Exclusive: Chaz Bono Live Thursday on 'GMA'

Nov. 18, 2009 — -- For the first time, Chaz Bono, born to Cher and the late Sonny Bono as Chastity, opens up on live television to talk about the transformation from Chastity to Chaz, and Chaz's new life as a man, in an exclusive interview with "Good Morning America" Thursday.

Bono, a LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) civil rights advocate, journalist, author and musician, began the gender-changing process earlier this year, following his 40th birthday. His publicist announced Bono's decision to undergo gender reassignment in June.

"I always felt like the male from the time I was a child," Bono told Entertainment Tonight in October. "There wasn't much feminine about me. I believe that gender is something between your ears and not between your legs."

Tune in to "Good Morning America" Thursday, Nov. 19, to see Chaz Bono's first live television interview.

Bono has undergone breast removal surgery and began taking hormones to alter his appearance. The overall process, however, reaches back nearly a decade, Bono said.

"It was just a long process of being comfortable enough to do something about it. I was turning 40, and I thought it's now or never," he said.

At age 18, Bono, who was still Chastity, revealed to her parents that she was a lesbian and wrote about the experience in a 1998 memoir, "Family Outing."

In 2002, Bono, again as Chastity, wrote "The End of Innocence," a second memoir about coming out, her music career and her partner's death from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

According to Bono's books, Cher was shocked by the news of her daughter's sexuality and even banished Bono from her NYC apartment immediately after Chastity came out.

"I'd always had this idea that she would get married and have a family," Cher told People magazine in 1998.

The two have since mended their relationship.