Dancing With The Stars fans, your politics are showing, and they’re ruining everyone’s fun. 
 
 Today, ABC announced the line-up for the upcoming (and 13th) season. The 12 “celebrity” crew, motley as ever, includes George Clooney‘s ex-girl friend Elizabetta Canalis, Kardashian brother Rob, and Casey Anthony obsessive Nancy Grace, among others. And with the competition still several weeks away, the announcement page has already attracted hundreds and hundreds of commenters, the majority of whom seem concerned to see Chaz Bono‘s name on the list. 
 
 Bono, Sonny and Cher’s only child, was born a woman but has since legally changed his name and gender. He has said in the past that his decision to change genders was “a last ditch effort,” and that he “needed a male body” and that he had “underestimated the [positive] impact my transition would have.” Now, his inclusion on the popular show makes him one of the most visible transgendered people, a position that he seems to be slowly coming around to. 
 
 DWTS viewers will have to come around as well. The hoards of angry and offended commenters swarming ABC’s announcement page voiced concern that “this will not be a family show any longer,” “anyone that obese and physically grotesque is no picnic to watch trying to dance,” and “I just don’t want that lifestyle choice continually flaunted in the media.” While many more commenters took up Bono’s defense, plenty claimed they would be abstaining from this cycle of competition. 
 
 With their complaints, these vocal fans have broken through the show’s be-sequined gleam, underneath which we find a much darker fabric, woven with not just dance and smiles, but also intolerance and politic. A dance competition it might be, but light fare this is not. Nor is this the first time a competition show has drawn-up such feelings. As Tim Molloy points out on The Wrap, 
 
 “Gay American Idol contestants have opted out to announce their sexuality, perhaps out of concern about alienating intolerant viewers. And Bristol Palin’s Dancing casting two seasons ago led many to vote for or against her based on her mother’s politics. If Americans quickly vote Bono off the show — or keep him on despite a middling performance, as they did with Palin — it could reveal plenty about attitudes toward transgendered people.” 
 
 An audience’s pre-existing values tend to influence the way they watch– and the way they vote. It will be interesting to see if Bono’s effort, for which he’s already begun training, will actually have an effect on ratings. 
 
 In an official statement, GLAAD suggests that the inclusion of Bono, along with former Queer Eye Carson Kressley, has “created prime-time firsts that reflect the growing acceptance of gay and transgendered people in America today.” 
 
 H/T The Wrap 
 
 Have a tip we should know? tips@mediaite.com ||||| "Dancing With the Stars" aims for provocative casts, and Chaz Bono joining the show this week has already yielded strong reaction — some of it ugly. 
 
 Bono, the only child of Sonny Bono and Cher, was born female but legally changed his gender and name last year. The announcement Monday that he would join the highly rated ABC dance competition immediately made him one of the highest-profile transgendered people in the world. 
 
 It also brought to the surface prejudices about Bono and others who have changed their gender, judging from the "Dancing With the Stars" message board. In hundreds of comments, Bono was the most common subject. 
 
 Also read: 'DWTS' Cast: Ricki Lake, Ron Artest, Kristin Cavallari, David Arquette & Nancy Grace 
 
 "HUGE HUGE fan of this show since season two and eagerly await each season to get my dancing/entertainment 'fix'!! But when I heard that Chaz Bono was going to be on, I was sick. Not that I have anything personally again her/him, I just don't want that lifestyle choice continually flaunted in the media esp ABC," went one typical anti-Bono comment. 
 
 Many also questioned, before Bono was paired Wednesday with Lacey Schwimmer, whether his partner would be a man or woman. But for everyone who vented disgust, there were many who defended Bono and accused his critics of bigotry. 
 
 Also read: Meet J.R. Martinez, the 'DWTS' Star Not Just Famous for Being Famous 
 
 Bono's casting is only the latest to make a lighthearted reality show the impetus for deeper discussions about values, tolerance, bigotry and politics. Gay "American Idol" contestants have opted not to announce their sexuality, perhaps out of concerns about alienating intolerant viewers. And Bristol Palin's "Dancing" casting two seasons ago seemed to have influenced voters with opinions on her mother's politics. 
 
 If Americans quickly vote Bono off the show — or keep him on despite a middling performance, as they did with Palin — it could reveal plenty about attitudes toward transgendered people. 
 
 An ABC spokesman said Bono, 42, was in rehearsals for the show and unavailable to comment. The network, meanwhile, had no comment Tuesday on the comments posted by "Dancing" fans on its message board. 
 
 Among the other comments: 
 
 "Chaz Bono How low can this show sink. Well you have certainly addressed the gay commuity. Guess this will not be a family show any longer!!!! Lost my family!" 
 
 "YOUR choice to bring Chaz Bono into the mix goes too far. I am not about to risk the potential for on screen dialogue about sex changes and gender confusion while my 7 and 9 year old are watching. If you want the 'anything goes' hippy culture, then soon that is all you will get. You've lost us. In case any of you are wondering … no, we are NOT tolerant. We are not tolerant to allow any and all influences to come unfiltered into our home and especially to our children. This is truly a sad farewell." 
 
 Some of the objections were flat-out confusing — one person seemed to suggest Bono had to be paired with a woman — because he was still a woman: "Chaz will have to dance with one of the girls because she/he says she/he is a man but chromesomes [sic] say different no matter how many surgeries you have." 
 
 The show has historically paired men and women regardless of sexuality. The openly gay Lance Bass was paired with Bono's new partner, Schwimmer. 
 
 Transgendered people believe that their gender identity does not correspond to the one into which they were physically born. Many seek surgery or hormones to change their physical gender. In an interview with ABC News in May, Bono explained: 
 
 "It's actually pretty simple if you look at it. … We all in the womb start out as female and then hormones come and we either stay female or we become male. I think of it as hormones that, you know, went in the brain but not in the body, and that's all being transgender is. It's just that the sex of your body and the gender of the brain don't match up." 
 
 Many criticisms of Bono on the "Dancing" message board have nothing to do with gender. Some complained that he is overweight and only famous because of his parents. Those two criticisms have faced many, many contestants before him. ||||| ABC TO ANNOUNCE THIS SEASON'S "DANCING WITH THE STARS" CELEBRITY CAST LIVE ON "GOOD MORNING AMERICA" ON TUESDAY, AUGUST 30, 2016 
 
 
 
 "Dancing with the Stars" Returns with a Live Premiere on Monday, September 12, 8:00-10:01 p.m. EDT 
 
 Come back Tuesday, August 30th to see which celebrities will be competing for the coveted Mirrorball Trophy on Season 23 of Dancing with the Stars! ||||| Summoning the who's who of the backwaters of cable television, the "Dancing With The Stars" season 13 cast has officially been announced. 
 
 Leading the pack is David Arquette, who was linked with the show a few weeks back. He just got back from a trip to Africa to help raise awareness of malaria prevention, and perhaps his good karma will get him closer to the mirror ball trophy. Last season, Hines Ward took home the top prize; the season before that, Jennifer Grey was the winner. 
 
 Perhaps the most intriguing entrant is Elisabetta Canalis, the Italian model and ex-girlfriend of George Clooney. And by far most hilariously, Nancy Grace, the bombastic Headline News host, will also be competing for a shot at dance floor immortality. 
 
 Also, there will be a bit of a family rivalry, as Ron Artest, teammate of Khloe Kardashian's husband Lamar Odom, is squaring off against Rob Kardashian, her brother. 
 
 Here's the full list; in the comments, tell us what you think. The season starts September 19th. 
 
 Ricki Lake 
 
 Ron Artest 
 
 Kristin Cavallari 
 
 Chynna Phillips 
 
 David Arquette 
 
 Carson Kressley 
 
 Nancy Grace 
 
 J.R. Martinez 
 
 Hope Solo 
 
 Rob Kardashian 
 
 Elisabetta Canalis 
 
 Chaz Bono
– If ABC wanted to generate buzz with the announcement of the new Dancing With the Stars cast, then it looks the selection of Chaz Bono was a wise choice. Tim Molloy of the Wrap notes that the show's message board has been besieged with comments about the transgender Bono, many of the I'm-not-watching-this-season variety. But Bono also has his fair share of defenders on the board, and the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation welcomes the attention, notes the Daily News. Along with the selection of former Queer Eye star Carson Kressley, ABC has "created primetime firsts that reflect the growing acceptance of gay and transgender people in America today," says a GLAAD statement. The 42-year-old Bono, who was born a female before changing his gender, showed up for his first rehearsal today, notes the Daily Mail. "His inclusion on the popular show makes him one of the most visible transgendered people, a position that he seems to be slowly coming around to," writes Zara Golden at Mediaite. Click for more on the show's full cast.