LCD Soundsystem, the Brooklyn-based band with a diehard fan base, has popped up in the news recently after joining forces following a five-year hiatus. But Gavin Russom, the synth wizard who joined the group in 2010, is the subject of headlines today after she came out publicly as a transgender woman.
In a sit-down with Pitchfork, Russom explained that the past year has been one of growing more confident and comfortable expressing her trans identity and switching pronouns. And though she’s decided to continue using her given first name, she’s welcoming other changes with open arms.
“Over the last year and a half, I went from my trans identity being something I was in touch with and worked through in one way or another, to suddenly this shift where it’s on the front burner,” she told Pitchfork. “Now it’s time to become a whole person.”
She also spoke about how she came to understand and interpret gender identity, beginning during childhood. In her 20s she began experimenting with gender norms in her wardrobe, which she says often came with “violence and harassment” on the street.
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She continued:
“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.”
Russom also described the internalized trans-misogyny she had to work though, explaining that it “made it really scary to talk to people and walk thorough a lot of self-doubt.” She found it difficult to express herself fully in the male-dominated electro scene, and often turned to substance abuse to cope with the stress.
Now she’s singing a different tune, though.
Russom will perform publicly as a trans woman — a DJ set at Chicago’s gay Berlin Nightclub — on July 13.
“I’m the happiest I’ve ever been,” she added in an interview with Grindr.
The gig is being advertised with a flyer that shows her in the same makeup and head wrap she shared on Instagram:
Kangol
Good for her!
mhoffman953
Just because a guy wears lipstick and earrings, it doesn’t mean he’s a woman
DarkZephyr
Why are you transphobic? Being trans is a lot more than wearing lipstick and earrings. You know this. You know this damn well.
Richard 55
Good point. Trans people are disingenuous.
mhoffman953
@DarkZephyr
Is he a woman? If so, what makes him a woman?
adam_stevens
Yours are not the thoughts or ideas of a serious man.
mhoffman953
@adam_stevens
These are serious questions but for some reason, no one ever wants to answer them
JaredNorthcutt30
@mhoffman What makes you a man? Last time I checked, the gays and the right-wing Christians decided it’s because you have a penis. So if Gavin gets rid of it, we cool, bro?
DarkZephyr
@mhoffman953, so you answered my question with a question, and then told Adam that nobody ever wants to answer your question? I’m still waiting for your answer to my question. But in the meantime, yes she’s a woman if she truly identifies as trans. What makes her a woman? What’s between her ears.
mhoffman953
@JaredNorthcutt30
“What makes you a man?”
Biology. Males have one Y chromosome and one X chromosome, while females have two X chromosomes
@DarkZephyr
“I’m still waiting for your answer to my question”
Ok, I’ll answer it, I’m not transphobic. Phobic means you’re afraid of something. I’m not afraid of a guy in lipstick and a dress who looks like he only weighs about 150 lbs.
Then you say, “What makes her a woman? What’s between her ears”
That’s ludicrous and ignores basic science. Because someone thinks they are something, doesn’t mean they are that something. If an old person has dementia and thinks he’s 12 years old, it doesn’t make him 12 years old. Can I identify and be recognized as a black woman to go back to college and be eligible for various grant programs? Can I identify and be recognized as “trans-abled” because I think I should’ve been born disabled? There is not legitimate scientific study that corroborates anything you just said.
JaredNorthcutt30
@mhoffman953 What makes you gay, then?
mhoffman953
@JaredNorthcutt30
Biology. There have been numerous scientific studies stating that people are born gay, just as homosexuality is seen in many species. Are you implying that someone can choose to be gay just like they can choose their gender?
If so, you aren’t making a valid argument
JaredNorthcutt30
@mhoffman Unnamed scientific studies, huh? You don’t say. Kind of like this study of Harvard scientists about gender identity being wired in brains? Honey, you might want to check out the World Net Daily Web site. It’s more your speed.
JaredNorthcutt30
Well, is everything a ‘choice’ or not, mhoffman953? Everything in life is a choice. Or isn’t it? You tell me. Just because you have an inclination for penises, it doesn’t mean you need to put it in your mouth. (See your argument which started this thread.) And the GLBTQ adoption of right-wing talking points continues. Cheers, bro!
JaredNorthcutt30
Biology. Biology. That’s kind of the one-word argument trans people give about their identities. You seem very confused about this subject. Like at least post some examples. Or you know, continue to use the same right-wing red herrings that’s been used against homosexuals for decades.
JaredNorthcutt30
Btw, check out this study of transgenderism in different species. And come up with your own arguments instead of recycling some Pat Robertson.
https://daily.jstor.org/transgender-proclivities-in-animals/
Gay and trans are the same thing to a degree, mhoff. It might be time to get with the program.
Richard 55
Does he have a uterus?
rmarin776
Gay guy here in support of trans identities and trans rights.
I don’t know who these other asshole posters are.
PRINCE OF SNARKNESS aka DIVKID
“If you think you understand quantum mechanics, you don’t understand quantum mechanics.”
This principle equally applies to Trans-ideology as well as anti-trans-ideology, or for that matter even finding a stable and cohesive definition of “gender” as opposed to “sex”. Bad science and bad sociology rules the day.
—
“If you think you understand quantum mechanics, you don’t understand quantum mechanics.”
This principle equally applies to Trans, whether pro or anti. Even finding a stable universally accepted definition of “gender”as opposed to “sex”, is about as possible as identifying where earth becomes space or where yellow becomes orange. Bad science, bad faux science (sociology,) and confused and confusing ideological agendas and steotypical thinking rules the day. This is more the province of philosophy than science. We need less certainty and more humility on both sides
PRINCE OF SNARKNESS aka DIVKID
Oops edit fail
Danny595
Translation of Prince of Snarkness: “Nothing means anything and there are no stable definitions of anything. So let’s all celebrate this man’s declaration of being ‘transgender,’ because that’s totally real and meaningful!”
This is the disease of postmodernism, which causes its victims to perceive their own mind-boggling stupidity as profound wisdom.
JaredNorthcutt30
Why should I celebrate Danny’s homosexuality? He’s a faker.
Jack Meoff
I’m ready for my close up Mr DeMille
Xzamilloh
Oh, shoot, I was thinking of 009 Sound System. Yeah, I don’t know who this is
barkomatic
I’m glad she is happy and finally able to be public about her identity. It’s hard for any trans person of course, but I can’t imagine the extra challenges involved when you are a performer who transitions.
That being said, when did Grindr start doing interviews?
Danny595
/smh/ I wish him the best but tbh he’s not gonna fool anyone.
JaredNorthcutt30
Because Danny has a penis, he deems what’s attractive to the cishet pornocapitalist paradigms. He’s the final verdict. Twirl that manly peen, Danny. It’s all you’ve got!