dyingscene.com
Just a little over two weeks after his conversation with President Barack Obama, WTF’s Marc Maron invited Against Me! lead singer Laura Jane Grace to be interviewed on his podcast. During the interview, which ran over eighty minutes, Grace discussed several topics, which spanned both her private and public life, including what it was like being raised in a military family, what it was like transitioning in the public eye, and other things not previously discussed with the media. One of the things she revealed was that she had attempted suicide about a year after coming out. “I had a suicidal nervous breakdown…and I just dissolved as a person.” She also went on to admit that she had been having adverse reactions to the hormone replacement therapy her doctors were giving her. Grace had been taking progesterone, estrogen, and spironolactone but unknown to her, the progesterone was converting to prednisone and causing terrible hot flashes; while at the same time, little did Grace know, she also had acquired a parasitic infection that was living in her intestines.
While her then wife, Heather, was quite supportive and respectful of Grace’s decision to transition, Grace wasn’t so sure the rest of the punk community would be, due to the homophobic and sexist attitude she feels the scene holds; which forced her weigh her options when it came to making her transition public. While she has had her share of naysayers Grace admits that as time has went on, the majority of people in the punk scene have been supportive of her.
Grace also admitted that despite the fact that she is still very close with her mother, she and her father haven’t spoken since she came out. Though she hopes they can one day mend their relationship, Grace stated that she will not be making the first move. She also touched on the departure of bassist Andrew Seward and drummer Jay Weinberg, stating that while Weinberg “is just kind of a jerk” neither he nor Seward, whom she calls a dear friend, left the band due to Grace’s transition.