Stereophonics frontman Kelly Jones praises son's courage for coming out as transgender
Stereophonics frontman Kelly Jones has praised his teenage son’s “incredible courage” in how he has handled coming out as transgender.
Jones first revealed in April that his 16-year-old son Colby had transitioned and the proud father has now shared a moment he was filled with admiration for his son.
Speaking on The High Performance Podcast with Jake Humphrey and Professor Damian Hughes, the musician, 46, shared that he had learnt a lot from his eldest child, as he has all his children.
“Colby’s episode was, you got a young kid telling you something’s not right,” he explains. “You think it’s a sexuality thing and it slowly trickles into a gender situation.
“Then I look around and think, ‘Who can I talk to about this?’ I don’t know one single person that has been through this. I’ve no idea what’s going on here.”
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Jones went on to say that the main hurdle the family had faced was a lack of information and support, explaining that once he understood what his child was going through he sought help from a therapist.
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The Dakota singer said his son goes to an all girls school, and recalled that as recently as last year people assumed his transition was just a “phase” Colby would grow out of.
“I went to watch a carol service at the school last summer and people are going, ‘It’s a phase, he’ll grow out of it,’” he explained.
“I was watching these girls singing with long hair and the little spots and all the stuff they’re doing. And he [Colby] walked down with a short cropped haircut, like David Bowie, wearing trousers and a shirt and looking like a bartender. He couldn’t look more different from the rest of the girls there.”
Jones added: “And I’m thinking, “That takes a lot of balls that. There’s no way you would be doing that if it wasn’t something for real, you know?” So there’s a lot of courage in that. It’s incredible.”
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Last month, Jones shared his pride in the way his family rallied round after Colby came out as transgender.
“As a family, it’s all our job to help him realise he’ll eventually get to where he wants to be, and I’m proud of how we’ve coped,” Jones told the Daily Star.
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Jones went on to describe how he came to understand what his son was going through.
“You realise they’re the same person, the same soul, and suddenly it hits you: ‘Right, I need to get my head around this,’” he explained.
“I mean, how tough must it be to feel you were born inside the wrong body? I can’t even begin to imagine.”
Colby is Jones’ first child with his ex-partner Rebecca Walters. Their second is Misty, 12, and Jones also has a three-year-old named Riley with wife Jakki Healy.
