Below Deck‘s new cast member Kyle Dixon reveals he’s dated transgender women, saying he’s absolutely ‘cool’ with discussing his sexuality on the show and to reporters.

His revelations came in a preview for the show, which centers around a yacht crew members and their seaside capers. His fellow crew mates, he said,  ‘had mixed reactions’ to his revelation.

Via Daily Mail:

Dixon told fellow yachtmates Kate Chastain and Ben Robinson that he told his father he was bisexual, amid a relationship he was in ‘at the time’ with ‘a transgender missus.’
Chastain asked the one-time soldier, ‘So you dated somebody who was transgender?’

Dixon responded, ‘Well, no; I hooked up with one by accident, and then I found out I was a bit partial to it. Ashley‘s transgender, the girl I kinda been seeing back in England on-and-off,’ Dixon said, clarifying that Ashley is pre-op.

His castmate Emily Warburton-Adams said she ‘did not see this coming whatsoever.

Below Deck personalities Kelley Johnson and Nico Scholly, appearing on Watch What Happens Live Tuesday, showed both shock and support for their castmate.
Johnson told host Andy Cohen that ‘nobody had a clue,’ while Scholly said, ‘Everyone does their own thing, which doesn’t matter to me. I don’t care … it’s almost fun.’

Cohen added, ‘What an exciting surprise to find out.’

‘I don’t care,’ the deckhand, 26, told Radar Online in regards to opening up about his sexual preferences, adding that he’s ‘been doing it for years.’

It’s news that I’m sure will be music to Laverne Cox‘s ears.

Back in June, the actress spoke to Sirius XM about the current “gender policing” that hurts everyone, and, in particular, men who date transgender women. These men, she said, need someone high-profile among them to come out of this specific kind of closet.

“Most men who are attracted to and date transgender women are probably stigmatized more than trans women are,” she observed in an interview with me on SiriusXM Progress. “I think a man who is dating trans women, who is a celebrity, or famous or is an athlete or something, needs to come forward –- or a musician –- and needs to say, ‘I love transgender women and [they] deserve to be loved and I’m going to declare that publicly.’ I think those men need some sort of inspiration and hope, so they can live more authentically.”

Kyle Dixon might not exactly be a household name, but his admission paves the way for others to come forward, saying they date trans men or women and – pfffft– it’s no big deal.

Below Deck airs on Bravo Tuesdays at 9/8c.