Chaz Bono on DWTS transgender pushback: “It’s not that big of a deal. I have a very thick skin.”

Chaz Bono isn’t letting the haters get him down.

After it was announced that Chaz was going to be a contestant on ABC’s Dancing With the Stars, which has its season premiere Sept. 19, there was flack from people who object to a transgender person being part of the popular reality show competition.

Chaz, the only child of Cher and the late Sonny Bono, talked about the controversy with EW.com at the Creative Arts Emmys over the weekend.

”I didn’t completely expect it,” he said of the negative reaction. “It’s really pretty much rolled off my back and I’m just trying to concentrate on dancing because it’s hard. … You treat it as I’m not going to be doing anything on the show other than dancing.”

Not that Chaz isn’t used to going toe-to-toe with anti-LGBT folks: . ”I’ve been into activism since ’95. I’m really used to this. I  debated Jerry Falwell and I’ve had people picket events I’ve been at, so it’s not that big of a deal. I have a very thick skin … otherwise you’d be upset all the time. I look at it as a chess game. These people have an agenda. And I have one as well.”