Thursday, May 10, 2012

Against Me! Singer Tom Gabel Comes Out As Transgender

Gabel reveals plans to Rolling Stone to take the name Laura Jane Grace after undergoing gender transition.
By Katie Byrne


Tom Gabel of Against Me!
Photo: Kevin Winter/ Getty Images

Against Me! singer Tom Gabel has come out as transgender and discussed plans to begin living as a woman in the next issue of Rolling Stone.

Gabel, who will go by Laura Jane Grace and remain married to wife Heather, will undergo electrolysis treatments and take hormones to make the transition from male to female.

"For me, the most terrifying thing about this was how she would accept the news," Gabel told Rolling Stone of Heather. "But she's been super-amazing and understanding."

Gabel has dealt with gender dysphoria for years and decided it was a good time to speak up about the private struggle, telling only a few family members and friends about the upcoming transition before talking with the magazine. "I'm going to have embarrassing moments, and that won't be fun," Gabel said of coming out. "But that's part of what talking to you is about — is hoping people will understand, and hoping they'll be fairly kind."

Though Gabel is the first major rock star to undergo a gender transformation, she's hardly the first celebrity. Larry Wachowski, half of the Wachowski-brother directing duo behind the "Matrix" trilogy, has been credited as Lana Wachowki in recent work and seems to now identify as a woman, though neither sibling has spoken publicly on the subject. Chaz Bono, meanwhile, made a very public run on "Dancing With the Stars" as the first transgender contestant. Chaz, born the daughter of Cher and Sonny Bono, underwent female-to-male gender transition between 2008 and 2010.

In the next issue of Rolling Stone, due Friday, Gabel will tell her full story, including what the revelation means for the future of Against Me!

Related Artists

rachel crow rachel crow steelers browns va tech dan gilbert david stern david stern

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.