What Chaz Bono on "DWTS" Means... A Transgender Man's Perspective

Chaz with his mother.

As you probably already know, this year one of the contestants on Dancing with the Stars is Chaz Bono, a transgender man, writer, LGBT activist, and son of Sonny and Cher. Being a transgender man myself, I had mixed reactions when I first heard the announcement that he would be competing.

On the one hand, I was excited that they were willing to branch out and include a transgender contestant, even if that was sure to – and did, in fact – attract a lot of negative attention. As they say, there's no such thing as bad publicity.

But I did wonder if the show would have wanted Chaz if he were not transgender. If he were still Chastity. Was being transgender itself enough to qualify you as a "celebrity?" Was including him on the show just a ratings gimmick?

One of the major naysayers for having Chaz on the show was Dr. Keith Ablow, who claimed that watching Chaz will make boyish girls and girlish boys decide that they are transgender. As John M. Oldham, M.D., the president of the American Psychiatric Association, pointed out to TMZ, there is no evidence whatsoever that watching Chaz dancing will make anyone transgender.

I’m not an expert, but I am transgender. I doubt very much that seeing Chaz dance will cause people to question their inherent sex. I mean, he's not that good of a dancer! What probably will happen, though, is it will get people talking, and make people more aware of what it means to be transgender.

Speaking from personal experience, since Chaz was announced as a contestant, I have had more conversations with my family about transgender people in general than I have had in my entire life, much less the year or so that I’ve been out to them. None of those conversations have even been about me – for the most part, it’s just been my family recognizing that I know about the subject and being curious, seeking out more information. I’m certain conversations like that have been happening all across the country, and the spread of correct information can only help people who are transgender to feel safe and accepted in places they may never have felt safe before.

Any sane person knows that having Chaz on the show isn't creating transgender people - but there's no doubt it is making it easier for some of them to come out. And that's a good thing.

Maybe some poor transgender teenager will see that his or her parents think it’s cool that Chaz is on the show, and that will give him or her the courage to come out to them.

Perhaps an adult who has struggled with their gender their entire life will see Chaz on DWTS, and seeing someone who is comfortable with not falling into traditional gender roles will be what gives them the strength to take an inward look and confront themselves and their assumptions about gender and sexuality.

Of course, not every discussion will end well, and not every person will be willing to open their mind enough to even try to understand what transgender people are going through. I’m not saying by any means that Chaz and his tenure on DWTS will magically fix every problem transgender individuals face. But hey, it's a start.

Chaz’s neckbeard gives Chuck Norris’ beard nightmares. True story.

In the end, it doesn’t matter why the DWTS producers decided to bring Chaz onto the show. Ratings gimmick or not, he’s showing the world that transgender people are normal, too – we can stink at dancing, we can make questionable facial hair choices, and we can endure apparently excruciating knee pain.

Just by being himself he’s doing a fantastic thing for the transgender community. So thank you Chaz, and good luck!