Transamerica

I have never been a fan of Dancing with the Stars. I always felt that the word "stars" was used very loosely and if I wanted to see good dancing, I'd watch So You Think You Can Dance.

However, I'm watching this season. Not just to see Nancy Grace's wardrobe malfunction, but for the appearance of Carson Kressley and Chaz Bono.

There has been a lot of rumblings, both positive and negative, about the inclusion of Chaz Bono. Chaz, if anyone has been avoiding any and all forms of media, is transgender, meaning that he was born female and transitioned to male. More importantly, he was born Chastity Bono, the daughter of Cher and Sonny Bono. Chaz has written a book and made a documentary on Oprah's OWN Channel chronicling his journey from female to male.

Transgender is a very confusing and puzzling topic for most people. It's very misunderstood in our society and, as with most things that people don't understand, feared to the point of revulsion and hatred. Gender identity and gender dysphoria are real issues -- it's not a matter of being "tomboyish" or "girly", it's a matter of being comfortable in your body and knowing who you truly are. In a society that espouses that "beauty is only skin deep" and that "it's not what you look like but who are are on the inside that counts," there is a lot of prejudice to those who say that inside a female body is a male identity.

Gender identity issues have been discovered in children as young as three, according to a CNN article that follows two children and their struggle for the proper identity. Those stories to me are the most fascinating -- I took a language and gender class in college and learned the difference between "sex" and "gender." The fact that these children know themselves so well and are willing to fight for it is so amazing. They should be applauded and not persecuted.