The voting on Dancing with the Stars often has little to do with the actual dancing of the stars (and I use that word lightly) involved. When Bristol Palin took the stage last season and made it to the finals, it's a pretty fair guess that most of the people voting for her weren't doing so for her dancing chops.

This week, however, with the announcement of this season's upcoming cast, conflict and competition have come up before the dancing has even started. Chaz Bono, the son of Cher and Sonny Bono, is the first transgendered contestant on the show—and his inclusion is making serious waves.

According to Mediaite, a news and media website, angry viewers flooded the show's page with comments after the announcement. "This will not be a family show any longer," wrote one commenter. Another wrote, "Anyone that obese and physically grotesque is no picnic to watch trying to dance," while another wrote, "I just don't want that lifestyle choice flaunted in the media."

While other commenters spoke up defending Bono, the angry comments on ABC's message board have revealed a much darker side of voting-based reality television. Tim Molloy, an editor for The Wrap, wrote, "Gay American Idol contestants have opted [not] 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 preconceived notions of a contestant's background, sexuality or even body type affects the way they watch TV shows—and the way they vote. But despite the threats of conservative viewers to go so far as to boycott the show, Dancing with the Stars producer Conrad Green told E! Online that they're proud to have Bono on the show. "He's a remarkably strong character," Green says. "I think once the show's underway, people will either root for Chaz because of his dancing, or not. I think one of the joys of our show is … you see a different side of people. You see them struggling to try and achieve something positive. You get to know them differently."

In an official statement, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation suggested that the inclusion of Bono, along with former Queer Eye guru Carson Kressley, has "created prime-time firsts that reflect the growing acceptance of gay and transgendered people in America today."