Can a Gay Question Cher? Is That Even Allowed?

Did the icon slip up in a recent interview? Or am I over-thinking it all?

For this week, and perhaps in some coming weeks, I will be focusing on entertainment as well as my experiences in Europe.

Here’s something not surprising about Cher: she’s back. She’s known for eternally having comebacks in her career, for her youthful looks (she’s 64) and an amazing voice. Connoisseurs of strictly modern pop culture will most likely know her from the 1999 single “Believe” and from her two appearances on “Will & Grace.” When those episodes aired, gays probably weren’t surprised to see her. Cher is a gay icon. If I were reading this blog post out loud, I would have said that last sentence very seriously. For some, Cher’s role as God in one episode was simply a fundamental truth.

Her status at least as an icon definitely isn’t going anywhere. She’s now about to be in a new movie (a musical, of course), called Burlesque, with Christina Aguilera, and she’s being featured in Vanity Fair’s December issue.

Clearly, Cher has been an icon for years. It’s a well-known fact she has a transgender son, Chaz, and her public comments regarding him have always been supportive. Oddly though, in a recent interview, she seemed a little confused about her child.

In a recent appearance on David Letterman and chronicled at Radar, Cher said: “She was a lesbian – she still is – but it’s not the same now … She has a beautiful girlfriend. But it’s not the same thing as being a homosexual, you feel as if you’re in the wrong body.”

For better perspective, watch the video from 1:20-1:45.

While there is no question that Cher is clearly being supportive, I feel strange about this interview. Am I wrong for perhaps seeing something odd with the “male lesbian” exchange Cher and Letterman have? I’m not attacking her at all. It might just be better if her explanation between a gay and transgendered person was more concrete and less ambiguous . Am I over-thinking her comments? Should I really just be focusing on the amazing fact a mainstream celebrity is bringing awareness to the transgender and wider LGBT community? Let me know what you think!

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