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Amos Lassen wrote on 11/26/2011:

Those of us who remember the Sonny and Cher Show remember when we first saw Chastity Bono. How her life has changed. Chastity has become Chaz and Fenton Baily and Randy Barbato have documented the journey from female to male and it is absolutely fascinating. Soon all of you will be able to see it on television on Oprah Winfrey’s OWN channel.

Chaz Bono shares his life with us and I, myself, was deeply moved by the film and admire the courage it took for him to become who he really thinks he is. We begin by going with Chaz to the doctor, Dr. Richard Horowitz, before the sexual reassignment surgery was to take place. The doctor explains what the breast removal surgery will be like and he explains the procedure. We watch Chaz being taken into the operating room and then later to the recovery room after the surgery. Chaz’s face says it all and he seems to be totally happy now with the body he has always wanted to have. Dr. Horowitz explains that gender reassignment is not that much different from, say, diabetes or high blood pressure and that it must be treated.

Transitioning is a surgical procedure but it is also so much more than that. It, in actuality, means an entire new person comes into the world and it has its challenges. Cher, her mother, worries that the change may be too much for Chaz and that the medication that he needs to take might hurt her. Cher is burying her daughter and the situation between mother and new son is quite tense. However a little later we see them both at the premiere of Cher’s latest movie “Burlesque” and things seem much better. I understand this all too well as my niece recently became my nephew—it is very hard to understand and as much as I want to accept, I need to work through my own issues.



We then see Chaz at home with his partner Jennifer who is totally accepting of Chaz’s decision to transition. Chaz and Jenifer are obviously very much in love and they know that challenges are ahead of them. Because Chaz is the child of two famous parents, he has been in the public eye for much of his life even when he chooses not to be. But there is a plus to this as well, Chaz becomes a role model for other trans people and he is a mentor for youngsters who have gender difficulty.

Again I must state that his is a fascinating film and the courage that Chaz has is awe inspiring. I personally cannot imagine going through something like this but I am sure that the more that I think about this film, the easier it will be for me to overcome how I feel about it. We do see that Chaz is now very happy and feels complete and that seems to be what the film is telling us—we must be who we think we are if we want to lead full and productive lives.