"Dancing With the Stars" aims for provocative casts, and Chaz Bono's addition to the show has already yielded strong reaction -- some of it ugly.
Bono, the only child of Sonny Bono and Cher, was born a woman but legally changed his gender and name last year. The announcement Monday that he would join the highly rated ABC dance competition immediately made him one of the highest-profile transgendered people in the world.
It also brought to the surface prejudices about Bono and others who have changed their gender, judging from the "Dancing With the Stars" message board. In hundreds of comments, Bono was the most common subject.
But for everyone who vented disgust -- or questioned whether Bono would dance with a man or a woman -- there were many who defended Bono and accused his critics of bigotry.
Bono's casting is only the latest to make a lighthearted reality show the impetus for deeper discussions about values, tolerance, bigotry and politics. Gay "American Idol" contestants have opted not to announce their sexuality, perhaps out of concern about alienating intolerant viewers. And Bristol Palin's "Dancing" casting two seasons ago led many to vote for or against her based on her mother's politics.
If Americans quickly vote Bono off the show -- or keep him on despite a middling performance, as they did with Palin -- it could reveal plenty about attitudes toward transgendered people.
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and here it goes
Who cares if she is man? If you don't like it then don't watch the show. Why complain? Who's next? are people going to criticize Carson Kressley for being gay on the show?
