Laura Jane Grace Does Not Cancel Against Me! Show in North Carolina
Laura Jane Grace
This is making complete sense! After the series of concert cancellations in North Carolina due to the new House Bill 2, or the Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act, which prohibits transgender people from using bathrooms and locker rooms that do not match the ‘biological sex’ listed on their birth certificate, another artist has decided to play in the southern state. Whereas Bruce Springsteen, Bryan Adams and also Ringo Starr have decided to cancel their respective shows in North Carolina and Mississippi, Against Me! singer and transgender Laura Jane Grace wants to perform in Durham on May 15th.
She explained her decision in an interview with 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.’
She also explained why this law is so ridiculous ‘An attack by a transgender person against another person in a bathroom has never been documented. There are more incidents of straight senators having issues in bathrooms than transgender people.’
‘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.’
She of course appreciates that other performers have cancelled their gigs, ‘Bryan Adams and Bruce Springsteen aren’t transgender. For them to say, ‘I think this bill is messed up and I’m not going to go here and be part of the state,’ that seems like the effort of an ally, which is really commendable.’
And she has even a better point to back up her decision ‘no one would care if we canceled,’ whereas Springsteen or Starr cancellations have brought a lot of attention to the new law.
The 2016 Moogfest is coming up in May in Durham and I wonder which band is gonna maintain its performance, will ODESZA, Grimes, Miike Snow, GZA, Gary Numan, Laurie Anderson, Explosions in the Sky (and so many others) cancel their appearance to not? Let’s see, but could Against Me!, Antony And The Johnsons, and Big Freedia take over that fest?
