Tom Gabel, the lead singer of Against Me! best known for their 2007 album New Wave, has come out as transgender in the latest issue of Rolling Stone, announcing that she’s begun transitioning and will take the name Laura Jane Grace and that she will remain married to her wife Heather.
Against Me! singer Tom Gabel reveals plans to begin living as a woman in the new issue of Rolling Stone. Gabel, who has dealt privately with gender dysphoria for years, will soon begin the process of transition, by taking hormones and undergoing electrolysis treatments.
Gabel will eventually take the name Laura Jane Grace, and will remain married to her wife Heather. “For me, the most terrifying thing about this was how she would accept the news,” says Gabel. “But she’s been super-amazing and understanding.”
Gabel only told a handful of family and friends about her plan to transition before talking to Rolling Stone. Because this is the first time a major rock star has come out as transgender, the singer made a point of speaking openly about it. “I’m going to have embarrassing moments,” says Gabel, “and that won’t be fun. But that’s part of what talking to you is about – is hoping people will understand, and hoping they’ll be fairly kind.”
As Pitchfork points out, this was actually hinted at in Against Me!’s The Ocean back in 2007:
“And if I could have chosen,/ I would have been born a woman,/ My mother once told me she would have named me Laura,/ I’d grow up to be strong and beautiful like her.”
It’s never easy to come out to people close to you, and it’s even harder when you’re someone that well known, but congrats to Laura for coming out and for taking the steps necessary to be truly happy. Yay!
