LAURA JANE GRACE • Tranny • Book

Golden Press
372 pages
German language, translated by Gunnar Christiansen


In 2012, at the height of her band Against Me!’s fame, Laura Jane Grace made a spectacular public announcement in a Rolling Stone interview: she was transgender and in the middle of her transition. Even in her closest circle of friends, many had had no idea, and she had only told her bandmates shortly beforehand.

What it was like for Laura to keep such a secret to herself for over thirty years—what torments, guilt, and difficult situations she had to endure—can be read here. You also learn how the band was repeatedly criticized for its decisions, how fans punished the band’s commercial success (Against Me! evolved from a DIY anarcho-punk band into one that played in stadiums), and how the band and its members were worn down by this and by the mechanisms of the music industry. An absolutely extraordinary musician’s biography, now available in German for the first time.

Laura Jane Grace, born in 1980, founded the band Against Me! at the age of 17—initially on her own—and the band has since released ten studio albums. She lives in Chicago and in 2014 produced the Emmy-nominated documentary True Trans, in which she met people with a wide range of gender identities. Tranny is her first book; her first solo record, Stay Alive, was released in 2020, followed by her EP At War With The Silverfish in 2021.

Gunnar Christiansen, born in 1976, has run the punk label Gunner Records for 15 years and has been booking and driving tours for more than 20 years, including for Against Me!. He lives in Bremen.