Chaz Bono says of the controversy
surrounding his upcoming appearance on ABC's Dancing with the
Stars: gender dysphoria isn't contagious.
Bono's comments come after several
op-eds have weighed in on the issue. Fox News contributor Keith
Ablow warned parents not to let their children watch the dancing
competition, because it would lead to confusion, while Chicago
Sun-Times columnist Richard Roeper said there wasn't much to
worry about.
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.)
On Tuesday, Tony Perkins, president of
the Christian conservative Family Research Council, added fuel to the
fire during his radio show.
“Chaz Bono … may have been born a
woman – but she'll be dancing as a man. And while the gay
community approves, fans certainly don't. ABC's been blasted by
thousands of viewers for turning a popular show into an hour-long
political statement,” Perkins said. “I guess if Dancing
wants to advertise for the radical left, they'll find out how out of
step they are!”
Bono responded to his detractors during
an appearance on ABC's Good Morning America.
“I'm going to be dancing,” Bono
said. “I'm not up there talking about anything other than
dancing. People who don't have gender dysphoria aren't going to
catch it by watching me dance on television.” (The video is
embedded in the right panel of this page.)