[Alyssa DellaCamera](/columnists/Alyssa+DellaCamera)  
6/11/2009

Chastity Bono announces plan to become a man.

Chastity Bono, daughter of Cher and the late Sonny Bono, is undergoing gender reassignment surgery to become a man. Bono began the sex change process earlier this year, reports The Associated Press.  
  
"Chaz, after many years of consideration, has made the courageous decision to honor his true identity" said Howard Bragman, Bono's publicist. "He is proud of his decision and grateful for the support and respect that has already been shown by his loved ones. It is Chaz's hope that his choice to transition will open the hearts and minds of the public regarding this issue, just as his 'coming out' did nearly 20 years ago."  
  
Bragman requests that the media respect Bono's privacy during this extensive process, as he will not be conducting any interviews at this time.  
  
In Bono's book *Family Outing: A Guide to the Coming-Out Process for Gays, Lesbians, & Their Families*, he describes the feeling of being "specifically different from who my mom expected me to be." Later, in his second book, *The End of Innocence: A Memoir*, Bono explains how the different relationships in his life changed after his coming out.  
  
According to the AP, Bono posed for the cover of the gay magazine The Advocate in 1995, the same time he began working for the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD).