Trans ‘Against Me!’ singer makes punk rock protest at her North Carolina show

Illustrated rainbow pride flag on a white background.

Against Me!’s lead singer Laura Jane Grace made a poignant punk rock protest at a show in North Carolina.

The punk singer came out as trans in 2012, continuing to perform with the band following her transition while remaining vocal in the trans community.

Grace has since become a loud voice in the trans community, with the band’s album ‘Transgender Dysphoria Blues’ dealing with many of the subjects surrounding her transition.

The band played a show in North Carolina this week despite the state’s anti-trans ‘bathroom’ law, with Grace explaining the concert would be a “form of protest” against the new bill.

She had said in advance: “I’m going to create an event around the show as a form of protest to say that despite whatever stupid laws they enact, trans people are not going to be scared.”

“When you feel targeted as a trans person, the natural inclination is to go into hiding. But visibility is more important than ever; to go there and have the platform of a stage to stand on and speak your mind and represent yourself.”

She didn’t disappoint at her show in Durham, North Carolina – burning her own ‘male’ birth certificate live on stage in front of the crowd as a protest.


The singer explained: “The way you affect change is by empowering the grassroots movement, by empowering the people.”

On Instagram, she wrote: “Set fire to my birth certificate tonight onstage in North Carolina… BURN GENDER BURN! GENDER INFERNO!!!! Thanks to all that came out to the show.”
Speaking about the law previously, she said: “You know, there’s been a lot of focus on just the bathroom part of HB2, but one of the other huge parts is that it takes away a transgender person’s right to sue for discrimination on the state level and that is huge.

“I mean, if someone else has the right to sue for discrimination and I don’t, how that is constitutional?”

The answer being: it is not. The US Attorney General is locked in a legal battle with the state’s governor Pat McCrory over the law, after warning him that he would face action for violating the constitution.

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