But by the Grace

 Laura Jane Grace, born Thomas James Gabel, is a singer and guitarist of the American punk rock band Against Me!. In 2012, in a Rolling Stone interview Laura announced her plans to live openly as a transgender woman. After a long period of line-up changes and transformations, in 2014 the band released their sixth studio album, “Transgender Dysphoria Blues.”

Women in the Band

Recently, I wrote a post spotlighting a punk rock musician (Laura Jane Grace) who made the transgender transition to a woman in the middle of her career.

Perhaps you may remember, one of the all time Cyrsti's Condo regulars, Connie (below)

is also a musician as well as Paula in Great Britain. 

Connie sent in this comment concerning her interaction with her fellow musicians:

"Punk fans would, most likely, be more accepting than would, say, Country music fans to see a musician make an mtf transition. One of the things that held me back from transitioning was my music. Not that I had "made it", at all, but it was a big deal for me to make the change from a front man to a front woman. Even though the band's bookings became more plentiful with me as a woman, the guys in the band felt we'd become more of a novelty act.

 I was told that I needed to make up my mind which gender I was going to perform as. It was not difficult for me to make the decision, as my transition was already in motion. It wasn't the first time, nor was it the last, that a woman broke up a band. I just did it a little differently. ;-)"

My only question was did you have to give up your music before the pandemic took it away anyhow?

She Made it...Then Came Out

 Laura Jane Grace is known as the singer, guitarist, and songwriter for punk band Against Me!, which she founded in the late 1990s. In 2012, she came out as transgender, becoming a rock-music trailblazer in the process. In a 2012 Rolling Stone profile that served as her public coming out, she admitted she was nervous. "Even now, there's a part of me that's not convinced I know what the f**k I'm doing," she said, adding, "But there's another part of me that's completely, 100 percent sure." 

Cyrsti's Condo "Up-Date"

From the Advocate:

Punk rocker Laura Jane Grace will be giving fans a taste of her new documentary series True Trans.

Being a transgender rock star can be utterly confessional work. The public eye scrutinizes, while the urge to make impactful art pushes one to self-examine relentlessly. Both gender transition and songwriting are deeply private and idiosyncratic, even while simultaneously calling an artist to share their evolution with the world, baring their inner life in the hopes that the self and others will feel reflected, unburdened, or enlightened.

This push-and-pull is undoubtedly familiar to many trans performing artists, but this year has been rendered achingly real by Against Me! front woman Laura Jane Grace's ongoing public journey and new album Transgender 

Follow the link above for more!

The public transgender women and men who are continuing to tell the world about us--I hope have some of the idea of the wonderful work they are doing!

Laura Jane Grace

Legendary Floridian punk rock outfit Against Me! have finally set a release date for their long anticipated sixth full-length studio album, Transgender Dysphoria Blues, the follow-up to 2010′s White Crosses, as well as revealing the tracklisting and cover artwork.

 The 10-track record will be out next January and will offer a highly autobiographical insight into frontwoman Laura Jane Grace‘s journey through gender identity, self discovery and ultimately love and acceptance, as well as her trademark dominant vocals and no-holds-barred songwriting.

I'm adding a couple pictures showing the HRT progress in Laura's pictures, specifically with her hair (which I LOVE!) and the joy in her face!

For more go here.

 Check out the titles of four of the cuts:
 01. Transgender Dysphoria Blues
02. True Trans Soul Rebel
03. Unconditional Love
04. Drinking With The Jocks

On the Road Again

From Billboard

:


"With punk outfit Against Me! returning to the stage this September, frontwoman Laura Jane Grace (left) will warm-up with a mini-tour of her own. Ticket buyers for her north coast dates will get first taste of new Against Me! music.
They’ll receive a download link to two stripped-down versions of songs that'll appear on Against Me!’s upcoming full-length album “Transgender Dysphoria Blues”. The limited edition ”True Trans” recording will be available for purchase at the upcoming acoustic shows. The six solo acoustic shows start Aug. 10 in Philadelphia under the banner “Jane Grace Sings The Transgender Dysphoria Blues” – a name that plays on the artist’s real life turn of events."

Obviously a huge plus for the transgender community and I hope Laura Jane exceeds all her expectations! Oh, by the way- love the T-shirt!

Transgender Style-from Punk Guy to Music Girl

An episode from MTV House of Style in Cyrsti's Condo:

Get More: MTV House Of Style

Mina Caputo a Year Later

From Loudwire:

Against Me! singer Tom Gabel has been in the headlines this year as he undergoes the transition from male to female to become Laura Jane Grace. But if she needs someone to talk with about being a rocker undergoing such a change, she might want to reach out to Life of Agony‘s Mina Caputo.
Last July, the longtime metal vocalist known as Keith Caputo revealed that he was making the transition from male to female and would be known as Mina Caputo. The musician tells Noisecreep.com, “I got a lot of grief for it, but it was nothing compared to the years of pain I went through not being open about the way I felt inside.

Over and over again I can't express how positive all of this is for the transgender community. Every baby step we can take becomes larger when a public figure comes out and tells the world he or she is transgender or transsexual. 
When the trans person involved is a younger public person, then the impact is even larger. 

Strong Transgender Message

The incredible coming out story of Tom Gabel is set to move to another public level. Please be aware I don't think the story itself is incredible but the platform is. Anytime a highly public person "outs" her or his transgender situation in a real life positive manner- the rest of us benefit. Check this video:

Get More: Music News

Here's more from Spin On June 19, MTV News will post the first on-camera interview with Grace since she came out, including a Q&A with the full band, and SPIN is premiering a few clips online. The video snippets from this latest courageous and revealing interview show Grace looking glam-rock elegant, with dark eye makeup, shoulder-length hair, and dangling earrings, but most importantly, she exudes a sense of confidence and, especially, freedom. Grace tells MTV about how she has long seen herself in Madonna — not only as a musician but also as a woman — and how she gradually discovered she wasn't going to grow out of this feeling. "Saying to someone, 'I'm a transsexual,' is the most empowering thing I've ever felt in my whole life," she explains at one point. In a touching moment, this 31-year-old married rocker thanks wife Heather ("my biggest advocate") and expresses concern about how other children might treat their two-year-old daughter.