"It's f*cking stupid": Laura Jane Grace on Trump's transgender student action

February 24, 2017

A punk rock and transgender figure, Against Me! frontwoman Laura Jane Grace has spoken on Trump's recent actions against transgender students in schools.

“The knee-jerk thought is 'fucking figures.' It's fucking stupid,” Graces says in an interview with Rolling Stone. “It's unfortunately not surprising to me at all, and it's kind of predictable and seems so transparent that this is an administration that doesn't fucking care about transgender people.”

Grace continues: “The previous administration was the first to even acknowledge transgender people and that was really an amazing feeling, like, 'Whoa. The government has your back as a transgender person or is even acknowledging your existence.' There's something that's somehow more evil about an administration actively going out and trying to take away rights as opposed to the previous administrations before the Obama administration that just didn't do anything. There's just something that much more fucked up about going out of your way to be like, 'We're taking that protection away from you.'”

Grace goes on to discuss Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, states' right and provides a personal message to Trump.

Her response to the last item was: “Fuck off. [Laughs] No, a personal message to Trump…I don't even know where to begin. He seems so unrelatable. The simplistic idea of saying, 'Oh, everyone deserves equal rights and equal protections'…I don't even know. I just wish this wasn't a reality.”

The New York Times reported on Wednesday that Trump rescinded rules set by the Obama administration aimed to protect transgender students, which allowed them to use the bathrooms that correspond with their personal gender identity.

The action pitted DeVos against Attorney General Jeff Sessions. DeVos did not support the decision, citing high rates of suicide within the transgender student community. Sessions supported the action.

States rights and the role of local school districts in establishing educational policy was written as the reasoning behind the move.

The New York Times later stated that one in every 137 teenagers would identify as transgender, a population of 150,000 Americans from the ages of 13 to 17 years old.

“I just think it's a continual battle for education,” Grace says. “So many people are ignorant when it comes to gender identity and what it means to be trans. So many people are ignorant around the bathroom issue in particular.”

Grace mentions Gender Is Over as an organization she works with often. She also donates to the Transgender Legal Defense Fund.

Against Me! are about to head out on tour with Green Day. See the dates below.

Dates:

3/1 Phoenix, AZ – Talking Stick Resort Arena*
3/2 El Paso, TX – El Paso County Coliseum*
3/4 Dallas, TX – American Airlines Center*
3/5 Houston, TX – Toyota Center*
3/7 Tulsa, OK – BOK Center*
3/8 North Little Rock, AR – Verizon Arena*
3/10 Duluth, GA – Infinite Energy Center*
3/12 Norfolk, VA – Constant Convocation Center*
3/13 Washington, DC – Verizon Center*
3/15 Brooklyn, NY – Barclays Center*
3/17 Worcester, MA – DCU Center*
3/19 London, ON – Budweiser Gardens*
3/20 Hamilton, ON – FirstOntario Centre*
3/22 Montreal, QC – Bell Centre*
3/23 Quebec, QC – Vidéotron Centre*
3/25 Pittsburgh, PA – Petersen Events Center*
3/27 Detroit, MI – Joe Louis Arena*
3/28 Champaign, IL – State Farm Center*
3/30 Green Bay, WI – Resch Center*
4/1 Saint Paul, MN – Xcel Energy Center*
4/3 Des Moines, IA – Wells Fargo Arena*
4/5 Broomfield, CO – 1stBank Center*
4/7 Las Vegas, NV – MGM Grand Garden Arena*
4/8 San Diego, CA – Valley View Casino Center*