The controversy over Chaz Bono's
upcoming appearance on ABC's Dancing with the Stars continues
to simmer.
The latest to wade into the debate is
Chicago Sun-Times columnist Richard Roeper.
Roeper's Monday column titled Not to
worry: Chaz Bono's dancing won't make viewers change genders
comes along after Fox News contributor Keith Ablow warned parents not to
let their children watch the dancing competition, because it would
lead to confusion.
Author-activist Bono is the child of
gay icon Cher and the late entertainer-politician Sonny Bono. Bono
is a transgender man.
In
his column, Ablow suggests Bono should not be applauded for
“asserting she is a man … any more than a woman who believes she
will be happier without arms, has them removed and then continues to
assert that she was right all along – her self-concept was that of
a double amputee. Now, all is well.”
Ablow's op-ed comes amid a firestorm of
protest. Bono, 42, has already refused to back out of the dancing
contest amid calls for a boycott of the show and its advertisers over
its casting. (Conservatives
are also fuming at the inclusion of openly gay fashion expert Carson
Kressley.)
The controversy has “made me realize
I'm really glad I'm doing this, because America really needs to see
this,” Bono, who has been partnered with female professional dancer
Lacey Schwimmer, told ABC News.
Roeper
said he supports Bono: “But imagine all that a Chaz Bono has to
go through – medically, emotionally, on all levels – to become
the person she wants and needs to be. If someone undertakes that
journey, how can their choices be anything BUT legitimate.?”
(Related: Cher
defends Chaz Bono from offended Dancing
with the Stars
viewers.)