Leave it to ABC and its obsession with alternate sexuality to characterize being a male or a female as a "difficult decision." Introducing an interview featuring Chastity (now Chaz) Bono on Nov. 19, "Good Morning America's" Diane Sawyer said, "There can be no decision that you make that is more complex and difficult than gender identification."
Bono explained the hardships of undergoing a sexual "transformation" and the "journey into manhood" to an extraordinarily sympathetic Chris Cuomo, saying, "Gender is between your ears, not between your legs."
This interview only adds to a long list that details ABC's fascination with the sexually bizarre. In July 2009, CMI released a study that found that ABC news programs had featured 76 segments about sexual activity in the past six months. Most of the reports related to political sex scandals or crime cases that contained a sexual element, but 11 promoted alternative sexual arrangements, such as gender changes and, even more disturbing, objectum sexualization - having romantic relationships with objects like F-15 fighter jets and the Eiffel Tower.
Most of those reports lacked a critical voice of any sort, and Bono's interview continued the tradition, as Cuomo led off asking, "Do you feel that now, finally, when you look in the mirror you see you?"
In fact, by Cuomo's third question, he was practically shoving Bono off the proverbial soap box to stand there himself - rambling on about small-minded conservatives until finally lobbing Bono a softball yes-or-no question.
"People think gender - they think, well, it's how you're born," Cuomo said. "That's what you are, the way you look basically. What your appetites are, what you feel - that's different, but you are what you look like. Is that true?"
Guess what Bono answered?
By the end of the interview, Cuomo wasn't even asking questions anymore. He was just making statements, such as, "It's also important to note that this is very hard. This is hard. You don't want to have to do this. But the process - this is not an easy decision."
Cuomo wrapped up the interview with the obligatory political plug, "Now you're going to be the public face - that you somehow have to campaign for [LGBT rights]."
Bono responded, "If I can, ya know, help make things easier legislation-wise, I'm happy to do that as well."
