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Against Me! To Play In North Carolina In Protest Of Anti-LGBT Laws

Lauren Ziegler

A string of artists have recently cancelled shows in US states as a form of protest against a series of disgusting anti-LGBT laws. Bryan Adams cancelled a show in Mississippi, while Bruce Springsteen, Ringo Starr and more have cancelled performances scheduled in North Carolina. The laws in question, NC’s House Bill 2, forces transgender people to use bathrooms and locker rooms according to the biological gender they were born with.

Now, Laura Jane Grace, lead singer and founder of punk band Against Me! has announced her band’s own form of protest, which manifests itself in the opposite way: by playing a show in North Carolina on May 15. Grace, who publicly came out as transgender in 2012, going on to record the stunning album Transgender Dysphoria Blues with Against Me!.

Last month, she announced via Twitter that she would not be cancelling any performances.

Now, Grace has expanded on her comments, telling Buzzfeed, “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. They are not going to go away.”

“An attack by a transgender person against another person in a bathroom has never been documented,” she said, calling the laws “ridiculous”. “There are more incidents of straight senators having issues in bathrooms than transgender people.”

While she commended Springsteen for cancelling his show, she explained her reason for performing. “I think the real danger with HB2 is that it creates a target on transgender people specifically. 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.”

Image: Reddit