Chastity Bono is Changing into a Man

Cher's daughter, the soon-to-be Chaz is in the process of becoming a he, according to TMZ. 40-year-old Chastity starting making the change earlier this year. He's just in the early stages.

Here's the full statement from Chaz's rep:

"Yes, it's true -- Chaz, after many years of consideration, has made the courageous decision to honor his true identity. He is proud of his decision and grateful for the support and respect that has already been shown by his loved ones. 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 nearly 20 years ago. We ask that the media respect Chaz's privacy during this long process as he will not be doing any interviews at this time."

It's not easy to go through all the operations to become another sex. A person has to feel deeply and intensely, that by some trick of nature, they were born in the wrong body. That they were meant to be the opposite sex this time around. They don't feel right in their own skin, literally.

I knew a woman who transitioned into being a man. She went through some amazingly painful operations to get her breasts removed and a penis installed. It was particularly painful to urinate for the first month. She also took hormones that deepened her voice and allowed her to grow facial hair. But, after thinking that this was going to be the key to her happiness, she found some new disappointments.

Her girlfriend preferred women and was not attracted to her/him now that she was a male. The girlfriend soon left and found someone else. My friend was lonely and bitter. He had other problems now that he was a male, relating to the fact that in Belgium, where he was born, the government refused to change his identity card to the new sex. So in their eyes, she was still a female because born a female, even though the picture on the card showed him in full beard.

He was involved in an unhappy and prolonged lawsuit over that issue.

He told me that ever since he was two years old, he knew that he was born into the wrong body. He never felt right as a girl. He longed to be able to go into the men's room and do the things men do. He told me that the happiest day of his life was when he could finally use the men's lavatory.

He showed me a picture of himself when he was 18. An astonishingly pretty, voluptuous blond in a bikini. He told me he despised how he looked in those days. This opened my eyes to the relativity of beauty. There before me was a picture of a girl that many would aspire to look like. But she hated herself. She wanted so badly to be a man, she endured 13 operations to prove it.

As a man, he did not cut an impressive figure. Perhaps it was because of the pervasive sadness that overcame his delicate features. His slightness did not convey masculinity. Yet I felt for him. He helped me understand how far people will go to find the happiness they find so elusive. He was willing to risk it, such was the impossible sadness he felt when he was a woman.

Now that sadness was replaced by a new sadness, because no matter how drastically we try to change externals, if we do not know how to find happiness within, it won't work. We will just be exchanging one set of external circumstances for another. The novelty will distract us for a while and then we are back again. The same us. Not liking ourselves enough the way we are. Thinking people will love us more if we make drastic and permanent changes to our outsides. Thinking that we will finally put an end to our suffering by going under the knife.

I wish Chaz the best. It can't be easy and I can only imagine how painful it will be. I hope I'm wrong and that he finds the happiness he is seeking in the process of honoring his true identity. It will be interesting to see how it all turns out.