Tom Gabel, singer of Against Me! Comes Out as Transgender

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Holy. Fucking. Shit. I've got a friend who is a huge fan of Gabel, can't believe this news o_O

Now I'm beginning to wonder what the hell is going to happen to the music... How is Gabel going to perform songs like Thrash Unreal or Baby I'm an Anarchist? Will she be changing her singing style?

never heard of the band, I'd predict it would be the end of the band though.... wouldn't want that to happen, but I don't see how a band would survive a transform like that o_O also it MUST cause voice issues, can't imagine the fanbase would be stoked with getting essentially a new singer.
 
never heard of the band, I'd predict it would be the end of the band though.... wouldn't want that to happen, but I don't see how a band would survive a transform like that o_O also it MUST cause voice issues, can't imagine the fanbase would be stoked with getting essentially a new singer.

As has already been posted, hormones don't affect the voice. The only realistic way for someone with a masculine voice to achieve a feminine voice is a lot of practice. It will be up to Laura (and the band) to decide how to play it.
 
Man I've been thinking about this a lot today.

For anyone that missed it on the last page...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMh4DclBNJg

Tom/Laura played a song from Against Me!'s upcoming record about 2 months ago. The song is called "Transgender Dysmorphia Blues."

Against Me! has a new record coming out soon and a bunch of tour dates over the summer, so I don't think the band is going anywhere. Tom always had solo stuff... so I don't see it as a big stretch that she'll continue as a solo artist as well under her new name.

I can't wait for the Rolling Stone article on Friday. RS doesn't post their stories online, do they? Not sure if the said or not, but I think it'd be amazing if this was the cover story.
 
AM!'s new albums aren't underwhelming for any other reason than production.

Original Cowboy and Total Clarity are both better than their overproduced counterparts. The Tom Gabel solo album was bare and it still wasn't very good. The raw production had a lot to do with the energy and charm of their first releases.


They also shed a lot of their folky influence for a more rock orientated sound, which is also a bummer.
 
Man I've been thinking about this a lot today.

For anyone that missed it on the last page...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMh4DclBNJg

Tom/Laura played a song from Against Me!'s upcoming record about 2 months ago. The song is called "Transgender Dysmorphia Blues."

Against Me! has a new record coming out soon and a bunch of tour dates over the summer, so I don't think the band is going anywhere. Tom always had solo stuff... so I don't see it as a big stretch that she'll continue as a solo artist as well under her new name.

I can't wait for the Rolling Stone article on Friday. RS doesn't post their stories online, do they? Not sure if the said or not, but I think it'd be amazing if this was the cover story.

Peter Dinklage is on the cover.
 
I was talking about this to someone today and they brought up a decent point. Did Tom Gabel sell this story to Rolling Stone? Why wouldn't he just break this news through twitter or on the bands website or announce it during a set or something? That's certainty not very punk of you Tom Gabel.
 
I was talking about this to someone today and they brought up a decent point. Did Tom Gabel sell this story to Rolling Stone? Why wouldn't he just break this news through twitter or on the bands website or announce it during a set or something? That's certainty not very punk of you Tom Gabel.
Transition costs money. >_>
 
I was talking about this to someone today and they brought up a decent point. Did Tom Gabel sell this story to Rolling Stone? Why wouldn't he just break this news through twitter or on the bands website or announce it during a set or something? That's certainty not very punk of you Tom Gabel.

Against Me! hasn't been 'very punk' in years, bro.
 
You marry a person, not their gender.
If you're not into the gender opposite of the one your partner started out as, there isn't much you can do about it. If my wife underwent transgender surgery, our relationship would undoubtedly be over, because I don't get off on penis.
 
Peter Dinklage is on the cover.

is he really? where'd you hear that? I barely know who that guy is so maybe a joke just flew over my head.

----

and sorry, but Eternal Cowboy was not overproduced. I understand that argument for New Wave/White Crosses, but not EC. EC is basically perfect. OC is interesting, but it's mainly just demos. (edit: I don't have OC... but listening to some clips on iTunes, it basically sounds exactly the same except the vocals are badly recorded on OC).

----

and no I don't think Tom sold this story, but who knows? I think he just wanted to get the message out to as large an audience as possible. Does anyone know if it's the cover story?

Someone announcing they are transgender over Twitter is seriously stupid. People are have a ton of questions already, and a lot of that will be answered in the article.
 
Thinking about someone announcing they are transgender over Twitter is seriously stupid. People are obviously have a ton of questions, and a lot of that will be answered in the article.

I mean yea, no matter how he announces it it's going to get picked up and covered everywhere. This news is going to get a Rolling Stones article no matter what. I just find him going to them first, and giving them an exclusive on something like this kind of weird.
 
is he really? where'd you hear that? I barely know who that guy is so maybe a joke just flew over my head.
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I was talking about this to someone today and they brought up a decent point. Did Tom Gabel sell this story to Rolling Stone? Why wouldn't he just break this news through twitter or on the bands website or announce it during a set or something? That's certainty not very punk of you Tom Gabel.

She's apparently doing it for the exposure + instead of people asking thousands of questions, she will point them to the article.
 
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She's apparently doing it for the exposure + instead of people asking thousands of questions, she will point them to the article.

"Oh, all of your questions can be answered in this months Rolling Stones available on newsstands this Tuesday for only $9.99."

Yeah, that's kind of exactly whats weird to me about this. Wouldn't a personal blog or something be way better for everyone?
 
Never heard of the band ... wich is at least interesting considering how I had a "punk" phase and a "guns and roses" phase and this band is a punk band with an album that has Axl Rose on the name xD


And ....the child in me loves the fact that her name WAS abreviated as TG xD

For those wondering, hormones don't usually have any effect on the vocal cords. Of course she can probably afford a vocal coach to help her develop a new voice.

For those wondering, hormones CAN have lots of effects on the vocal cords, but NOT in the "male to female" case.
 
Heard about this on the radio this morning, the DJs were supportive but one of them couldn't get past calling her by female pronouns. The transgender movement still has a long way to go but I'm always happy to see it get positive attention.
 
Went to youtube to see some music of the band ... and praticaly ALL the videos has a top coment with a "positive" reaction (some you see that the person had the best intention but ...) with 40 likes ! =D
My favorites includes :

"he's gonna have nice tits"

"LIKE if you agree Laura Jane Grace is going to be SO HOT"

"Hey, that guy looks a lot like Laura."

That is an insanely positive reaction from the fanbase

edit :

Also, songmeanings.com will be fun for this band now xD
 
Went to youtube to see some music of the band ... and praticaly ALL the videos has a top coment with a "positive" reaction (some you see that the person had the best intention but ...) with 40 likes ! =D
My favorites includes :

"he's gonna have nice tits"

"LIKE if you agree Laura Jane Grace is going to be SO HOT"

"Hey, that guy looks a lot like Laura."

That is an insanely positive reaction from the fanbase

YouTube.
 
Clicking LIKE on a YouTube comments joke is a bit different than continuing to enjoy your favorite band after they've gotten a brand new lead singer. But it's a positive sign, and it will be interesting to see how this plays out once Gabel is transitioning.

I kinda wonder what might happen if/when a bigger pop star or actor decides to take the same steps.
 
Heard about this on the radio this morning, the DJs were supportive but one of them couldn't get past calling her by female pronouns. The transgender movement still has a long way to go but I'm always happy to see it get positive attention.

I've always been a little bit apprehensive about transgendered people seeing it as something that really isnt the same as being gay (less natural i guess, because after all they were born with a certain body who can't they just be gay or whatever). But after reading this I had the strangest reaction I just said "cool good for her/him (Is it right to use him till he offically becomes a women?)"
I think it might have been just knowing who the person is (and liking their music) and especially hearing that song posted. I just know realize that it really is a struggle for some people and they just want to be who they are.

Its just weird that this story was literally the point when I said "who gives a crap" live an let people live. So this story at least helped the movement with one person.

I just hope he/her continues to make great music!
 

I actually really liked Heart Burns. It had a few stinkers, but it was a quite solid album --even though the best song- (I Can't See You, But I Know You're There)- was a bonus and isn't on the original album. White Crosses had a few really good songs on it. Eternal Cowboy and Reinventing Axl Rose are still my favorite albums of theirs, though. Those two records are just magnificent. I spent the better part of a year listening to Reinventing once a day, and I still love it as much as the first time I listened to it. I can count the number of albums like that on one hand.
 
You really think this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzJ21OpFnZ0

doesn't sound like this at all?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8X3ACToii0&ob=av2n

I really thought it was the same singer at least. They even have "Against" in both of their names.

As johnsmith already pointed out, it kind of depends on the familiarity you have with the genre, or even music in general. I don't really consider myself a musician or anything, but there's a completely different tone to their voices. The only way I can think of to express it is that it sounds like they're trying to do similar things, but they get there in quite different ways.
 
You marry a person, not their gender..

sorry but this is ridiculous. i really enjoy against me!'s first two albums, seen em a bunch of times and i'm happy tom is coming out and doing what she feels is right for her.

having said that, you marry all of a person and gender is a huge part of that. i'm glad her wife is sticking around but it may not last - tom is a lesbian, but her wife is straight.
 
sorry but this is ridiculous. i really enjoy against me!'s first two albums, seen em a bunch of times and i'm happy tom is coming out and doing what she feels is right for her.

having said that, you marry all of a person and gender is a huge part of that. i'm glad her wife is sticking around but it may not last - tom is a lesbian, but her wife is straight.*

*Citation needed
 
sorry but this is ridiculous. i really enjoy against me!'s first two albums, seen em a bunch of times and i'm happy tom is coming out and doing what she feels is right for her.

having said that, you marry all of a person and gender is a huge part of that. i'm glad her wife is sticking around but it may not last - tom is a lesbian, but her wife is straight.

i already backed down from that

editing that post so it stops coming up
 
why are you all scoffing at the "marriage built on lies" guy?

it's a safe bet that the wife went into the marriage with the idea that she was marrying a MAN, right?
 
This effectively means the end of the band, so I guess it must have been a really tough announcement.

From the wikipedia article, it seems like he doesn't intend to change his singing or the band:

Gabel will continue fronting the band, saying "However fierce our band was in the past, imagine me, six-foot-two, in heels, f---ing screaming into someone's face."
 
why are you all scoffing at the "marriage built on lies" guy?

it's a safe bet that the wife went into the marriage with the idea that she was marrying a MAN, right?

Sure—but saying that the marriage was "build on a lie" is utterly ridiculous. Would you say that everybody who realizes that they're gay/lesbian after getting married built their marriages on a lie?
 
So he/she lied to his/her wife this entire time? (I'm a little confused about the whole he/she thing. He's a man right now, but will be a woman in the future, right? So they are calling Tom a "her" because that's who Tom is on the inside? If that's the case, I understand. If not, oy vey, so confused.)


I also can't imagine a married man coming out to his wife and telling her he wants to become a woman and her saying "gee that's great hun, okay".

^Is this what essentially happened? If so, I applaud her for being so open, accepting, understanding, strong, etc about it all. She is one special person. I know I couldn't handle something like that (like if my wife came to me and said she now wanted to be a man). Just being honest. Not hating on transgendered people, it just wouldn't be cool if I signed up for something (a heterosexual marriage) only for the person to tell me they are actually not what they said they were.

Again, props to the wife for standing by Tom.


Edit: So, when Tom is done going through the process, will that mean they went from being a heterosexual couple to now being a lesbian couple? I mean, Tom likes the poonaney, right? He'd just rather do it as a chick?
 
Sure—but saying that the marriage was "build on a lie" is utterly ridiculous. Would you say that everybody who realizes that they're gay/lesbian after getting married built their marriages on a lie?


If that person knew before getting married that they were not straight, then yes.

If the person genuinely did not know and diascovered it afterward, then no.




Is that fair?
 
(I'm a little confused about the whole he/she thing. He's a man right now, but will be a woman in the future, right? So they are calling Tom a "her" because that's who is on the inside? If that's the case, I understand. If not, oy vey, so confused.)
Yes. Generally if they have a preference it's best to just go with that.
 
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