I Kissed a Boy star ‘struggled’ with dating as a gay trans man

I Kissed a Boy star Lars Fellows has opened up about experiencing rejection while dating as a gay trans man.

The 23-year-old influencer said he has “struggled” with rejection over his gender identity in the past, especially earlier in his transition.

Speaking to PinkNews, Fellows said it felt “quite difficult” to face rejection for “something you can’t really control about yourself.”

“Not all gay men will be open to dating trans men and that’s completely fine,” he said. “I struggled with it more when I was a bit younger because it felt so personal.”

Fellows became the first trans man to appear on I Kissed A Boy during season two of BBC Three UK dating show.

The programme, hosted by Dannii Minogue, sees bachelors pair up with potential matches to explore their connections, likes, and dislikes.

Fellows made his identity know fairly quickly during his time on the show, opening up in episode one to fellow contestants about being trans and dating as a gay trans man.

He said to PinkNews that, with experience dating as a trans man, he was able to differentiate “preferences and prejudice.”

“The more you put yourself out there, you can really see the difference with people,” he said. “Ultimately, like, I don’t want to be with someone who feels like I’m like lacking something. I wanna be with someone who doesn’t see it as a problem and they really see me for me.”

A perfect relationship, Fellows says, would be one where his gender identity isn’t a “determining factor,” but admitted it had been “hard” to overcome it.

Regardless, he said he had managed to overcome feelings of anxiety through experience and “a lot of rejection.”

“There are people out there who, you know, it’s not a problem to them,” the I Kissed a Boy contestant continues.