27. BECOMING CHAZ

we all remember her....little chastity bono, daughter of sonny and cher.  she appeared many times on their tv show.  chastity grew up, apparently never feeling quite right in her body.  she came out as a lesbian in her late teens, which was very difficult for momma cher.  later in life, chastity made the decision to become chaz and started the process of gender modification.  we see him, with long time girlfriend jenny, making changes and dealing with life, while always cognizant of his very public persona.  i learned a little about transgender.  we see him get "top surgery", meaning removal of the breasts.  we hear him discuss "bottom surgery", for which he is still ambivalent, due to the imperfections of the procedures.  when a female becomes male, the testosterone caused the clitoris to swell to 2-3 inches and this then becomes the pleasure organ, although it can't do everything a male penis can do.  we see jenny and chaz deal with changes in their relationship, due to the "surge of testosterone".  we see interviews with friends and family of chaz, including, most intriguingly, cher.  chaz feels all man, although mom cher still tends to refer to "her".  chaz is now engaged in helping transgender youth lead happier lives, something he feels quite sad about missing out on.  i say, way to go, chaz, and best wishes.