R. Kelly’s 13-year-old child, born Jaya Kelly, recently revealed on his Ask.fm page that he is transgender and will now go by the name Jay Kelly.
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Although his father has only known about his transition for three months, his mother, Andrea Kelly, who stars on Hollywood Exes, has shown her son support.
“[My mom] was like, ‘Baby, you know I love you if you were bi, gay, [lesbian], you name it and I would still love you so much,’” he said.
“She was very proud of me. I was like, ‘Thank you, Mum, for accepting the fact that I’m a transgender.’ And same with my sister, she told me that she was proud of me and respects me by calling me handsome and calling me her little brother now, and I love her for that.’
As a 13-year-old navigating life in the spotlight, Jay has received encouraging comments and support from complete strangers via his social media accounts. Kelly has yet to comment on Jay’s announcement.
Yesha Callahan is editor of The Grapevine and a staff writer at The Root. Follow her on Twitter.
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