Originally Posted By DDMAN26 On the Oprah network there was a documentary called becoming Chas. I caught a bit while popping through the channels. Watched for a few minutes then turned it off And naturally a question popped into my head. When he was Chastity (she) met her partner. After Chastity became Chas, he still has the same partner. So is his partner bisexual because Chas is now a man? It was very confusing.
Originally Posted By mele Without knowing exactly how they personally feel and/or how their sex life is, usually people in these types of relationships do not consistently need gender affirmations while together. They don't think "oh, here is my man" or "here is my woman". They just think "here is the person I love". It's less of an issue than you'd think.
Originally Posted By gadzuux Chaz is still biologically female 'where it counts'. I didn't see this film, or read the book, but he's on a promotional tour right now and showing up everywhere. I guess we've all got to pay the bills somehow, but if it were me I'd be less forthcoming about all those nitty gritty details. Why put your personal intimate situation out there in the public view, except to capitalize on a weird kind of fame - for money. I don't care if Chastity becomes Chaz - that's a personal decision that is up to the individual. But my opinion is reduced when you turn yourself into a side-show, and piggy back on the fame of your mother and father - for money.
Originally Posted By A Happy Haunt I like Chaz! <<I guess we've all got to pay the bills somehow, but if it were me I'd be less forthcoming about all those nitty gritty details. Why put your personal intimate situation out there in the public view, except to capitalize on a weird kind of fame - for money.>> or to bring awareness to other folks that may be trapped in the wrong sex body! Remember when homosexuality was taboo! Now, who cares... everyone's gay
Originally Posted By Labuda "Chaz is still biologically female 'where it counts'." Can you please explain? I found a web link that says he underwent gender reassignment surgery, which I take to mean he's only female by birth now, not physically female any more.
Originally Posted By gadzuux I saw a bit of an interview on Joy Behar last night, where they sifted through the specifics. He doesn't feel the need to undergo the surgery "right now", because the end result isn't all that aesthetic. But maybe in time, the procedure will get better, and he'll reconsider. I've seen pics before, and he's right about that. Looks like something the dog got ahold of.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >>Looks like something the dog got ahold of<< My junk is not on trial here!
Originally Posted By Mr X ***It's less of an issue than you'd think*** It all depends. An old friend of mine from high school days is a woman of transexual experience (that is the exact description that she has asked people to use). She was married for many years to a woman, and when she transitioned fulltime (and later got the surgery and everything) she wanted to stay together but her wife decided that she couldn't do it as she wasn't a lesbian and couldn't become one. They reluctantly divorced, but remain friends. It was all very hard for me to wrap my head around, honestly, but I try to be understanding.
Originally Posted By Mr X ***I guess we've all got to pay the bills somehow, but if it were me I'd be less forthcoming about all those nitty gritty details. Why put your personal intimate situation out there in the public view, except to capitalize on a weird kind of fame - for money*** Perhaps he feels it's his task to educate people. This comment smacks a little bit of the typical gay slam "be gay all you want, just don't get in my face with it".
Originally Posted By mele <<This comment smacks a little bit of the typical gay slam "be gay all you want, just don't get in my face with it".>> It might...if it came from someone other than gad.
Originally Posted By Mr X I know, that's why I was careful to say "a little bit". It certainly is a fact that even among gays and lesbians and allies, there can sometimes be (perhaps unintentional) negative or even hostile feelings towards people of transsexual experience (not that I'm trying to imply that Gad feels that way, I just took the comment at face value and perhaps I even misread it). I know that for myself, as I said, it took me a while to wrap my head around the issue and I still struggle with it even though my viewpoint towards gays and lesbians is pretty much straightforward (but hasn't always been).
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "I've seen pics before, and he's right about that. Looks like something the dog got ahold of." Me too and that's an accurate description.
Originally Posted By SpokkerJones "I guess we've all got to pay the bills somehow" Cher pays the bills.
Originally Posted By Labuda I say kudos to Chaz on bringing more light to this issue. The more people understand it, the more they'll lay off and accept. As for me, I've been friends with a pre-op (still, for now) transgender woman since we were teens - I think I was 15 and she was 14 when we met. Anyhow, I know she has dealt with a LOT of less-than-warm-and-fuzzy feelings over the years, including her Dad (which makes sense to me - I guess it's tough when your oldest son decides he's not one deep down where it counts). Anyhow, I guess I'm lucky - I know that Jenn is the same, talented (she's an artist), sweet person she was when I first met her - even though she used a different name back then. I consider myself lucky to count her among my friends. And I hope to heck she moves back to central Texas sometime - right now she's in the Pacific NW.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt I think that transgender equality is the next big civil rights issue that will face our nation. There's a lot of prejudice and discrimination out there, even in the gay community.
Originally Posted By gadzuux For the record - I (of course) do not have prejudices against transgender people. However I DO have suspicions about people who put themselves in the limelight for what I would consider spurious reasons. Chaz has been on a media blitz recently, all in support of his book and movie. The subject matter of the book and movie is a sometimes lurid examination of the process that Chaz has been going through in gender reassignment. Obviously, Chaz is not a typical example. So in the end this becomes a story about HIM and HIS experience - and not a primer of how the process normally works. I'm not condemning Chaz or anyone else - just expressing some skepticism about the motivation, which seems to be more about money and self-aggrandizement. Other people have a different opinion - that's fine too.
Originally Posted By gadzuux And yes - there's an inconsisency here. As you know, I'm all goosed up about Levi Johnston's book, and it hasn't even been published yet. One small difference is that Levi didn't seek out the media spotlight - it found him. Once it did, he's done everything he can think of to stay in it, but I give him a pass. And on the other hand, I can list a whole host of people that I'm suspicious of to varying degrees due to their love of attention - Gloria Allred, Mark Klass, Dr Drew, Kate Gosselin, John Walsh, any Kardashian - people who exist in the media stream for no apparent reason other than that they want to be there.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan In defense of Chaz, I would say that perhaps he's being open about this process so that other people like him can know that they are not the only ones. Yes, he'll make money from telling his story, especially given his celebrity family, but perhaps he views that as all the more reason not to keep quiet about it. The other thing is that if he had attempted to keep quiet about this, there is no doubt some raggy tabloid would have outed him and treated it like a freak show. Perhaps by doing it this way, he has a little more control over a story that would have gotten press anyway. Who can know anyone else's true motivations? I sure don't. But this really is not a topic that generally is understood by very many people, so while it will provide income and attention for Chaz it could also help a bit in understanding transgender people and what they go through.
