Chaz Bono: American O-Baka Tarento?

Those who have been following me on Facebook may have noticed I have been very quiet on the whole Chaz Bono situation. There is a reason for that.

There are many in the transgender umbrella community as well as those in the transsexual community who I associate myself with who are thinking that Chaz Bono's appearance on Dancing With The Stars is going to be the greatest thing to advance transsexuals and transgender in America. I disagree.

While Chaz's upcoming appearance(s) has definitely opened a heated debate about transsexuality and especially talking to your children about transsexuality, I surely hope that ABC's decision to put Chaz on the show as a "star" was not because the fact that Chaz is a female to male transsexual. If so, this is a huge mistake for both the network and for those who are trying to advance transsexual rights.

Other than being the son of Sonny Bono and Cher, Chaz does not have much of a resume to make him what I would consider as celebrity or "star" status. Being the subject of a documentary on gender reassignment does not qualify as being a celebrity. I am old enough to remember the old Sonny and Cher variety show on TV and usually at the end of the show, Chaz, in his old identity would be brought on the show at the very end. This also does not elevate Chaz Bono to a celebrity.

There is only one reason why ABC is putting Chaz Bono on the show, it's because he is a FTM, a token trans person who really does not possess any talent other than being related to people who many consider talent. I look forward to a day when someone is accepted for a role because of their talent, but because they are or are not trans.

Compare Chaz Bono with Ai Haruna, a semi-popular Japanese actress, model and pop singer who is a post-op male to female transsexual. While Ai-chan uses her transsexual history as a part of celebrity status, unlike Chaz, she has been WORKING in the mainstream aspects of the modeling and acting. Ai Haruna has a much larger resume than Chaz. Actually, other than "Sonny and Cher" in 1971, Chaz has very little to no history.

Myself, I would rather see Ai Haruna or many of the other working trans talent on DTWS than someone who is exploiting their trans history and their family name to profit at the expense of the trans women who continue to get killed in DC.

If you don't watch DWTS, don't start because of Chaz. I won't be.
If you already watch DWTS, don't stop watching because of Chaz.
Chaz is America's O-baka tarento. (Japanese term for "dumb talent", those who are mainly known names only because of quiz and reality shows).