Laura Jane Grace of Against Me! burned her birth cerificate live on stage in protest at North Carolina’s controversial HB2 law last night (May 15).
The punk band were headlining Motorco Music Hall in Durham, North Carolina on Sunday when Grace took a stand against the state law which dictates that men and women must use toilets and public bathrooms which pertain to the sex under which they were born, something that negativey impacts on transgender people.
While many bands have boycotted North Carolina, Grace, who has transitioned from male to female in recent years, instead took the gig as chance to have her voice heard. Fan footage of the burning-protest sees Grace shout “Goodbye, gender!” as her birth certificate goes up in flames.
https://twitter.com/kwymer6/status/732040259203125252
“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,” Grace told BuzzFeed News in April. “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.”
Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam and Ringo Starr have already pulled N. Carolina gigs in protest at the ruling.
lsewhere, Mumford and Sons made a donation from their recent gig in the state to a local LGBT charity.
http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/?bctid=84921708001