Chastity Bono has a sex change

Chastity Bono, the daughter of Sixties pop duo Sonny and Cher (above, with Chastity), is undergoing a sex change to become a man and will henceforth be named Chaz, a spokesman for the gay-rights activist announced yesterday.

Howard Bragman said: "Yes, it's true - Chaz, after many years of consideration, has made the courageous decision to honour his true identity." Bragman hoped "that his choice to transition will open the hearts and minds of the public".

He added that Bono had started the gender transition shortly after turning 40 in March. Switching gender usually involves hormone therapy - with surgical alteration in some cases. Bragman asked the media to "respect Chaz's privacy during this long process as he will not be doing any interviews at this time".

Chastity/Chaz was revealed to be a lesbian 19 years ago by a supermarket tabloid, and wrote about the process of coming out to her parents in a book called Family Outing: A Guide to the Coming-Out Process for Gays, Lesbians, & Their Families.

Bono talked about understanding how she was "somehow different - specifically different from who my mom expected me to be". Cher admitted to People magazine in 1998 that initially "I flipped out. I'd always had this idea that she would get married and have a family."

Her then-daughter remarked in Family Outing on the irony of Cher - a gay icon because of her showy and flamboyant costumes - finding it so hard to deal with Bono's sexuality. Surprisingly her father, by then on his way to becoming a Republican congressman, was more accepting of her decision.

Bono's decision to go public has been welcomed by gay activists. Neil G Giuliano, President of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, said: "Chaz Bono's decision to live his life authentically represents an important step forward. We look forward to hearing Chaz's story in his own words in the future." ·