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Artist News Gigs & Festivals
Against Me!’s Laura Jane Grace burns birth certificate on stage in protest against North Carolina’s ‘bathroom bill’
By Andy Malt | Published on Tuesday 17 May 2016
Against Me!’s Laura Jane Grace protested North Carolina’s much previously reported and somewhat controversial ‘bathroom bill’ at a show in the state last week by burning her birth certificate on stage.
As previously reported, the Public Facilities Privacy And Security Act, also known as HB2, which became law last month, forces transgender people to use public toilets based on the gender they were born into, rather than that with which they now identify. Several musicians have cancelled shows in the state in protest at the law, while others, including Against Me!, have honoured bookings but spoken out against it.
A transgender woman herself, Grace told Buzzfeed last month: “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”.
“I think the real danger with HB2 is that it creates a target on transgender people specifically”, she continued. “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”.
Fan-filmed footage posted on Twitter shows Grace burning her birth certificate and saying “goodbye gender”.
