Against Me! singer, Tom Gabel, came out as transgender to Rolling Stone earlier this week. After battling with gender dysphoria for years, Gable announced she will take on the name Laura Jane Grace and will begin taking hormones and undergo electrolysis to transition.
According to Rolling Stone Gabel only told family and close friends about her transition before talking to the magazine. As the first major rock star to come out as transgender (according to Rolling Stone, but that’s open to dispute), Gabel spoke candidly with Rolling Stone. The full story will be released in the magazine’s latest issue, scheduled to hit newsstands on May 11.
Gable first publicly exemplified her desire to be a member of the opposite sex on Against Me!’s fourth studio album, New Wave, released in July 2007. In “The Ocean,” Gable sings, “If I could have chosen, I would have been born a woman.”
The singer admitted the transition won’t be easy, in an interview with Rolling Stone. “I’m going to have embarrassing moments and that won’t be fun,” she said. “But that’s part of what talking to [Rolling Stone] is about – is hoping people will understand, and hoping they’ll be fairly kind.”
Gabel has a strong support system in the punk community, which has survived by the idea that one must be true to themselves and in her wife who, Gable says, has been “super amazing and understanding.”
Gabel plans to continue fronting Against Me!
