Pink News reports that Stereophonics frontman Kelly Jones has revealed that his 15-year-old child is transgender.
Jones talked about Colby’s transition in an interview with Fearne Cotton on her Happy Place podcast.
He said he had struggled to accept his son’s transition: “For me, I had no clue or understanding about any of that stuff, and as a family it’s been playing catch-up.”
“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’.”
Last year Stereophonics put out a single called “Fly Like an Eagle”, which was about how Kelly’s son, who then presented as female, came out as a lesbian. Colby is obviously no longer a lesbian.
Being transgender is a journey of self discovery. Coming out as gay first and then as transgender is not uncommon.
Insider writes about FTM trans activists and vloggers and their partners.
Jamie Raines and Shaaba Lotun met when they were 16 years old, as Shaaba puts it, “before Jamie was Jamie.” When Jamie started medically transitioning to male, their friendship turned into a romantic relationship.
These days Jamie’s YouTube channel often features Shaaba as well, where they both answer questions about their relationship and talk about trans issues.
“We’ve always said that if sharing our story can just help one person feel like they’re not alone or one person be more accepting of their own family members, then our job’s done,” Shaaba said. “I know that sounds so cliché, but it’s true.”
The Scottish couple Charlie Allan and Lauren Faulkner (photo above by Lauren Faulkner) started their YouTube channel Trans Life & Wife about four months ago. Lauren says:
“We talk about subjects that a lot of people might be a little bit scared to talk about or might be a little bit hesitant to talk about… And we’re also answering all the questions that people are too scared to ask but we’re doing it in an informative, funny, safe environment.”
By the way: Lauren made headlines the other day by donating £1000 to British National Health Service workers to help them get to work.
For Parker Price, working out is about so much more than just getting swole; it’s an integral part of his transition. After falling into a depression fueled by longstanding body issues, Price began training at Ultimate Performance Fitness in Los Angeles, throwing himself into an intense, physically demanding 12-week transformation program.
The Greek Orthodox state of Mount Athos in Greece has forbidden women (as well as most female animals) for 1000 years. So how come researchers have found “female” bones there?
“Among [the bones found] were a forearm, shinbone and sacrum that were just so different in their morphology,” added the academic [Laura Wynn-Antikas]. “While the others were more robust and had clearly belonged to the frames of men, these had measurements that noticeably fell in the range of a female. They were markedly different in size.”
Found embedded in the subsoil of the chapel, the bones were also clearly a secondary burial although they had been transferred from original tombs with the utmost of care. Intrigued, the monastery of Pantokrator to which the chapel of St Athanasios belongs, proposed that the samples undergo radio carbon dating.
“If we are talking about a woman, or indeed more than one woman, it will raise a lot of questions,” Wynn-Antikas said. “Starting with who could she have possibly been.”
One likely explanation is that this monk was a transgender man.
Mount Athos is an autonomous polity within the Greek Republic, and home to 20 monasteries under the direct jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.
And just to make sure: We find gender variant people in most cultures and throughout history. Being trans is not an invention made by the “trans cult” or whatever it is the transphobes try to tell us these days.
Top photo: Laura Antikas-Wynn and Yannis Maniatis inspect the bones. Photograph: Phaidon Hadjiantoniou, The Guardian.
Bottom photo of St Stephen Monastery, Meteora, by Cato Rolea.
It’s officially August, which means back to school season. I’m going into my junior year (year 12, I believe, for my uk followers), and I came out publicly on the first day of freshman year (I think year 10). I’ve been identifying as male for 5 years now, and out to everyone for 2, so I thought I’d give you guys some advice on navigating a school climate
This is coming from the perspective of someone who is 100% out to my peers and teachers, but closeted at home
Expect this to be in multiple sections, I guess. That’s how I usually do things
Names
The first big thing is your name and pronouns. Start off by telling your friends, if they don’t already know. Explain that you’re trans, and tell them your name and pronouns. They’ll probably have a few questions, so be ready for that
Next is teachers and school staff. Either stay after class the first day to tell each teacher individually, or, send them an email when you get your schedule, if you get it a week or two before school starts
Here’s the template I like to use, if you need an example (change as needed to fit your personal situation, it’s better to be upfront about everything):
I told my teachers face-to-face freshman year, but since then I’ve been sending an email. When you email them, I’ve found they can be really understanding. All of our seating charts, attendance sheets, etc had my chosen name on them instead of my deadname, because my teachers changed the sheets before printing them
On the first day, go into the office and ask to speak with your principal/vice principal. Explaining your name and pronouns to them and your councilors, along with any other staff, is really helpful. Tell them your situation and see what resources are available
Classmates
Coming out to your classmates is a bit more challenging, especially if they’ve known you for years, as was my situation
If you’re starting a new school, you could try and go stealth if you pass and make your teachers aware
Otherwise
I started by letting my teachers address me as a male, and answered questions about it from my classmates as they came up
It took some time, but within 3 months most people in my school knew I was a guy
That being said, of course there are assholes
If you have people refusing to call you your name, try and educate them. I’ve found that it can really make a difference if you explain the science behind dysphoria and being trans
Otherwise, work with your school
Don’t be afraid to find a trusted teacher or administrator and tell them what’s happening
Keep a record of what people are saying. My GSA teacher sponsor told me to track names, dates, times, locations, and what was said. It helps the school so they can focus on the sources of the problems
General
Talk to your school about what resources are available to you
For instance, does your state/district have any bathroom policies for trans people ?
Ask about using the restrooms/lockerooms that correspond with your gender
If you’re non-binary or aren’t allowed in the school facilities, ask about a third option. For example, my school has a bathroom in the nurses office. Until the school board makes a decision regarding bathrooms, that’s what I use
If your school has uniforms, ask about wearing the male uniform
Otherwise, most schools have different dress codes for male and female students (it’s fucking stupid, but that’s a whole other story). Talk to them about following the rules for your gender
If you have school issued emails like we do, ask about changing yours. My school wouldn’t change my actual email, but they went in and changed the account name for me
Overall, be respectful, be understanding, and work with your school. They aren’t allowed to out you to anyone (including parents) without your explicit consent, they will help you if you let them, and you have to understand that it won’t be perfect. Some things won’t work out, some people will be assholes, that’s just how it is. But there are resources and people who will defend you if you let them
dan’s coming out video has affected me hugely in accepting that i’m transsexual.
i feel really, really bad, bc i used to hate on ph*n bc the ph*nnies were fetishizing actual people with feelings, but also bc mlm relationships used to make me feel bad, and i didn’t understand why. was it bc i wasn’t as accepting as i thought i was?
this last year i finally had a breakdown and realized that yes, i’m trans, i can’t change that and i will never be happy pretending that i’m a girl, even though that’s what i must do at the moment (unsupportive enviroment, no support net duh)
i just wish i was attracted to girls since living pretending i’m a butch lesbian would be less painful to me, but i’m completely attracted to men. being on a straight relationship doesn’t click for me neither, since playing the girl role in a relationship hurts me so deeply. even if someday i can come of the closet, i feel like i would still be wishing that i was attracted to women, since it would be a lot easier and would help me into getting accepted by society, and, u know, girls are usually more accepting.
and shit, i’m so fucking scared of gay relationships. because i know that they are the thing that works for me. and i’m fucking scared. what if things don’t get better? what if i never get to be in a relationship that actually makes me feel completely good?
plus homosexual cis men scare the shit out of me, bc there’s a lot of transphobic cis gay men, and look i don’t care if a guy doesn’t like me bc i’m ugly i’m a loser etc, but if someone does not like me bc i’m trans… things change. it hurts so GODDAMN much. it makes me feel like people don’t take trans identities seriously and secretly think that trans lads are women playing dress up.
so, you know, it’s not like i have ever been like “i hate gays lmfao” bc i have always supported lgbt with all my soul, but seeing healthy and happy gay relationships always triggered the fuck out of me. it’s like cis gays can achieve a happinness i can only dream of. and yes, i know that for them it’s already fucking hard. but for me, a fucking trans f*g it’s even harder.
so, when dan posted the video, i kinda felt bad?? i mean, happy for him, but intimidated bc as i just said gay cis men scare me so much. but when i saw the video i cried so goddamn much. even if our oppression is not exactly the same, he, the guy i idolize, understands me, he understands the struggle, and he stands within the LGBT community. and it filled my heart with pride. i seriously support dan, phil, and all the mlms out there. and for that purpose i must come to terms with who i am, a transsexual gay guy. i literally can’t be other person, i have tried and it’s impossible. i really need to stop hating on myself and start loving who i am, so i finally stop projecting my internalized homophobia on other gay and bi guys who doesn’t deserve it.
and it’s fucking hard. i really feel like things will never get better. but, as dan said on his video, time changes things. so i’m forcing myself to have some hopes on living.
thank you dan, for your video and for being suck a fucking hero. i relate to what you said. even though if the oppression i suffer is bigger, and looking at cis gays/trans hets narratives make me think “life would be a lot easier if i were like that, if only the oppression were a bit smaller” but then i think about wha you said about times changing and fuck, you’re right. 30 years ago gay cis men were way more oppressed than nowadays. maybe in the future being trans will be more accepted.
i still don’t love who i am yet, but i’m ready to work hard on it. maybe one day i will be able to publicly came out in an unapologetic fashion, like dan just did.
Trans people have always existed. While many historians deadnamed and misgendered him, Joseph Lobdell was one of the first trans people documented in the U.S. court system in 1853 (image from Hello World, It’s Eli).
