Tommy Gabel of Against Me! comes out as a transgender

[Heffer Wolf]

I'm very surprised no one has posted this yet.

Against Me! singer Tom Gabel reveals plans to begin living as a woman in the new issue of Rolling Stone. Gabel, who has dealt privately with gender dysphoria for years, will soon begin the process of transition, by taking hormones and undergoing electrolysis treatments.
Gabel will eventually take the name Laura Jane Grace, and will remain married to her 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 only told a handful of family and friends about her plan to transition before talking to Rolling Stone. Because this is the first time a major rock star has come out as transgender, the singer made a point of speaking openly about it. "I'm going to have embarrassing moments," says Gabel, "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 story of Gabel's transformation is in the latest issue, on newsstands this Friday (May 11th). In it, the singer tells Josh Eells about her history of gender dysphoria, the specifics of the transition process and what becoming Laura Jane Grace will mean for the future of Against Me!

I am a huge Against Me! fan and was pretty shocked to hear this. But looking back at some songs (Ocean, Searching for a former clarity, Pretty Girls, Tonight we are going to give it 35%, etc.) it all kind of makes sense. I'm stoked for her and can't wait to see Against Me! with a female singer (The actual article says they are staying a band)

 

[ABleedingCorpse]

It's a bit shocking to see that Tom/Laura are taking it further and to the next step of his/her's life journey. I believe everyone is being supportive around her/him (seriously, this is going to get confusing..I'll just call him her from now on) on this issue. However, with that said, the future of Against Me as a band (regardless of current feelings, things change) is fairly uncertain. Laura is still going to have Tom's voice, and that's going to be an issue for the band later on performing/recording. It would be different if Tom had sounded like Boy George before this, but he has a distinct male voice and when Laura gets on stage and you hear that voice..it's going to be very odd.

I have nothing against Laura and her choice, it's very much a brave thing she's choosen to do, but with that said, I think Against Me will 'try' at first, but I see a 'break up' in their future.

 

[Schlosser85]

If Gabel does the whole transformation completely from man to woman, she'll take lots of hormones, and one of the effects of those will be a more feminine voice. She won't sound the same.

 

[ABleedingCorpse]

If Gabel does the whole transformation completely from man to woman, she'll take lots of hormones, and one of the effects of those will be a more feminine voice. She won't sound the same.

Acutally, very much untrue. Tom/Laura's voice will not change. Laura will have to start using a 'fake' voice or change vocal stylings. You can do the research, and you will find that hormones won't affect Tom/Laura's voice very much, if at all. The vocal chords, throat muscles and overall all neck structure won't be changed. Unless he goes the extra step of having surgery on his throat/vocal chords, Laura will very much still sound like Tom.

 

[Lasirius]

Great for him/her! It must've taken some serious courage to do this.