Also of note: a little history on Chaz Bono and his mom.
Back when Chaz was still presenting as his AGAB, he came out as a lesbian. This was inâŚ.Iâm gonna say 1990? 1991? I donât remember exactly. A point in time where that was Really A Terrible Fucking Thing, is the point here.
Cher freaked right the fuck out.
And her fan base basically went âyouâre a gay icon and youâre out here doing this? For fucking shame, Cher.â
And it kind of took her aback, and she shut up, and when we heard her talk about it again it was âyeah it was hard to accept butâŚâ which is considered gross now but was pretty astonishing in a world where Ellen DeGeneres couldnât yet come out of the closet.
Skip ahead to the early 2010s, when Chaz went âso, um. Actually? Not a lesbian. Iâm a straight man.â Again: at this point, mainstream trans activism wasnât a thing. This was as wild a thing to do as when he came out as a lesbian.
AND CHER SHUT RIGHT THE FUCK UP.
The first time she said anything about it at all was like six months later, and it was something along the lines of âwell Iâve been using âsheâ for over 40 years so sometimes I forget but Iâve really been working on it because it makes my son happy to know heâs my son.â And to the best of my knowledge, sheâs only ever had a single public slip-up, and it was at a point where she was using Chazâs deadname in a story about his childhood. Someone told her thatâs not a good thing to do AND SHE NEVER DID IT AGAIN.
Cher isnât just out here doing the right thing. Cher is out here LEARNING the right thing. You think she spent those six months sulking? You donât know Cher very well. Iâd bet a nickel she spent those six months finding accessible options (yes, Cher is disabled, surprise) for every GLAAD publication she could get her hands on.
She is a gold standard of activism. âI fucked up once, it was a learning experience, Iâm going to not do that again and show how to not do that.â
Give credit where itâs due.
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