ABC's Dance with Chaz Bono Highlights Networks LGBT Agenda
The controversy continues over Chaz Bono's participation in ABC's upcoming season of "Dancing with the Stars." The response to the transgender contestant's role in a once-family friendly show has left ABC with an ongoing PR problem.
Chaz Bono is considered a "star" for one reason: Using his status as the child of Cher and Sony Bono to make a very public display of gender identity change, including writing a book, and starring in the Emmy-nominated documentary "Becoming Chaz."
But the network is being coy about the gender identity issue, as evidenced by the confusing segment with "ABC News Consultant" and Chaz's representative Howard Bragman on ABC's "Good Morning America."
Video after the break.
The Hollywood Reporter highlighted the video where Bragman, a celebrity publicist whom the network also identified as an "ABC News correspondent," appeared on GMA in an interview with host George Stephanopoulos on Sept 6 to discuss varied reaction to the controversy of Chaz's selection to "Dancing with the Stars." "You know we expected there to be some controversy; I think the level of controversy has surprised all of us, but Chaz has really taken it well," Bragman said.
But that doesn't square with what he said just seconds later. "We're not naive to the fact that when Chaz goes out there, that there's a political statement being made," Bragman stated. So putting Chaz out there in the midst of family-friendly primetime viewing was admittedly "a political statement," but Bragman was "surprised" at the level of controversy?
Bragman then stated, "Chaz is going to change hearts and minds and really advance this discussion." Stephanopoulos asked if that was indeed Chaz's motive for joining the show, to which Bragman responded that Chaz just wanted to "have some fun."
But Chaz, Bragman's own client, was shocked at the outcry, and said he is "just a regular guy." He told "Good Morning America" on Sept 2, "I think it's a much bigger deal to everyone else than it is to me… All these ideas that children shouldn't watch me, I'm going to be confusing, all this stuff, it's crazy." It's "crazy" that a transgender "political" prop appearing in primetime would create controversy?
The three minute, 30 second segment featuring Bragman included his claim that those opposed to ABC's decision to host Chaz are "hate groups." Only 28 seconds were given to "the opposition," and that was an email Stephanopoulos read from the OneMillionMoms.com group, which asked its members to boycott the show.
"… I strongly encourage ABC network to reconsider their celebrity casting. ABC has crossed the line in pushing their LGBT agenda into what some families would consider safe entertainment" the email read. Stephanopoulos asked Bragman to respond.
That mildly worded objection was "hate speech" to Bragman's ears.
"You know what, One Million Moms is a part of the American Family Association, which is considered a hate group by many. There's a lot of people who put their hate opinions on email and the vast majority of it is anonymous, George," Bragman said.
To Stephanopoulos's credit, he objected, saying, "Well Howard you call it a hate group but they're not being anonymous here, they're very open about their views."
Bragman was undeterred "One of the ways that right wing groups have kept the LGBT civil rights movement down is by keeping us invisible."
ABC and the Left want it both ways. It's hard to see how dismissing concerned parents as a "hate group" and trying to make them as "invisible" as he maintains the LGBT movement has been, will "advance this discussion."
But Bragman is a committed gay agenda activist and left-winger. He attacked Michele Bachmann on August 10, 2011, on "The Joy Behar Show" saying her Newsweek cover looked "like Close Encounters." He also hoped "there's a special place in Hell for Ken Mehlman," saying he was "as good as a Jew that collaborated with the Nazis." Mehlman was the former head of the GOP National Committee and head of Bush's 2004 reelection campaign, who came out of the closet in August 2010.
Bragman's logic: You can be gay, just don't work for a Republican. You can be part of the "discussion" about gender identity, but your opposing view is hate speech.
For ABC, its use of Bragman as a consultant and transgender advocate is troubling. In addition, the news side has been promoting a reality TV show also broadcast on its own network.
The Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics takes a dim view of such matters. Journalists are urged to "act independently" and "be free of obligation to any interest other than the public's right to know." In addition, they should:
- "Avoid conflicts of interest, real or perceived."
- "Remain free of associations and activities that may compromise integrity or damage credibility."
- "Deny favored treatment to advertisers and special interests and resist their pressure to influence news coverage."
- Erin R. Brown's blog
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Comments
BS, ABC
Submitted by HockeyKid on Wed, 09/07/2011 - 12:01pm.
Just more deviant propaganda. Nothing less.
"Beauty is only skin deep, but liberal's to the bone." - me
Chaz would make an excellent union leader.
Submitted by SickofLibs on Wed, 09/07/2011 - 12:07pm.
Looks like the bulletheaded spawn of Trumka and Hoffa.
Or as Fred Mertz so eloquently put it, "A thumb with eyes."
Can anyone even TRY to deny that this DWTS inclusion
Submitted by WhoIsJohnGalt on Wed, 09/07/2011 - 12:11pm.
was nothing more than an in-your-face, I-insist-you-accept-my-viewpoint effort by the network. Why else would you have her/him/it on the show??? Is she/he famous for anything else? Anything at all? He/she is not terribly attractive, he/she is too overweight to be a decent dancer of the caliber of national prominence, he/she is not at all articulate enough to be a celebrity for his/her thought or intellectual prowess...he/she is a gay/lesbian/bifurcated/transducer. That's all.
Why else?
You are right.
Submitted by Lipton on Wed, 09/07/2011 - 1:10pm.
I think it will be great for ratings for the first week, but then it'll go bad.
The people that like DWTS are not your typical LGBT activists. I just don't think it will appeal to them. While I might have watched DWTS, I won't watch it with Chaz on. I just can't help but feel like this is an effort to manipulate me and the rest of the audience. I am not playing.
"just a regular guy."
Submitted by Newsbubba on Wed, 09/07/2011 - 12:11pm.
I don't know what circles the person who made this comment flits around in, but this is a stretch, even for my hometown!
Having said that, if ever there was a person on the planet who should have gone through extensive LuGBuTt customization and modification, it was Chastity Bono! I mean, that was one homely child! The chances of her ever having a relationship with a person of any known sex was next to zero.
As a "regular guy" (I'll go with their definition), he is much more presentable than she was as a girl. I'd say the odds of him having a "relationship" (I hate that word) have jumped to at least 50-50, and even higher in the circles he travels in.
Good call, bubba.
There is no reasonable nor
Submitted by Beukeboom on Wed, 09/07/2011 - 1:25pm.
There is no reasonable nor acceptable definition of the phrase "regular guy" that can be rationally applied to Chasity/Chaz Bono.
Great! I can't wait to miss
Submitted by rbosque on Wed, 09/07/2011 - 12:12pm.
Great! I can't wait to miss it!
Chaz's unfair advantge
Submitted by Rackie on Wed, 09/07/2011 - 12:17pm.
being able to dance forward and backward.
The biggest controversy of all...
Submitted by mrt721 on Wed, 09/07/2011 - 12:20pm.
....who leads?
ok we should be seeing
Submitted by misterbee241 on Wed, 09/07/2011 - 12:31pm.
those relativists showing up at any time admonishing us haters that "if you dont like it then dont watch it." i agree. i dont like it and i wont watch it. neither will i know who sponsors this trash because i wont watch it. however, this doesnt mean this will stop. it wont. it will get more prominent and in your face because everybody does what is right what is right in his own eyes.
I Swear....
Submitted by Grumpy in Arizona on Wed, 09/07/2011 - 12:33pm.
...This is the first time I ever heard of Chastity Bono becoming Chaz Bono and, even so, it’s still more information than I ever desired to know.
Just how low can this society go? This is just sick!
- Grump
And here
Submitted by Bob K on Wed, 09/07/2011 - 12:51pm.
I thought freakshows were considered in poor taste nowadays
I'm a bit offended
Submitted by jon_torlin on Wed, 09/07/2011 - 12:54pm.
Erin, if you read this, I hope you accept this with respect.
I'm a bit surprised that you were putting quotes " " around "star" but not around "his" because we know that just like being a "star" but not really one, it's true this person is acting like a "male" but is not really one.
Gender "reassignment" may help change appearances, but DNA doesn't change, at least not without extremely radical procedures such as using gene-altering methods which are still experimental and not for public consumption.
Like the "Pregnant man," Chastity renamed "Chaz" is still female.
If we don't make distinctions like that, the libs have won.
-Jon
When Bragman called Chaz' critics "hate groups"...
Submitted by OxyCon on Wed, 09/07/2011 - 1:18pm.
When Bragman called Chaz' critics "hate groups"...Stephanopoulis should have read him his Mehlman quote in which says there's a special place in hell for him, and then asked him if that isn't hate speech.
We all know thats how liberal media hosts treat Conservatives. Past words seem to follow Conservatives around, but for some reason they are always ignored and forgotten with liberals.
So how much will it expand?
Submitted by Beukeboom on Wed, 09/07/2011 - 1:28pm.
First it was just "LG"
Then it became "LGB"
Now it is "LGBT"
Next?
LGBTP?
LGBTPP?
LGBTPPZ?
LGBTPPZN?
[Slippery slope?]
Beuke
Submitted by Cool Arrow on Wed, 09/07/2011 - 1:35pm.
You lost me at Zebras.
You're close, believe it or
Submitted by Beukeboom on Wed, 09/07/2011 - 3:43pm.
You're close, believe it or not.
Believe it or not...
Submitted by CindyM on Wed, 09/07/2011 - 1:56pm.
I've seen LGBTQ where Q stands for Questioning. Can't leave anybody out!
And for those of us old enough to remember --
Submitted by Galvanic on Wed, 09/07/2011 - 1:59pm.
LS/MFT
Once again, the hermaphrodites get left out.
Submitted by SickofLibs on Wed, 09/07/2011 - 2:07pm.
Sorry, Bloomberg.
Don't forget "pan-gender" Boomer.
Submitted by Newsbubba on Wed, 09/07/2011 - 2:08pm.
That caused me to have to revamp calling LGBT, LuGButT, and I modified it to be PLuGButT, which when you think about it is much more appropriate.
They have added letters...
Submitted by scarebear83 on Thu, 09/08/2011 - 5:17pm.
Actually they have added a letter LGBTQ and have since then have grown to LGBTQIA. I think at one point we may just see every letter in the alphabet.
What will be interesting
Submitted by Model850 on Wed, 09/07/2011 - 2:21pm.
The interesting part will be the scores the judges award Chaz and partner. Will the judges be thinking, "We can't be too critical of Chaz; it might make it appear we are anti-LGBT?" And will that artificially inflate the points given?
I don't know that that actually will occur, of course, but I can see "grade inflation" as a real possibility in order to keep Chaz on the show for as long as possible despite any poor performances.
Finally, will the show's ratings to go up once -- IF -- Chaz is voted off?
The judges will likely come up with the most . . .
Submitted by Galvanic on Wed, 09/07/2011 - 2:53pm.
. . . controversial score because that's what generates more publicity. There's very little objectivity in these shows; Bono's performance is merely incidental.
Objectivity
Submitted by Model850 on Wed, 09/07/2011 - 4:40pm.
I hadn't thought about controversial scores to gin up publicity, and they probably will do all they can to manipulate things to keep Chaz on the show as long as possible.
And you're right, there isn't much objectivity in these shows.
"He [Howard Bragman] also
Submitted by stratman on Wed, 09/07/2011 - 2:29pm.
No, Howie, that would be George Soros.
ABC's Embracing
Submitted by packman on Wed, 09/07/2011 - 2:31pm.
of Chaz Bono simply represents the tip of a huge iceberg in this country. The real numbers - that we rarely ever see published - are that LGBT percentages in the entire American society are somewhere around 1-2%, perhaps even less. So what we have here is a minority of people -- hugely supported by the MSM, who want....freedom???....hardly.
What they want is to force a lifestyle on us that we don't necessarily embrace and often flies in the face of strongly held religious beliefs, but because it is the prevailing politically (liberally) correct thing to do, it is embraced and crammed down our throats. It has nothing to do with equality or freedom and anything remotely close. It has everything to do with a lifestyle that is clearly not part of mainstream America being brought into the forefront of society like it was as normal as mom & apple pie.
Well I've got news for them...being born a female and having surgery to modify ones' sexual organs to at least outwardly present themselves as the opposite sex....that is NOT normal! And because it is currently part of the hot politically correct agenda, we are not even allowed to have an opinion that differs in any way. The main tool that is used to foster and further perverted lifestyles is to hide behind the premise of equal rights. And unfortunately that strategy has worked in that if you dare say a single word in protest, you are labeled a hater.
Hey, if you want to have sex with chickens, then go for it. Just don't try to convince me its normal, or worse try to change laws to protect your perverted and deviant lifestyle.
"...Were we directed from Washington when to sow and when to reap, we should soon want bread..." ~Thomas Jefferson
As usual Erin I disagree
Submitted by shawn. on Wed, 09/07/2011 - 3:44pm.
DWTS has had conservatives like Tom Delay and Bristol Palin in the past. I do not believe there is an agenda here
The most controversial thing is he has a female dancing partner
The most controversial thing is
Submitted by bkeyser on Wed, 09/07/2011 - 3:46pm.
referring to Chaz as "he".
It was a legal sex change
Submitted by shawn. on Wed, 09/07/2011 - 3:49pm.
And if if he wishes to be referred to as he, i respect that.
What would be an illegal sex change?
Submitted by SickofLibs on Wed, 09/07/2011 - 3:59pm.
.
BK and SOL
Submitted by shawn. on Wed, 09/07/2011 - 4:13pm.
I don't agree with gay marriage, but if the State of California recognizes it, just like this Recognizing his gender i would respect the ruling. Last I heard fairy princesses are not anything recognized by law.
Come on shawn
Submitted by bkeyser on Wed, 09/07/2011 - 4:22pm.
you've got to do better than that. A girl with a sewn-on penis does not a man, make. Don't you watch South Park? (NSFW)
You have a point BK
Submitted by shawn. on Wed, 09/07/2011 - 4:26pm.
I don't agree with it, but if it is recognized by law, accept it.
Why? The law can be changed.
Submitted by Beukeboom on Wed, 09/07/2011 - 4:30pm.
Why? The law can be changed.
Thats very true Beaukeboom
Submitted by shawn. on Wed, 09/07/2011 - 10:14pm.
If it was overturned, I would accept the fact it was overturned. I was not a fan of Bush and I am currently not a fan of Obama, however whoever the President is, I accept them as my President.
It's the law.
I said it was controversial.
Submitted by bkeyser on Wed, 09/07/2011 - 4:31pm.
And no.
Sorry BK
Submitted by shawn. on Wed, 09/07/2011 - 10:10pm.
I meant to say "I" accept it. Everyone has a right to their opinion and I will not force my opinion on others.
She can wish to be called
Submitted by bkeyser on Wed, 09/07/2011 - 4:01pm.
a fairy princess, but that doesn't make her one.
Legal??
Submitted by jon_torlin on Wed, 09/07/2011 - 4:10pm.
It might be "legal" but DNA is still DNA, and "he" is still a SHE. That NEVER changes.
And it's only "legal" because they haven't outlawed "gender reassignment" or whatever because the pansies in office are too scared to say anything about it for fear of bigotry, false as it is. That's to say it's not legal or illegal, they treat it the same way someone would change the color of their hair. And that's just plain STOOPID.
-Jon
Do you "respect" nature, common sense & traditional law
Submitted by lrgon on Thu, 09/08/2011 - 12:26am.
LESS than the personal opinion of a female who thinks that playing dress up by putting on a pair of wingtips from the man's side of J.C Penny makes her a bona fide man?
It is biologically impossible to change one’s sex since every human cell’s chromosomes identify one as either male or female. Occasionally nature makes a mistake and secondary sex characteristics get mixed up, but those are called birth defects.
Ms. Bono was born a female. How she came to get so tangled up and mixed up is another story. Therefore regardless of how many Shawn's or DWTS fans come to her side and give her the ol' high five; regardless of how serious she takes her dress like a man routine those things do nothing to change her from female to male. She may even see a surgeon and have her outward appearance changed to resemble a man. Inwardly, her chromsomes identify her as a woman. And therefore the law must obey the dictates of nature.
Chaz?
Submitted by Flig Narson on Wed, 09/07/2011 - 3:50pm.
I can think of several minerals and at least one fungus that I care about more deeply than I do Chaz Bono.
I can think of several TV
Submitted by Beukeboom on Wed, 09/07/2011 - 4:33pm.
I can think of several TV shows on the Watching Paint Dry Network that I'd rather watch than DWTS.
[BTW, they seem to have very loose criteria when it comes to deeming who qualifies as a "star", don't they?]
What is the "gay agenda?"
Submitted by Einstein on Wed, 09/07/2011 - 4:55pm.
Is it to be heard? And how does a transgender dancing on TV endanger our children? I guess maybe if the penis slips out.
♡ Einstein
Special treatment.
Submitted by bkeyser on Wed, 09/07/2011 - 5:02pm.
-
Chaz Bono Suspected of Being a Mafia Crime Boss?
Submitted by GlenStanish on Wed, 09/07/2011 - 4:58pm.
According to a story in the Daily Rash, the FBI has been investigating Chaz Bono for quite some time because they think he is a major figure in the world of organized crime. I'll bet Cher is going nuts! http://www.thedailyrash.com/chastity-bono-suspected-of-being-mafia-crime...
as previously asked by
Submitted by sometimesright on Wed, 09/07/2011 - 5:39pm.
as previously asked by someone before, who the hello dolly LEADS? try explaining THAT to the kids watching. oh, that's right. children who get confused by chaz/chastisty/cheerio-whatever are ALL close minded, right?
Chastity-to-Chaz
Submitted by outamyroom on Wed, 09/07/2011 - 9:15pm.
I believe the surgical procedure is called an adadictomy.
We're born the way we were born
Submitted by Atomic Crusader on Thu, 09/08/2011 - 2:14am.
OK, all this transgender stuff is out there, in the mainstream, on TV, taught in school - so let's ALL talk about it! Everybody, right?!! Yay.
Sorry, I see things the way I see them and think them with my brain and mind, whether I like it or not sometimes - I can't not "not" think what I think and perceive.
That said, Chaz was born a girl and is still a girl, despite the expensive surgery, pills and all the friggin' stories everywhere referring to her as "him" "he" and the rest of it. It's true isn't it? She is not a man like Lou Ferrigno or Don Knotts.
It's very sad that some folks get so mixed up but can we get a grip please?
As said on The Big Show earlier this week...
Submitted by ljacone on Thu, 09/08/2011 - 8:20am.
...Bono has gone from being a man stuck in a woman's body to a man stuck in a fat man's body.
ABC has been pushing politics with this show for a while now. They put Bristol Palin on the show with the hopes that she would be a disasterous failure and be eliminated first, but they messed that up. Now they are taking the opposite approach. Remember, every competition style "reality show" has network input into who stays and who goes, despite what they may say during the broadcast. Don't be surprised if Bono sticks around for a while despite terrible performances.
(For reference, check out the Last Comic Standing article on Wikipedia, specifically the Controversy section -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_Comic_Standing#Controversy )
Hmmm...I wonder if Chaz's mom
Submitted by Beukeboom on Thu, 09/08/2011 - 10:37am.
Hmmm...I wonder if Chaz's mom will have behind-the-scenes influence with the "judges"?