Laura Jane Grace, the frontwoman of punk rock band Against Me! who was formerly known as Tom Gabel, gave her first interview after coming out as transgender. The catalyst for the change was when Grace saw Madonna on TV as a kid and identified with her both musically and physically as a woman. Unfortunately, her father did not see eye-to-eye with Grace’s front cover Rolling Stone article, after she failed to tell him about her change before going public. According to Grace, it has completely ended her relationship with her father: 

“He tried calling, I tried calling him back but then he wouldn’t call me back. I apologized and told him the way he was portrayed in the Rolling Stone article was a little harsh.” 

Although the relationship with her father is strained, Grace’s wife, Heather, has stood by her through this transformation as they take care of their two-year old daughter together. On identifying as a female, Grace had this to say:

“As you grow older, you realise that this isn't something that goes away. When you are younger you have these moments where you're like, 'I'm going to choose to be male. I will be male. This is it. I'm going to take all my women’s clothes that I have secretly hidden away under my bed, I'm going to put them in a garbage bag and throw them in a dumpster and that's it, I'll swear off this behaviour for the rest of my life.’”

Watch clips from the MTV interview below: