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| Against Me! - Image copyright www.racketmag.com |
Rock and roll has
always been an arena of firsts. There are so many that trying to list
even a few of them would be an exercise in futility, such is the
vastness of their number. It is simply the nature of the beast. An
industry that is, in many ways, so progressive is bound to break so
many barriers.
Some of these barriers
border on the more unsavoury. For example, there must have been a
first rock star to perform under the influence of heroin, or animal
tranquilisers. Or, to take another example, there must have been a
first live sexual act on stage during a rock performance. Not that
there's necessarily anything wrong with those things, they're just
not the kind of thing someone should really be proud to have
achieved.
However, rock can, as
of the 9th of May 2012, claim another first. And it is one
that it can be damn well proud of, as well. Laura Jane Grace
(formerly Tom Gabel) of the punk band Against Me! became the first
major rock star to come out as transgender.
This is a major step,
when you consider that 30 or 40 years ago, people in the music
industry often found it difficult to come out or discuss
homosexuality and bisexuality (and many still do). I really hope that
this sets a trend so that more transgendered people (and people of
other dispositions that currently feel unable to express their
situation openly) can feel inspired by Laura's actions and follow in
her footsteps.
But I'm not here to
report on the news, as that will be covered in many publications that
get significantly more press than this one, by people who are
significantly better journalists than I am, and have much more of an
idea of what they're talking about. Nor am I here to espouse the
undoubted bravery shown by Laura or the importance of the act, for
the same reasons.
I am writing this as a
plea. Already, within hours of the news breaking I have seen dozens
of comments on Against Me! Videos, as well as in reply to posts about
the announcement trying to probe some kind of secret signals out of
Against Me!'s earlier works, as if to see if they could tell if they
should have been more likely to guess.
For Christ's sake, she
bloody declared “If I could have chosen, I would have been born a
woman” in 'The Ocean' on 2007's 'New Wave'. If you want your
evidence that it should have been no surprise, it's right there.
Don't try and probe it any deeper. You shouldn't even need that hint,
because it shouldn't matter.
Stop trying to derive
hidden meaning from songs that were released several years ago. and
enjoy them for what they are: great songs by a great band.
Well done to Laura, may
she be the first of many.
I can't help but think this is far from a first, as there was Wayne/Jayne County of the Electric Chairs fame back in the late seventies or early eighties
ReplyDeleteI know, "Jayne who? The Electric what?" Most people will never have heard of them. But then, I'm fairly sure you could say the same about Against Me! and Tom Gabel,to whom you refer as a "major rock star"
But no matter, kudos all round anyway, as you say.
On the contrary. Against Me! have had one album break in to the US Billboard Alternative Top 20, and another the Alternative AND Rock Top 10s. A further, third album, made it to number 1 on the US Billboard Heatseekers chart as far back as 2005. Two singles have made it in to the US Modern Rock/Alternative Top 20. Their songs (particularly the 2007 collaborating with Tegan Quin of Tegan & Sara, 'Borne on the FM Waves of the Heart' have received airplay on BBC Radio 1 and 2 as well as regular rotation on major music television channels such as Kerrang, MTV2 and their ilk.
DeleteFor a time they were signed to Fat Wreck Chords, probably the best known punk label on the planet. At least two of their albums have been produced by the world famous Butch Vig (who, you might recall, produced Nevermind, amongst other legendary albums).
Laura Jane Grace's coming out was featured prominently on the websites of music industry stalwarts Rolling Stone magazine (to whom she gave an interview), MTV, the Independent, Daily Mail and Guardian newspapers as well as Forbes magazine, the Huffington Post and any number of celebrity blogging sites.
I could go on, but I think that the above more than qualifies her and her bandmates as major rock stars. They are certainly very significantly in the public eye.