Song of the Day 3/1: Laura Jane Grace, “Lolo 13”

If drag shows freak Republicans out, I wonder how freaked they’d be by an actual transgender performer like Laura Jane Grace.

Born Thomas James Gabel, Grace came out in 2012 as a transgender woman while she was fronting a fairly successful punk band called Against Me! that she formed in 1997 after dropping out of high school. She continued to perform throughout her transition: “However fierce our band was in the past, imagine me, six-foot-two, in heels, fucking screaming into someone’s face.” Her band was totally OK with it — the ’60s are over, Republicans, you lost — and so were their fans.

After the band went on hiatus when the pandemic started in 2020, Grace recorded a solo LP and, most recently, a 2021 EP, “At War With the Silverfish,” which is posted to YouTube if you’re interested. I have to give a shout-out to WVUD, which is where I heard this tune recently.