Laura Jane Grace

American musician Laura Jane Grace is the lead singer, songwriter and guitarist of the punk rock band Against Me! In 2012, she publicly came out as a transgendered person and announced she would be transitioning to life as a woman. Leaving the name Tom Gabel behind, Laura Jane Grace has become a public ally for the acceptance of transgendered people.

Grace formed Against Me! in 1997 when she was 17. After transforming into a traditional four-piece a few years later with the crucial addition of guitarist James Bowman, they quickly became a driving force in the punk scene--despite facing an abundance of unsolicited danger. Their first major label album, New Wave, debuted on the Billboard 200 and was named Spin’s "Album of the Year."

The band has released seven albums and toured all 50 states and 29 countries. In their 2014 album, Transgender Dysphoria Blues, Grace shared her lifelong struggle with gender dysphoria.

In 2011, Grace bought an abandoned post office in Elkton, Florida and converted it into a studio. Along with the recording studio, which she named Total Treble, she launched an accompanying record label, Total Treble Music. The label released its first album in 2012, Cheap Girls’ Giant Orange, which was also Grace’s first credit as a record producer.

Grace saw another career milestone in 2013, as she co-wrote “Soulmates to Strangers” with rock royalty Joan Jett for Jett’s Unvarnished album.

In late 2016, Grace released the memoir Tranny: Confessions of Punk Rock's Most Infamous Anarchist Sellout. Tranny provides a searing account of her search for identity and her true self. That same year, Against Me! released their seventh studio album, Shape Shift with Me The band is set to tour behind the new record.