Cher Recalls Her Mom Standing Up To Her Grandmother For LGBTQ Rights
Throughout her career, Cher has undeniably become a beloved gay icon.
The singer's unwavering support for her transgender son Chaz Bono, and her flamboyant costumes, all speak to her contribution to gay history. Now the pop icon, who played an Oscar-nominated lesbian character in the 1983 film, "Silkwood," has disclosed that her mom had a hand in instilling these values in her.
Cher's Unwavering Support For The LGBTQ+ Community Stems From Her Late Mother
Over the last few days, Cher has been in the news for her album, "Christmas," which is both her first collection of original material in a decade and her debut holiday album.
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While talking about the body of work — and how her current partner, Alexander "AE" Edwards, and a handful of other stars helped in reigniting her enthusiasm for making music, the "Little Man" singer delved into her feelings about the LGBTQ+ community.
When asked about her feelings regarding the state of trans legislation in the U.S. and thoughts on where things appear to be heading for the LGBTQ+ community, she responded:
"It's insane, okay? It's f—— insane. I don't understand, this is not my America. It doesn't make sense and it makes me really frightened for people. It's like, you have to be one thing and all of a sudden, all the things that add spice and excitement and beauty, unless you do it in their way, it's no good and they want to get rid of it - like teaching Black history or banning books that are fabulous books. I don't know how we came to this, truthfully, and it's just a terrible, terrible period."
When explaining how she thought people could make the situation better, the "Burlesque" actress highlighted one significant memory involving her late mother, Georgia Holt. She recounted to Paper Magazine:
"My mother was so inclusive, she wasn't prejudiced in any way. As a matter of fact, I remember her saying to my grandmother, "My girls don't know these names and if you keep talking like this, I won't let them come around you." And I didn't know what the names were intellectually, but I felt what they were."
She added that since she felt her "mother's anger," it translated to her knowing that "it was about other people: the other. If my mother thought it was wrong, it was wrong."
Prior to this enlightening encounter, Cher had opened up about the challenge of dealing with her son's transition during a separate interview. The Blast disclosed that the "Stuck on You" star stated:
"When Chaz went through the transition, that was difficult for me. It shouldn't have been because, you know, I've had gay friends forever. I just met some beautiful trans chicks and we have an affinity. Now I'm totally fine."
The 77-year-old superstar then shared that it was tough to lose "one child to get a new one," especially at her age. Furthermore, she disclosed that the problem wasn't with Chaz transitioning but rather the anticipation of who this new person would be and how different they might be from the person she knew before.
The Golden Globe Award Winner's Son Documented His Transition From Chastity To Chaz
Fans would recall that Cher had welcomed Chaz on March 4, 1969, during her marriage to singer, actor, and politician Sonny Bono. After his birth, she described it as having a "new best friend" and expressed that it was incredibly enjoyable, almost like experiencing Christmas every day.
Thanks to being born to famous parents, Chaz began appearing on "The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour" at two years old. However, by the time he turned 13, he had to be enrolled in summer classes due to him having difficulties in school.
Subsequently, Chaz received a scholarship to attend LaGuardia High School in New York City, a performing arts school. With this opportunity, he had enough time to explore his identity independently of his accomplished parents.
While addressing his decision to come out as a transgender man, the now-54-year-old divulged during an interview, "I was turning 40 and I thought it's now or never. I want to still feel vibrant and be able to enjoy my life in a male body and not wait until I am an old man."
The "Family Outing" co-writer, who was assigned female at birth, chronicled his gender reassignment in the 2011 documentary, "Becoming Chaz," per PEOPLE.
