June 26, 2014

R. Kelly Speaks On His Child Coming Out As Transgender

<b>R.Kelly being interviewed by a host of WCGI</b>

R&B superstar R. Kelly made his first public comments about his 13-year-old child Jay, who came out as transgender earlier this month on social media

Speaking to Chicago radio station WGCI, Kelly said, “You don’t really want to open it up by saying my daughter is becoming my son.”
Kelly was reacting to the news that his child is a transgendered teenager who now goes by Jay. Jay, who was born Jaya, made the announcement in a blog post on his Ask.FM account about two weeks ago.

“Don’t even give the blogs that kind of credit. You know what I’m saying? Real talk,” Kelly told the radio station Monday.

“As far as that is concerned, always believe what you see with your own eyes that is. Always believe what you see. That is the best way to go about this business,” the 47-year-old singer continued. “And I’ve heard a lot of things about a lot of people and it was never true.”

He added, “You gotta know there’s a back story. There’s a background. That’s why you can’t judge nobody.”

Kelly’s rep declined to comment to ABC News.

Meanwhile, Jay has been open about his transition.

During a question-and-answer session on Ask.FM, he wrote that he has identified as a boy since he was “six or seven.”

He also said he’s eager to get gender reassignment surgery. “I believe I am a boy and want surgery, and the medication to help me [be] who I was supposed to be,” he wrote.

Jay said he came out to his mother, Andrea Kelly, star of the reality series “Hollywood Exes,” and that she and his older sister have been supportive.

“I told her because I knew she would love me no matter what, she has not once judged me in life,” Jay said about his mom. “She always told me that she loved me and to be who I truly am.”

Andrea Kelly told ABC News in a statement today, “A mother’s love is like that of God; it’s nothing you can do to earn, nothing you can do to lose it and nothing will ever change it … I love my baby no matter what and his courage makes it so easy to be a proud mom.”

Kelly divorced Jay’s mother, his former backup dancer and the mother of his three children, in 2009 after almost 13 years of marriage.

The teen said his relationship with his famous father was “really complicated” and that the singer “has not reached out” since Jay made his announcement.

Kelly told WGCI that he supports his children, especially financially.

“You save money so your kids can go to college — no matter what they are or who they are,” he said. “They’re your kids, you gotta support them.”

He added, “I have three lovely, lovely kids that I am in love with and that’s in love with me.”

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