Against Me! singer: I still struggle ‘daily’ with transgender dysphoria
Laura Jane Grace, the lead singer of Against Me!, has said that she still struggles “daily” to accept herself.
The punk singer came out as trans in 2012, continuing to perform with the band following her transition.
Against Me! later recorded album Transgender Dysphoria Blues based on Laura Jane Grace’s transition, which was widely acclaimed in the trans community.
Three years on from first announcing her transition, the singer spoke to the Independent – and revealed she is still struggling on a daily basis.
She told the newspaper: “A lot of people don’t perceive me as female or trans, they just see some rocker.
“I still struggle with dysphoria on a daily basis… it’s not like I came out and it had gone. That’s the struggle.
“It’s like, ‘F**k you, accept me as I am’ – but at the same time I still have trouble accepting myself.”
She explained that she had been battling since childhood, adding: “You push [the dysphoria] out, but it keeps coming back. You feel that way at the age of five, then at 10, and then you feel that way at 15, 20, 25.
“Then I was like, ‘OK, I’m 30 and I still feel this way. I’m still going to feel this way when I’m 40.”
The singer spoke out recently after a transphobic attack took place during one of her band’s shows… while they were performing a pro-trans song.
Against Me! fan Stephanie McCarthy recounted to the singer: “It was right in the middle of ‘Transgender Dysphoria Blues’ too, which is beautifully ironic. But I got sucker punched, I turned around and just wham! He hit me.
“It wasn’t much of a punch… but the fact that he yelled out ‘F**king tranny!’ That’s what I cannot believe.”
Grace replied: “I’m so sorry, first off, I didn’t see anything happening or I would have stopped the show and had your back. What the f**k? Why would you come to our show if you’re a transphobic piece of s**t?”
