Bono was named after the movie Chasity, a movie produced by Sonny. Cher played the lead role, portraying a young, bisexual hippie runaway.
Apparently, Chastity was conceived during the making of the film.
As a child, Chaz appeared numerous times in The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour. He usually came on at the end of each episode, when Sonny and Cher sang “I Got You Babe“.
In this way, Chaz became a familiar face to the American audience.
But few knew what he was going through at home and at school. Early in his life, Chaz couldn’t relate to other girls and their interests.
Chaz Bono Cher
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”I’d look at other girls my age and feel perplexed by their interest in fashion or which boy was the cutest,” Chaz told Daily Mail in 2011.
Came out as a lesbian
At age 18, Chaz came out to both parents as a lesbian.
“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,” Chaz wrote in his book Family Outing: A Guide to the Coming Out Process for Gays, Lesbians, and Their Families.”
“When I was 13, I finally found a name for exactly how I was different. I realized I was gay.”
For Cher, who would later become an icon among the LGBTQ community, it wasn’t “easy” for her to deal with her daughter coming out as a lesbian.
“When I found out Chaz was gay, I didn’t go through it that easily,” Cher said in an interview with PrideSource.
Cher
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But according to Chaz himself, his mom actually “went ballistic” when he originally came out to her.
Then, at the age of 39, Chaz began his transition to the male gender.
Transition into a man
