Transgender Rocker interviews

On the one hand when celebrities come out, it has generally been good for their communities.  But not always.  There are times when we just want to be thought of as regular people…and celebrities are by definition not “regular people”.

In the past year a couple of rock starts have begun very public transitions.  And we find them in the news of the past couple of weeks.

Laura Jane Grace of the band Against Me! has done her first interview since coming out as a transwoman and doing her first performance under her new name.  The interview was conducted by James Montgomery of MTV News (@positivnegativ).

A Life Unburdened

This is me.  If you have a problem with it, then get out of my life.

In Praise of Bravery:

How Laura Jane Grace Came Out To Against Me!

Against Me!’s newest album will be Transgender Dysphoria Blues.  Here are some lyrics from the title track:

Your tells are so obvious.

Shoulders too broad for a girl

Keeps you reminded

Helps you remember where you come from

You want them to notice

The ragged ends of your summer dress

You want them to see you like they see every other girl.

They just see a faggot. They hold their breath not to catch the sick

Rough surf on the coast, wish I could have spent the whole day alone with you

With you

You’ve got no cunt in your strut

You’ve got no hips to shake

You know it’s obvious, but we can’t choose how we’re made

While MTV has given much more of the spotlight to Laura Jane, Life of Agony’s Mina Caputo did her own coming out nearly a year ago.

I got a lot of grief for it, but it was nothing compared to the years of pain I went through not being open about the way I felt inside.

I grew up in the ’80s and information about being transgender and the way I was feeling just wasn’t out there.  Or at least, it wasn’t that easy to find.  I knew I didn’t feel like a boy, and that made me extremely uncomfortable.

Caputo doesn’t detest how she used to be, but wanted to be more human.

I feel like I’m bigger than gender. I’m gender-less. I know it’s confusing, because most people can’t think outside of the box. Society wants to think of males on one side and females on the other, but there’s more to it than just that.

And the metal world is more masculinity oriented than Grace’s punk world, so Caputo’s transition has not been totally smooth.

The majority of our fans have always been male, and I’ve experienced a lot of closed-minded people in the metal world.  You know, a lot of people that just don’t know what’s going on.  What I want those people to know is that I’m a beautiful human being.  Don’t get me wrong – I’ve had a lot of support [in the metal scene], but there has also been a lot of rejection and criticism about my life.

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