CMI VP Gainor on ‘Nightline’ to Discuss Chaz Bono Controversy
For more than a month now, the nation has buzzed with controversy about the first transgender “star” to appear on “Dancing With the Stars,” Chaz Bono. ABC’s “Nightline” ran a segment on Chaz Bono on September 19, also the same night as the Season 13 premiere of DWTS, highlighting the controversy and featuring commentary from MRC’s Culture and Media Institute Vice President, Dan Gainor.
Video after jump.
“
ABC and ‘Dancing with the Stars’ are taking what ostensibly was a family-friendly show and pushing homosexuality and transgenderism down on the American public,” Gainor told ‘Nightline.’ “ABC is certainly normalizing what is clearly abnormal behavior.”
‘Nightline’ got Chaz’s reaction to the “ballroom backlash” in which he stated, “It’s made me realize I’m really glad I’m doing this because America really needs to see this.” ‘Nightline’ host Cynthia McFadden called Bono, “the most public face of the transgendered community,” then highlighted the Oprah Winfrey Network documentary of Bono’s transformation, and quotes from Bono’s “famously liberal,” and supportive mother, Cher.
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Comments
His dancing still looks somewhat feminine
Submitted by Lipton on Tue, 09/20/2011 - 1:24pm.
to me. DWTS won't be on my TV this season. It used to be OK to watch with my kids, but not this year.
There are some conversations that just don't need to happen when kids are really young, and sometimes the kids themselves really aren't ready to have that conversation.
I remember begging my mom to tell me what "gay" people were and being really sorry when she answered my question.
Not everyone is the same, but I just think it is wrong to force this on kids. Of course it is their choice to show and my choice not to view it.
I wonder if Chaz
Submitted by Rackie on Tue, 09/20/2011 - 1:26pm.
was any smarter as a chick.
Probably not...
Submitted by Bhaal on Tue, 09/20/2011 - 1:37pm.
To quote Ron White "You can't fix stupid".
I guess that applies for a sex change operation as well.
Don't know about smarter, Rackie...
Submitted by Dave. on Tue, 09/20/2011 - 8:16pm.
...but she was damn sure better looking.
-Dave
Vote for the American in November
" . . . normalizing what is cleary abnormal behavior."
Submitted by Galvanic on Tue, 09/20/2011 - 1:35pm.
I'm not sure what the abnormal behavior is. As far as I know (and I've never watched the show), they will be dancing and judging, which doesn't in and of itself appear abnormal.
Are we saying that Bono's appearance on the show promotes some sort of abnormal behavior?
No...
Submitted by DumbCanuck on Tue, 09/20/2011 - 2:40pm.
That's not what Dan was alluding to. The 'abnormal behaviour' was the need to chop off your breasts to make you feel like a man.
I don't think that came out right.........
"There... Are... Four... Lights!"
I don't understand how putting Bono . . .
Submitted by Galvanic on Tue, 09/20/2011 - 7:53pm.
. . . on the show normalizes that. But since I don't watch the program, I don't know how they handle it.
I'm more concerned about so-called reality TV programs that turn dysfunctional people into celebrities and misbehavior into acting cool.
That having been said, it's obvious that the show's masters are putting Bono on for the controversy, because controversy draws viewers.
No Chaz, we do not need to
Submitted by ForeverOnTheRight on Tue, 09/20/2011 - 1:43pm.
No Chaz, we do not need to see this! It is your selfish, self-righteousness, your conceit that says we need to see this. Your sexual dysfunction, your failure to identify with your sexes sexuality is not normal! This is PC gone too far, accepting a persons mental illness as normal, is just wrong.
First a transgendered female. . .
Submitted by rickbren on Tue, 09/20/2011 - 1:49pm.
. . .dancing with a woman. How far behind can a gay man dancing with a man be??
The answer to that is probably...
Submitted by hern2430 on Tue, 09/20/2011 - 2:00pm.
When the next season starts.
Assuming there is a next
Submitted by Beukeboom on Tue, 09/20/2011 - 3:08pm.
Assuming there is a next season.
They had what's his name who
Submitted by ForeverOnTheRight on Tue, 09/20/2011 - 3:10pm.
They had what's his name who is gay dancing with a woman this season, and I thought he looked ridiculous! They will have to move the time for the show to at least 9:00 if they start having men dancing with men. Bet the ratings will drop like a rock if they do that and they will have to have it moved to cable/satellite Logos channel.
Rickbren
Submitted by stratman on Tue, 09/20/2011 - 8:53pm.
A male-male dance couple have been spotlighted on So You Think You Can Dance, a BBC International produced program. Besides the male-male dance couple contestants and occasional meanderings of choreographers, the show does not make a point of spotlighting homosexuality the way Dancing With The Stars, a British producer's program, has been doing. Comedian Margaret Cho and her professional partner Louis Van Amstel were wrapped (literally and vocally) in the Rainbow Flag long before Bono busted a move.
As long as Chaz is not introduced as
Submitted by ConcernedOne on Tue, 09/20/2011 - 2:35pm.
A Transsexual or Transgender (whatever they decided to call it now).....or even "Hey everyone! Her name used to be Chastity but now HE'S called Chaz!" Then I don't really have a problem with it. (And I didn't watch so I don't know how he/she was introduced) Especially because I can choose not to watch and so can the parents that might be worried about it.
ok, folks...
Submitted by DumbCanuck on Tue, 09/20/2011 - 2:43pm.
It looks like we're going to have to come up with another pronoun. 'He/she' is just not going to cut it, and 'it' is too dehumanizing even for me to use.
Any suggestions?
"There... Are... Four... Lights!"
DNA
Submitted by jon_torlin on Tue, 09/20/2011 - 2:52pm.
DNA is still DNA, her's is female DNA, therefore call her female. I don't care what the legal term ascribed to her says.
-Jon
Just say "she" , and if
Submitted by redfish on Tue, 09/20/2011 - 2:54pm.
Just say "she" , and if anyone questions you, tell them this :
Chastity Bono believed that she had to have surgery and become a man in order to feel like she was honest with herself. The reason I use the pronoun "she" isn't to offend her or get into people's faces, but its the only way I can feel like I'm honest with myself. I hope everyone who supports Chastity's decision can also support my decision for the same reason.
"They" or just constantly use
Submitted by Free Stinker on Tue, 09/20/2011 - 2:59pm.
"They" or just constantly use nouns. "Chaz said that Chaz was looking forward to dancing on TV and Chaz also wants to raise awareness of blah blah blah . . ."
/// Sarah Palin Fan since July 11, 2007 /// خال
it?
Submitted by g55rumpy on Wed, 09/21/2011 - 3:18am.
it?
Not trying to pick a fight,
Submitted by WhoIsJohnGalt on Tue, 09/20/2011 - 5:01pm.
But exactly how else would you introduce someone on this show whose entire claim to fame is that she went under the knife to change her gender? I mean, why else is she there? Don't tell me that it's because she's Cher's daughter...there are many other famous children who can't even get a dinner reservation at Shoney's, much less a primetime showcase...and some of them have talent.
When your eight-year old asks, "Why is he famous?", how do you avoid it?
And really...does she have any, ANY business being on a dance floor when she has the build of a fire plug and the grace of a newborn buffalo.
I get your gripe but,
Submitted by ConcernedOne on Wed, 09/21/2011 - 8:02am.
that's the beauty of having a choice......how about not giving the show any attention or ratings by watching something else? That way you don't need to explain who he/she is!
If Chaz is 'the most public face of the transgendered community'
Submitted by SickofLibs on Tue, 09/20/2011 - 2:50pm.
then they have a huge PR problem.
"FAQS: After my procedure, will I look like a short obese bulldog, or will I look more like Brad Pitt?"
On Dancing
Submitted by ruby2ssday on Tue, 09/20/2011 - 2:51pm.
I thought he did a pretty good job on the first dance of the season. I even gave him a couple votes.
I remember reading way back in high school that some 75% of professional male dancers are gay. Also, some 60% of lumberjacks have an IQ of less than 100. The stuff you remember from highschool...
Him who?
Submitted by jon_torlin on Tue, 09/20/2011 - 2:53pm.
There was no "Him" it was her and her.
-Jon
My fears about public school education
Submitted by Radical1979 on Tue, 09/20/2011 - 3:28pm.
are confirmed in your post, if that is what you remember from high school.
This is the most coverage of
Submitted by Beukeboom on Tue, 09/20/2011 - 3:15pm.
This is the most coverage of a non-issue I've witnessed in quite a while.
The ratings numbers were released and "Dancing with the Stars" didn't do as well as some predicted even with the free publicity getting a 3.9 rating with 18.6 million viewers. Compare this with Two and a Half Men's 27.7 million viewers and the opposite end of the scale with NBC's "The Sing Off" only receiving a 1.9 rating (5.2 million viewers) and "The Playboy Club" getting as 1.6 rating (5 million viewers).
S/H/it
Submitted by dmacleo on Tue, 09/20/2011 - 3:29pm.
she he it....
S/H/it
perfect.
Star?
Submitted by ripper58 on Tue, 09/20/2011 - 3:29pm.
and why is this person a "star"? Famous parents? So? And I'm sure this person still has XX chromosomes not XY! Can't fix stoopid indeed!!!
The unspoken subject actually is ...
Submitted by Fredy on Tue, 09/20/2011 - 4:15pm.
Why do so many children of celebrities grow up to have such screwed up lives?
With so many people looking at the tree, they have lost sight of the forest. On one channel you have this messed up celebrity kid, on another you have a different celebrities kid that just got canned for being to 'far out'.
I wonder what these networks are going to feature tonight?
The name of the show is
Submitted by Beukeboom on Tue, 09/20/2011 - 4:31pm.
The name of the show is "Dancing With the Stars" but it seems the producers of the show use some unusually loose criteria to determine just who qualifies as a "star." They set the bar very low apparently.
I guess,
Submitted by Chaitealover on Tue, 09/20/2011 - 8:58pm.
if Daddy carried you on stage to say "Goodnight" at the end of Mummy & Daddy's long-ago TV show, that makes you a star in somebody's eyes [not mine].
What a
Submitted by Bob K on Tue, 09/20/2011 - 6:00pm.
pathetic creature. Not to be morbid, but I would be willing to bet you could not get a bookie to give you odds on it being around in 10 or 20 years. Despite the big smile, they are usually miserable and have a high suicide rate.
Chaz could have been a simple
Submitted by tombaker on Tue, 09/20/2011 - 7:15pm.
Chaz could have been a simple lesbian, and not some sort of plastic surgery pin cushion. Prescribing hormones like Chaz is taking has serious long term health issues, doctors doing that kind of experimentation on humans are ethically challenged at best.
...
Submitted by Eugenia on Tue, 09/20/2011 - 7:31pm.
Chastity Bono: Biologically female. Legally a male. Physically mutilated. And mentally disturbed.
Mutilated female
Submitted by LaVallette on Wed, 09/21/2011 - 7:03am.
Mutilated female who still cannot pee standing up!!!! And she calls herself a man???