Transgender model and activist Kenny Jones talks about the ups and downs of a double-gendered life
By Josefine Cook
Kenny makes himself comfortable in front of a giant, vibrant painting. It is a brilliant backdrop, illustrating the colour, drama and craze of his life. Kenny Jones is a 24-year-old currency trader, model and now, activist, and he used to be a woman.
Originally named Kelsey, he went to a religious, all-girls school. "They told me I worship the devil and praying away my sins won't help," he tells me when I ask how the school counsellor treated him when he started showing signs of gender confusion. "They knew something was wrong. They should've said, 'this school isn't for you', rather than keeping me there and making me feel isolated." Bullied by the teachers because he felt uncomfortable wearing the uniform skirt, he left school at the age of 14 and started calling himself Kenny. This is the story of a boy born into a girl's body.
"I always knew there was something wrong, but there was never anything out there to help me," Kenny says. He first went to a therapist when he was 11 and at 14 he was diagnosed with body dysphoria. "That means you look in the mirror and don't like something." He explains at the time, the lack of information on transgender people made doctors use terminology very carefully. But eventually, his NHS letters changed "body dysphoria" to "gender dysphoria".
"They realised I'm not happy with my body because I'm not happy with my gender. And that's when I started my transition."
At 16, Kenny started taking hormone blockers to eliminate his femininity and stop his period. Before then, he used to pass out when he was menstruating. "The doctor told me sometimes there is more to it than science. He said: 'Your body doesn't want it to happen and so it shuts down.' It's the only thing that makes sense. I wasn't bleeding heavily, I was never in too much pain. It was just that my body physically didn't like it happening.”"
Stopping his periods was a key point in Kenny's transition, reassuring him that transitioning was the right thing to do. Being the face of the I'm On campaign for gender-neutral period awareness, Kenny calls himself "the poster boy for trans periods". Many companies have now changed their wording from "she" to "they" or "those who bleed" to accommodate the transgender and non-binary community.
"It's nice to know I've made a difference. I think trans men will be glad periods are not a taboo subject anymore."
But Kenny wasn't always the poster boy, especially not for education. Leaving school before his GCSEs, Kenny says he basically couldn't read or write. "I'd meet my friends after school and notice they were talking better than me, discussing where to go to college." At 15, his older sister had just moved out, and his mother, fallen sick to cancer, moved to the hospital. His father wasn't speaking to him, "he didn't get it". And so, Kenny started living by himself. "I thought, I can't just stay here and be stupid whilst everyone else goes to school. I made my classmates steal books for me. I used to get up at eight in the morning, as if I was going to school, and read all the books and teach myself.'' He got into college two years later to study media. "I was prepared this time. I also looked more masculine. My first year was hard, but I could see that people were becoming more accepting. And then I got a girlfriend. She was the hottest girl in my college. Guys used to bully me because they saw me as competition. But she'd say: 'Have you seen what's underneath his pants? No, so you can't talk.' I was very lucky to have her."
So, what is underneath his pants? For transgender men, there are two available surgeries – top and bottom. The removal of breasts, and a hysterectomy followed by the creation of male genitals made from arm or thigh skin grafts. Kenny only had top surgery. It is unusual for trans men to choose not to get bottom surgery, the womb and vagina being the biggest symbols of femininity. But Kenny doesn't care about gender.
"I am pansexual. I've dated cis men, cis women, trans women, non-binary... The more comfortable I become in my transition, the less I care about body parts."
One would think it must be an awkward surprise when a muscular, bearded man reveals a vagina in the bedroom, but Kenny says otherwise. "When I was younger, it was difficult. But I tend to hang out in a queer community, so we're all kind of fluid already. Not having to explain things to people all the time is one of the best feelings."
Kenny decided not to get bottom surgery because he's seen people go through the trauma and depression that can come with it. He is also scared of losing his sensitivity. "I could come out of surgery and have no nerves left, ruining my sex life. I haven't been born into the body that I think I should be, but this is what I have, and as far as I'm concerned, I have a good sex life."
In theory, Kenny could bear a child one day. But that's not the plan. "I'm not carrying, fuck that." There are trans men who stop taking testosterone, take oestrogen, have a child and then return to testosterone.
"It would destroy me mentally. I want to adopt or have a surrogate."
Perhaps it's too soon for Kenny to think about children. After all, he still has to make up for his own lost childhood. At 24, he is finally the man he was born to be. "The road is hard, transitioning is not easy, but each step you take is so rewarding. I can never forget the day I was given testosterone. And now I'm here. I rejected bottom surgery. And it's because I got to a point where I know myself and I'm happy."
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