Chaz Bono

Though some parts of this book are outdated, I feel like a lot of the information is still relevant to today. I feel like this would be a good book for parents to read, because it gives insight into the struggles for identity that many gay people have. The parents in the book are often surprised at the personal hardships their children go through by being in the closet. I feel like if parents understood, they would have more compassion for their children. It's also a good book to read for show more someone who is gay and planning to come out, or who has recently come out to their parents. It does a good job detailing the process it takes for a parent to accept their child, and worries that they commonly have. It can give a good frame of reference for a child to approach discussing things with their parent.
Most importantly, this book offers many messages of hope, since even parents who were initially not accepting of their children made great progress by the end. That is something gay people of all ages should be able to see.

A great deal of this book discusses Chaz Bono's coming out to his mother as a lesbian, but even so there are hints to his future coming out as a trans man. It might be interesting to see a new edition of this book written for transgender teens, showing stories of their coming out to parents and their parents learning to accept them. show less

This memoir follows Chastity Bono in her journey from in the closet to out. The book, published in 1998, reveals her struggles with becoming an out lesbian, and with how her decision to go public affected her mother's and father's lives as well. Initially, Cher believed that queer people led unhappy lives, in spite of knowing many gay folks personally whose lives did not seem unhappy at all. Over time she came to understand that gender identity aside, her child was still the same person.

In show more addition to the story of the journey, Chastity offers chapters on how different people responded to their children's coming out, and how that changed over time. It's a useful guide for persons on both sides of the story.

It was after publication that Chastity became Chas and became fully transgender, so we don't have a story about that. What we have is a simply written memoir that is engaging and probably helpful. show less

I won a paperback copy of this book through goodreads.com First Reads giveaway.

Now I read this book when it came out about a year ago and loved it. So the giveaway was for the release of the paperback version of the book which included a new epilogue.

So first of all, Chaz Bono is one of the most inspiring men on the planet, in my opinion anyway. I wanted to read this book because I am a supporter of GLBT community. I myself am straight, but I have gay friends and personally believe that show more everyone has the right to be happy no matter who they choose to live there life with. I cannot imagine what it must be like to live most of your life knowing that you belong in another body, or feeling like you should have another body. I mean sometimes I wake up in the morning and hate having to take so long shaving my legs/armpits, or having to endure putting on pantyhose (I mean COME ON who invented that deathly contraption anyway?) and I think to myself “wouldn't my life be so much easier if I was a man?” However, it occurs to me having read this book that there are probably millions of men out in the world who want to be women, and who would love the opportunity to wake up and have to shave there legs. It made me appreciate things like that which I take for granted (I still hate pantyhose though).

I loved how brave Chaz was for sharing his transition in a book and in his documentary. I loved learning more about him, and what he had to go through. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to know more about Transitioning, just on a personal level, it didn't get into like too much medical details. I just thought it was really inspiring. show less

I think there was a lot of value for the young or older transgender person. Anyone on any particular journey in life likes to read about others on similar paths. I disagree with permaswooned about Chaz's desire to transition because there was no other choice for happiness. It was a lot more than that. Chaz's honesty about what was going on in his head throughout his life's ups and downs offered many insights for any human being. Does it matter how he commenced his transition? Why does he show more need to go to a prestigious clinic? Yes, he has had a hard life. To write about not only the easy stuff of life but the really hard stuff that exposes you to the world to help others is courageous. show less