay icon and an ally of LGBTQ communities, was quite uncomfortable with the news at first and "went ballistic"^[18] 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."^[17] Cher has since become an outspoken LGBTQ rights activist.

Bono's paternal relationship became strained from November 1994, when his father was elected as a RepublicanCongressman from California. Their differing political views separated them, and they had not spoken for more than a year at the time of Sonny's fatal skiing accident in January 1998.^[16]

Bono worked as a writer at large for The Advocate.^[4] As a social activist, Bono became a spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign, promoted National Coming Out Day, campaigned for the reelection of Bill Clinton for US president, campaigned against the Defense of Marriage Act, and served as Entertainment Media Director for the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD).^[4] Bono was a team captain for Celebrity Fit Club 3 (2006) and was supported by girlfriend Jennifer Elia, who orchestrated exercise and training sessions.^[5]

In June 2016, the Human Rights Campaign released a video in tribute to the victims of the Orlando nightclub shooting; in the video, Bono and others told the stories of the people killed there.^[19][20]

In mid-2008, Bono began undergoing a physical and social transition from female to male. This was confirmed in June 2009 by his publicist,^[5] who identified Bono's 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."^[21]GLAAD and the Empowering Spirits Foundation were quick to offer praise and support for the announcement.^[22] Bono's legal transition was completed on May 6, 2010, when a California court granted his request for a gender and name change.^[6][23] Bono made Becoming Chaz, a documentary film about his transition that premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. The Oprah Winfrey Network acquired the rights to the documentary and debuted it on May 10, 2011.^[24]

In September 2011, he became a competitor on the 13th season of the U.S. version of Dancing with the Stars, paired with professional ballroom dancer Lacey Schwimmer.^[25] The duo was eliminated on October 25, 2011.^[26] This was the first time an openly transgender man starred on a major network television show for something unrelated to being transgender.^[27]

His book, Transition: Becoming Who I Was Always Meant to Be was published in 2012, making him the first person of Armenian descent to publish a memoir about being an openly transgender man.^[28]

On March 8, 2026, Bono married Shara Blue Mathes at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles. The two had known each other since they were teenagers, but did not reconnect and begin dating until January 2017.^[29]

• Paseo familiar ^{[ a ]} (con Billie Fitzpatrick) (1998). Little, Brown and Company.  272 ​​págs. ISBN 978-0316102339
• El fin de la inocencia: Memorias ^{[ a ]} (con Michele Kort ) (2003).  232 páginas. ISBN 978-1555837952
• Transición: La historia de cómo me convertí en hombre (con Billie Fitzpatrick) (2011). Nueva York: Dutton. ISBN 978-0525952145
• Transición: Convertirme en quien siempre estuve destinado a ser (con Billie Fitzpatrick) (edición de bolsillo de 2012). Plume.  272 ​​páginas. ISBN 978-0452298002

• Chaz Bono at IMDb
• Chaz Bono discography at Discogs
• AllMusic entry on Bono's band Ceremony