Against Me Frontwoman On Her Gender-Change Fear

10 January 2013 | 7:03 pm | Sally Anne Hurley

Laura Jane Grace - formerly Tom Gabel - opens up on her gender change

More Against Me! More Against Me!

Against Me! lead singer Laura Jane Grace has spoken candidly to us about the aftermath of her decision to come out as transgender in early 2012.

The singer, formerly Thomas Gabel, confessed she was in transition to live as a woman back in May, which has been met with warm support from the band's fans and those close to her.

“Overwhelming support from everyone; from people I don't know to my close friends and everything,” Grace offers of the response. “Unfortunately that's the fear that you build up inside yourself over your lifetime when you deal with something like that – is that if the reaction will be bad. That's why there's fear, you know. Otherwise it wouldn't be an issue. So to make a decision like that and to come out and be open with something and then be met with such support is definitely humbling and something that I won't soon forget.”

Grace said that plenty of studio time while the punk rock band works on their latest album has helped her immensely in an emotional year.

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“Having a record to devote your head to and think about… there's a lot of stuff this past year that if I wouldn't have had this going I wouldn't have handled it as well,” she reflects. “I think having this as a place to put everything is really healthy.

“I've been really lucky with that. I really like having that refuge and that kind of solitude. You can leave everything set up. You don't have to worry about, 'Oh we've got to be out of here in two days so we've got to hurry up'. You can indefinitely leave an amp set up and mic-ed up and keep going and working on stuff. I just come in whenever I have the time and I get work done.”

Read the full story here.