Cher: 'Chaz Bono is the same person as before sex change'

Cher has said that she still considers Chaz Bono to be the same person even after his sex change.

The 'Believe' singer, who previously promised that she would always "strive to understand" Bono's experience, confessed that while it was initially difficult to accept that her child would transition from female to male, she was relieved to see that he hadn't changed as a person.

"As a mum, you have a child, and then all of a sudden you have a different child. But you have the same child," Cher explained on Anderson Cooper's talkshow.

"And so, it's very hard to kind of twist your mind around to the adjustment. But then, when you look at it and you're around your child, you just think, 'No difference'. Same child, different wrapping."

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Cher added that while she understands that many people are still uncomfortable with the idea of transitioning gender, she hopes that her son is able to help break barriers by being in the public eye.

"There are some people that are never going to be able to move out of their comfort zone. But I think that when people could see Chaz and see what a wonderful person he is, and kind and funny and all that, then maybe they could just relax off of what their preconceptions are," she said.

Cher recently defended Bono after he was criticised by the Dancing with the Stars judges, saying that while she doesn't mind panelist Carrie Ann Inaba, "the men suck".