LCD Soundsystem member Gavin Russom has come out as a transgender woman in a new Grindr interview.
“This is my fifth decade being alive and in each of those decades, there’s been a time where I’ve tried to say, ‘Hey, I think I’m transgender!’ This was even before that word existed,” Russom said.
Russom always felt “along the feminine spectrum” from a young age. Russom added, “[I] could not imagine” spending the next year touring with the band and not speaking out about transitioning. “My body rejected it in the same way that it now utterly rejects going into a men’s bathroom or when somebody calls me ‘sir,’” Russom explained.
Russom’s bandmates have been “really supportive” about the news, adding: “The general feeling in the group is that will make the band better.”
“I’m the happiest I’ve ever been,” Russom continued, “but I have my good days and my bad days. On my bad days, it really sucks and I wait until I get home to go to the bathroom—which is such a basic thing.”
“I am someone who has spoken out on both women’s rights and trans rights for a long time,” Russom added, “but when I started to transition myself, that was one of the most shocking things. I’m carrying so many of these things around with me. That’s been challenging to work through— having those preconditioned societal ideas of what transgender women can do.”
“For anybody who is struggling with their gender identity or who wants to come out and is afraid to, what would be better than giving someone permission to do that through my performance? That’s the ultimate. It’s what other people gave to me, so I’d love to pass that along to other people, too.”
?@gavinrussom of #LCDSoundSystem Comes Out as Transgender
Read the full #Grindr interview:https://t.co/pVi4wQwUh0 pic.twitter.com/MHm4So0qtU
— Grindr (@Grindr) July 6, 2017
