Transgender activist and “Dancing with the Stars” contestant Chaz Bono was welcomed to the Cape Florida Ballroom on Wednesday evening and gave a presentation titled, “Becoming Chaz.”
More than 200 students and individuals from the community gathered to hear Bono’s story of how he physically and mentally transitioned from a female to a male.
The Multicultural Student Center and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered and Queer/Questioning Services organized the presentation.
MSC and LGBTQ Services worked to bring this presentation to the UCF campus in order to bring awareness to the issues transgender students on campus and in the community face. They also hoped this presentation would bring a sense of inclusiveness for those students who currently attend UCF.
“This year MSC has been working really hard to create an inclusive environment. We are working to bring cultures and lifestyles together, not just talking about races or ethnicity but also including students with disabilities, students of different sizes, religions and sexual orientations,” said Vanessa Hornedo, communications director for MSC.
During the presentation, Bono told his story starting from when he was a child growing up in the shadow of his famous parents, Cher and Sonny Bono.
Bono also expressed the challenges he faced while growing up, such as never feeling comfortable in his own body. Although Bono was born a female, deep down inside he said he always felt like a male.
He also took the audience through the time in his life when he first came out to his parents and later to the world as a lesbian in 1995. Bono was a lesbian for a number of years before he finally decided to go through a complete medical transition from a female to a male.
After many years of trying to gain his mother’s acceptance and the acceptance of all the outsiders looking in, Bono now openly lives his life as a man, and he makes no apologies for it.
“A part of me is gone forever, but the core and the essence of who I am is still there,” Bono said.
Over the course of Bono’s life he overcame a number of personal challenges, including an addiction to pain killers, among many other obstacles. After facing years of being afraid to share his true identity, Bono finally reached a place where he didn’t allow fear of rejection to stop him from living his life.
“It’s my life, my issues, and it’s not my business what other people think about it,” Bono said.
At the conclusion of Bono’s presentation, he received a standing ovation.
“I was bawling my eyes out like a 5-year-old little girl. I thought it was unbelievably eye-opening and just very heartwarming to see someone who has struggled and how they’ve overcome so much, and how they’re completely happy. That’s really what all of us want in life,” said Rachel Greenfader, senior event management major.
Many students were thankful Chaz Bono brought awareness to the issues that are within the LGBTQ Community.
“I’m really glad this event happened. It’s pretty big to have arguably the most visible trans person in the country, if not the world, come to speak. It validated a lot of people who are trans, including myself. This event basically lent a face to our community,” said Adrien Lee, a junior animation major.
Other students were thankful for this event and the efforts of groups that recognize the LGBTQ community because they felt accepted for the first time.
“I thought this event was really powerful because this is my first time having transgendered friends and being exposed to the transgendered community. At my high school it was very closed. I was the only person that was even marginally out as a lesbian,” said freshman psychology major Elena Azzara.
LGBTQ Services, among many other groups on campus and around the community, are working to educate, bring awareness and build community among people with varying differences.
“Where most people might think that we’re different, we actually find a lot of unity in diversity,” said David Moran, LGBTQ Services graduate assistant.
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