Gay Activist Chastity Bono to Lecture at Holy Cross

Chastity Bono, former entertainment media director for the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), will give a lecture at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 24, in the Ballroom of the Hogan Campus Center. Sponsored by ABiGaLe and Allies, the lecture is free and open to the public.

Chastity Bono is a writer and former spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign, a national lesbian and gay political organization. She will speak on her experiences as a lesbian and share her coming-out process. Bono's lecture is part of Rainbow Alliance Week at Holy Cross, designed to raise awareness about gay, lesbian and bisexual issues at the College.

In her 1998 book, "Family Outing," Bono shares an account of the anguish of young gay and lesbian people, and how commitment and courage leads them and those around them to accept homosexuality and acknowledge homophobia.

Bono was born in 1969 to the pop singing duo Sonny and Cher. While studying film and drama in college, she started a band called Ceremony that released one album, in 1993. Two years later, she came out as a lesbian in The Advocate, a national gay magazine. Soon after, she began a career writing for the magazine.

In her position with GLAAD, Bono was one of the nation's most visible advocates for lesbian and gay rights. She developed strategies addressing lesbian and gay concerns while designing public forums and educational events that focused on lesbian and gay issues and trends unfolding from within the entertainment industry.