In Case You Missed it: Cher Speaks Out on Chaz's Transition on Letterman (video)

With all the hype surrounding Conan O'Brian's return to late night TV, you may have missed Cher on Late Night with David Letterman last Thursday. The mother of all divas has been making the rounds promoting her new movie, "Burlesque" in recent weeks.

The two reminisced about old times, like the time she appeared on the show with her late ex-husband, Sonny Bono, 23 years ago and sang "I Got You, Babe", or the time before that when she called Dave an asshole on the air.

Then, the conversation turned serious when Dave asked Cher about her son Chaz's gender transition. She acknowledges that she struggles with her pronouns and says her son doesn't really mind. They discussed the difference between sexual orientation and gender identity in a way that illustrates the confusion that most people have with these issues, without being demeaning.

This is perhaps the first time on a mainstream network late night TV show that transgender issues have been discussed in a serious, respectful way, where serious questions are asked and answers are struggled with. It's sometimes difficult to talk about the trans experience without sounding gratuitous, biased, judgmental or just plain stupid.

It is refreshing to see that Dave can not be an asshole when it counts and it's inspiring to see Cher's unconditional love and support for her son, even though she admits that she is still struggling to understand what he's been going through.
 

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US Tax Board Rules Gender Reassignment is Tax Deductible

From the Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) comes word that the US Tax Board has found in favor of New England native, Rhiannon O’Donnabhain, a trans woman who underwent gender reassignment therapy and surgery in 2001 and claimed a tax deduction for those medical expenses on her tax return. Of the over $25,000 O'Donnabhain paid of out of pocket, she only claimed the allowable $5000.

O'Donnabhain received her tax refund, in June of '02 but was audited later that year and was told that "cosmetic surgery" was not tax deductible and ordered to repay the $5000.

After many years of many appeals, with the help of GLAD, O'Donnabhain can now declare victory.

From GLAD's press release:

“This decision treats Rhiannon O’Donnabhain the way she deserves to be treated—like any hard-working American taxpayer with medical expenses,” said Karen Loewy, senior staff attorney with Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), which represented Ms. O’Donnabhain.

“From the start, this has been a no-brainer.  Every mainstream medical authority from the American Psychiatric Association to the National Institutes of Health recognize the legitimacy of providing medical care for transgender people.  Dismissing these medical expenses as illegitimate and not deductible was discrimination, pure and simple.”

In an opinion reviewed by the full bench, the United States Tax Court affirmed that medical treatments for GID, including surgery and hormone therapy, are deductible medical expenses.  Moreover, the Court stated that the IRS’s position that such treatment is cosmetic in nature “is at best a superficial characterization of the circumstances that is thoroughly rebutted by the medical evidence.”

“I’m overjoyed, not only for me, but for other transgender people,” said Ms. O’Donnabhain.  “We deserve respect, equal treatment for our medical care, and fair treatment by our government.”

We may still have a long way to go as a community when it comes to fully accepting and understanding our trans brothers and sisters, but one thing we can do is celebrate every victory as a community. This victory is especially sweet because it's a victory over the IRS. Most importantly, though, is that it's a victory for fairness in the way the federal government treats Trans-Americans.

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Chaz Bono: "Gender is between your ears, not between your legs." (video)

This week, LGBT activist Chaz Bono talked publicly for the first time about his very private journey. It's amazing how much he sounds like his dad, now that his voice is deepening.