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Tom Gabel of Against Me! comes out as transgender
By Jeremy GlassMay 9th, 2012, 11:30 amComments (9)
Tom Gabel, the histrionic lead singer of punk band Against Me!, has revealed to Rolling Stone that she's taking steps to begin living life as a woman. The thirty-one-year-old Florida native will soon start electrolysis and and hormone therapy, though Gabel intends to remain married to 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 has reportedly suffered from gender dysphoria for years, which will more likely than not be addressed in her new song "Transgender Dysphoria Blues" (no, I am actually not kidding) and will be going by the name Laura Jane Grace.
For the Against Me! diehards who are taking this news as a shock, we can now confirm that Gabel was definitely talking about herself in the Against Me! song "The Ocean:"
"If I could have chosen, I would have been born a woman / my mother once told me she would have named me Laura."
That one definitely went over my head. While Gabel/Grace admits that there are going to be "embarrassing moments," they will surely be trumped by the raised fists of approval from LGBT supporters, fans of Against Me!'s music, and a general hodgepodge of ignorance-crushing badasses. Give 'em hell, Laura.
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Transgender
Commentarium (9 Comments)
Gabel/Laura, you might be taking steps to lose them. But what you are doing takes a lot of balls! Way to go! So much better to live the way you want than follow other people's expectations of you.
i am a huge fan of AM and have been for years. That lyric always caught my ear. Am super happy that gabel's down what he/she needs to do to be happy.
I love that you guys are supportive of Tom/Laura, but I think that in order to giver respect to her choice to begin living as a woman, the editors would do well to change the pronouns in this article from his/him to hers/she. Everyone's protocol is different, but it would send out a good message to begin honoring his/her choice right away.
I agree with @mayalaska here. Unless Gabel has made another preference clear, changing the pronouns so that they conform with the gender to which she is transitioning/has transitioned is the respectful thing to do.
ditto.
Yeah, it's kind of a gray area. The MLA, APA, and Chicago style guides all differ on proper etiquette surrounding a transgendered person's pronoun change.
Nah, I'm kidding -- but I'm not trying to be flippant. We talked it over right after it was published, and some sources do differ, but ultimately, coming from a place of respect is the best decision of all, so we changed it.
Awesome censorship, neve hypocrites! You jackasses suck!
So, will he/she be going through an actual operation at some point, or only taking the hormone therapy to feminize his/her body as much as possible but retaining his/her penis? Serious question, I swear! I'm genuinely curious... I fully support his/her gender preference even if it's not taken all the way to biological completion, but I wonder are there reasons why some transgender folks choose not to have the reassignment surgery?
That's normal. Chas seems perfectly adjusted. This will work out well.