Chaz Bono

Chaz Salvatore Bono is an American writer, musician, actor, and social activist. Born Chastity Sun Bono on March 4, 1969, in Los Angeles, California, he is the only child of entertainers Sonny Bono and Cher. As a child, he frequently appeared on his parents' television program, The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour. Through his mother, he has Armenian, Irish, English, German, and Cherokee ancestry, and he is of Italian descent through his father. He attended the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts in New York City.

Bono launched a music career in 1988 as the lead vocalist, acoustic guitarist, and percussionist for the band Ceremony. The group released the album Hang Out Your Poetry in 1993, featuring the singles "Could've Been Love" and "Ready for Love." Most of the tracks were co-written by Bono, and his parents provided backing vocals on the song "Livin' It Up."

In April 1995, Bono publicly came out as a lesbian in a cover story interview with The Advocate, having previously been outed by tabloid media. He later authored two books detailing his experiences: Family Outing: A Guide to the Coming Out Process for Gays, Lesbians, and Their Families (1998) and the memoir The End of Innocence (2003). Over the years, he worked as a writer at large for The Advocate and served as the Entertainment Media Director for GLAAD. His advocacy work includes acting as a spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign, promoting National Coming Out Day, campaigning against the Defense of Marriage Act, and appearing in a 2016 Human Rights Campaign tribute video to the victims of the Orlando nightclub shooting.

Between 2008 and 2010, Bono underwent a physical and social gender transition. A California court officially granted his legal name and gender change on May 6, 2010. His transition process was documented in the film Becoming Chaz, which premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival before airing on the Oprah Winfrey Network. In 2012, he published the memoir Transition: Becoming Who I Was Always Meant to Be, becoming the first person of Armenian descent to publish a memoir as an openly transgender man.

Bono's television and media appearances include serving as a team captain on Celebrity Fit Club 3 in 2006 and competing on the 13th season of Dancing with the Stars in 2011 alongside ballroom dancer Lacey Schwimmer. This marked the first instance of an openly transgender man starring on a major network television show for a non-transgender-related role. In his personal life, Bono married Shara Blue Mathes on March 8, 2026, at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles.