Lacey Schwimmer to Chaz Bono Haters: “Not Okay!”

The selection of Chaz Bono as a contestant on the upcoming season of ABC’s Dancing With The Stars has not been without controversy, but Cher’s son has one strong defender on the show: his assigned partner, Lacey Schwimmer.

Professional ballroom dancer Schwimmer has commented on the pairing, expressing that she loves working with Bono and smacking back at haters on her Twitter account. Just this afternoon, Schwimmer tweeted about what she “did to Chaz Bono,” and called him a “sweaty mess,” sharing the following TwitPic:

Initially, Schwimmer tweeted:

“I’m so thrilled to let you know that my dance partner on Dancing with the Stars is Chaz Bono. He is such an amazing person! And so sweet! Weeee…… He has been working so hard this past week! Such a beautiful person inside and out! Team LaZZy?”

Unfortunately but perhaps predictably, Twitter users who were upset that ABC had paired Schwimmer with a transgendered man kept coming out on the microblogging service with hateful comments. But the professional dancer was not having any of it, and she stuck up for him vociferously, tweeting:

“Why people feel it’s okay to judge, bully and harrass others for being themselves is beyond me. Shame on you people!”

Over on Twitter, Chaz has also been updating his tweets to talk about DWTS. The activist and author says:

Just finished another great rehearsal with miss @LaceySchwimmer . She’s kicking my but [sic] all around the dance floor, and I think I like it.

Bono has been in transition since 2008, and legally changed his name from “Chastity Bono” to “Chaz Bono” in May of 2010, at the same time he legally changed his gender to male.