R Kelly's transgender child Jay Kelly: 'I don't know why the media says he doesn't accept me'

Jay Kelly

Jay Kelly has just turned 14 but even at such a young age, his life journey has already taken a pretty different direction, being transgender and going through this process with a famous dad.

He admits the transition from female to male - he was born a girl and originally named Jaya - has been difficult with a celebrity father like R Kelly, but at the same time he has been very open and honest about it, taking questions from members of the public on his Ask.fm page

It was on his page that he announced his transgender identity and shared that he had been identifying as male since around the age of "6 or 7".

He also revealed that when he does start dating, it will be girls, and that he feels he is still "too young" to undergo surgery, but suggests this will take place at a later time.  "I believe I am a boy and want surgery, and the medication to help me [be] who I was supposed to be," he shared with followers. 

While he has been very happy to talk about his transgender identity, one person who was noticeably silent on the issue was his father, the "I believe I can fly" R&B singer R Kelly.

It was several weeks before he commented and when he did finally break his silence to a Chicago radio station, his feelings were somewhat ambiguous.  

Asked by the interviewer at WCGI about Jay's announcement, R Kelly said: "You don't really wanna open it up by saying my daughter is becoming my son. Because if that were true..."

When the interview interjected that it had been reported on blogs, the singer said: "Don't even give the blogs that kind of credit. You know what I'm saying? Real talk.

"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.

"And I've heard a lot of things about a lot of people and it was never true. You gotta know there's a back story. There's a background. That's why you can't judge nobody."

Some of Jay's Ask.fm followers have questioned him about what he makes of his dad's comments.  

He revealed a few days ago that he hadn't spoken to his dad about his transition and that they weren't close.  He "has not reached out", Jay wrote of R Kelly a few days ago.  

When one user asked if he felt his dad was ignoring him because of his decision, he said he didn't feel that was the case and that R Kelly "kind of understands me being transgender". 

In his most recent comments posted on Saturday, Jay appeared to be surprised by the interpretation across media outlets that R Kelly is struggling to come to terms with his daughter's change to being his son.  

One user commented: "i watched that interview your dad did. an no where in it did he say he didnt accept what you are doing. so where is the media getting this from?" 

In response, Jay replied: "I know right? I watched it too, and it just seems like he doesn't beleive it since i havn't seen him. You know? I don't know why the media says that he doesn't accept me. :/ "

In earlier comments, he revealed how surprised he was that people were taking any interest at all in his transgender identity.  

When one Ask.fm user accused Jay of loving the "fame" and wanting "everyone to know about you" after saying in a previous post that people could tell others about his transgender identity, Jay answered back: "I said they can [tell others] if they wanted to, i didnt think it would be this big of a deal. I just wanted people to know so that they werent confused. You know?"