Stereophonics’ Kelly Jones shares sound advice for other parents of trans kids: ‘They’re the same person, the same soul’
Kelly Jones from Stereophonics performs at Brighton Centre on 2 March, 2020 in Brighton, England. (WireImage/ Rob Ball)
Stereophonics frontman Kelly Jones has said he is proud of the way his family rallied round after his son came out as transgender.
Jones revealed in April that his 15-year-old son Colby, who inspired the band’s track “Fly Like an Eagle”, had transitioned.
Speaking to the Daily Star on Monday (23 November), Jones said: “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.”
He added that his son’s school, which is an all-girls school, has been “very cool about it all”.
‘Not one person’ has bullied son, says Kelly Jones
Jones continued: “I’m flabbergasted that, through all this, not one person has bullied Colby or made any sarcastic comments to him.
“He looks like a cool little guy, too, with a messy haircut and Dr Martens – he’s found his own little style.”
Kelly Jones of Welsh rock band Stereophonics performs on stage at the O2 Arena in London on March 6, 2020. (Alberto Pezzali/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
He added: “It’s very hard to put into words, but it was difficult to come to terms with it at the start.
“I almost found myself going through a sort of grieving process, as though I’d lost a daughter and hadn’t had a chance to say goodbye properly.
“But then you realise they’re the same person, the same soul, and suddenly it hits you: ‘Right, I need to get my head around this.’
“I mean, how tough must it be to feel you were born inside the wrong body? I can’t even begin to imagine.”
Stereophonics frontman has been on a journey to educate himself about trans issues
Speaking about Colby in April, Jones had said: “For me, I had no clue or understanding about any of that stuff, and as a family it’s been playing catch-up.”
He said it had been an emotional experience, adding: “For a while it was just becoming more intense and I remember getting upset one night, and I sounded like an animal, because I couldn’t work out what was going on. You actually go through a grieving process because you feel like you’ve lost a daughter and gained a son.
“Then you’re responsible for the siblings, and how they’re going to deal with it, and the grandparents.”
He continued: “The only thing you can really end up getting to is acceptance, really, and I’m at acceptance with it, and we’re all fully supportive. But it’s about resistance to your own prejudices, be it from films or the derogatory terms you heard as a kid… all that comes into your head the moment you hear the word ‘trans’ or ‘transgender’.”
