HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — Chaz Bono says he’s thankful for the support of his longtime girlfriend, Jennifer Elia, who has stood by his side throughout his gender reassignment surgery.
“She’s been amazing,” the 40-year-old Bono (formerly known as Chastity) tells Entertainment Tonight’s Mary Hart. “I feel really grateful to be going through this with a partner.”
Bono publicly revealed his plans to undergo a gender change in June, but he said it was something he discussed with Elia at the very beginning of their relationship.
“I didn’t just spring this on Jennifer recently,” he told Hart. “This was something she knew about shortly after we met.”
When asked if his transformation makes their relationship heterosexual, Bono replied: “Our relationship always modeled a heterosexual relationship, emotionally and intellectually. So now it does physically as well.”
“The most important thing about this for me is that my outsides are finally starting to match my insides,” he added.
Bono, who is the eldest child of Cher and the late Sonny Bono, said he couldn’t speak for his mother’s feelings about the surgery process, but said everyone has been supportive.
“The people in my life are just happy that I’m doing this and seeing the positive effect that it’s having on me,” he said. “[I’m] trying to use my life experience to educate people. … I feel like I’m living in my body for the first time and it feels really good.”
