Lead singer of Against Me! reveals she is transgender
The leader singer of Against Me! has revealed she is transgender and will begin living openly as a woman under the name Laura, becoming the first major rock star to come out in this way.
Having been known until now as Tom Gabel, the singer told Rolling Stone she had always suffered from a disconnection with her body and will now begin transition.
She described the experience of transsexualism growing up as “nothing but shame”.
Her wife, with whom she has a two-year-old daughter, remains committed to their marriage and has been supportive since Gabel told her she would begin transitioning.
The singer told the magazine: “For me, the most terrifying thing about this was how she would accept the news. But she’s been super-amazing and understanding.”
She said: “I’m going to have embarrassing moments 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.”
The full interview can be read in June’s issue of Rolling Stone.
Against Me! rose to prominence in 2007 with their first charting single, Thrash Unreal.
The album, New Wave, featured a song called On The Ocean, on which Gabel sang: “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.”
