American singer, Gavin Russom comes out as transgender at the age of 43 | Welcome to Linda Ikeji's Blog

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Friday 7 July 2017

American singer, Gavin Russom comes out as transgender at the age of 43

Gavin Russom an American singer and member of the famous group LCD Soundsystem has come out as transgender.
In a recent interview with Grindr, 47-year-old Russom said she has been attempting to come out for years. She said:
"This is my fifth decade being alive, and in each of those decades, there's been a time where I've tried to say, 'Hey, I think I'm transgender, this was even before that word existed."
In early twenties, I was on my way to coming out into transitioning. I would dress gender nonconforming and quite often explicitly feminine, and I would talk to people that I felt a closeness to about what I was going through. I experienced a lot of violence and harassment. That was part of my daily experience. Sometimes, if they happened to be walking behind me at enough distance where they would read me as feminine, they would catcall me. Getting closer to me, they would see me as masculine and then become very angry. I was assaulted on a number of occasions.
I do think the world has changed, to some degree. I have to say that makes me hopeful. Things are different than they were in 1997, despite our current overarching political system. That's not to say there isn’t a very long way to go. But I think those experiences and then having gone through a period where I was less open about my gender identity meant I had sort of worked through some of those things. It also gave me so much compassion and admiration for people who did live publicly as trans women.
Up until this point, I felt comfortable working with my own gender fluidity, my own identification within the feminine end of the spectrum, and the politics that arise from those things through my music. Retroactively, this is a thread that goes through my entire body of work. It's an interesting way to listen to it if you weren't already getting that.
I feel very blessed because the world that I operate in is relatively open-minded. I mean, the electronic music world can be extremely bro-y and also close-minded and sometimes even worse than maybe a more traditional office job. However, at least where I've found myself, the people who are around me have been very supportive. I still had fears that I might experience consequences, mostly because I know so many trans women who have lost their jobs when they've come out. It's a very unfortunate reality. There was a fear and awareness that my ability to do this really is a privilege—and it shouldn't be, but it is. 


Russom who was born a man, said her bandmates have been "really supportive" about gender norms.
"I'm carrying so many of these things around with me. That's been challenging to work through  having those preconditioned societal ideas of what transgender women can do," Russom said. 
Gavin as a man

She added that:
'For anybody who is struggling with their gender identity or who wants to come out and is afraid to what would be better than giving someone permission to do that through my performance. That's the ultimate. It's what other people gave to me, so I'd love to pass that along to other people, too."

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a waste

Alloy Chikezie said...

Such a waste...
Yeye dey smell.

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Anonymous said...

What da f. . Ck!

Anonymous said...

Sick

Anonymous said...

Live your truth

Anonymous said...

Craze people!

Juwency said...

Death is calling

Unknown said...

Good for him at his old age... dee

OSINANL said...

GOSH! DID I JUST WASTE MY MB FOR THIS IDIOT?

Anonymous said...

Waste of what?

If you have to live a lie, then you're not living. God gives us all as individuals, our crosses to bear.

Each individual in the lgbt community, has their own challenges, one of those is learning to love yourself, because no one else will.

There is no greater testament, than one day looking at yourself in the mirror, with all your flaws and inadequacies, facing up to them, including the fear and oppression that may come with it, and saying to yourself, "this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in my eyes".

If there is one thing everyone can learn from the lgbt community, it is how to live your truth, without fear and hindrance.

That is the message I brought to the world, and the world listened, for that I am humbled.

Open your minds, your hearts and your eyes.

Segun Adegoke said...

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Anonymous said...

Mind your own soul and your own business. Live and let live.

Anonymous said...

Using panadol for someone else's headache. You're a joke and a mentalist.

Anonymous said...

Seen but speechless

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