What does it cost a child to grow up knowing who they are might be enough to lose their family? And when family rejection is the backdrop of your adolescence, how do you learn to trust that romantic love is even possible?
In this episode of My Rejection Story, Alice is joined by Kenny Ethan Jones — British activist, model, author, and the first trans man to front a period campaign — to explore transgender family rejection, trans family rejection trauma, and what it actually takes to start dating as a trans man when the statistics are stacked against you.
Kenny came out to his mother at eleven, without the language to name it. Her response was immediate: I think we should talk to a doctor. That support became his anchor against the family rejection he faced elsewhere — his father, a Caribbean man raised in Jamaica, took years of breadcrumbing and boundary-holding before he came around, just before his death from cancer. Kenny speaks candidly about how rejection by family members shapes a child, and what it means to build yourself without a blueprint.
The conversation turns to dating while transitioning and the realities of online dating as a trans man — including the 87.5% of people who say they would not date a trans person. Kenny shares the practical vetting framework he uses before disclosing: reading dating profiles for queer-coded signals, sharing news articles as a values test, and trusting instincts when something feels off. He also addresses PTSD from romantic rejection, being treated as an experiment, and why not settling starts with self-trust.
In this episode they explore:
Connect with Kenny Ethan Jones
Instagram: @kennyethanjones, https://www.instagram.com/kennyethanjones
TikTok: @kennyethanjones
Book: Dear Cisgender People (2024) — available wherever books are sold
Chapters:
00:00 The Data on Transgender Family Rejection and Why Family Support Is Life-Saving
05:59 Growing Up Trans: Copying the Boys and the All-Girls School
10:28 Coming Out at Eleven Without the Language for It
13:54 Was Less Awareness Actually Less Pressure
15:08 Building Trans Identity Without a Blueprint
16:56 The First Romantic Rejection and What She Got Right
20:41 Dating as a Trans Man When 87.5% Say No
25:57 The Vetting Framework: Dating Apps, News Articles, and Red Flags
28:05 His Father, Trans Family Rejection, and Years of Baby Steps
32:53 Standing Your Ground When a Parent Won't Accept You
36:35 A Father-and-Son Moment Before It Was Too Late
37:50 Advice for Trans Youth Whose Families Are Not a Safe Place