In an interview with Grindr, LCD
Soundsystems synth player Gavin Russom came out as transgender.
The 43-year-old Russom explained that
she has identified as female since she was a child.
“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,” Russom said.
The band, she said, has been “really
supportive” of her transition. “[T]he general feeling in the
group is that will make the band better,” she said.
She captioned a photo of herself on
Instagram with her new full name: “Gavin Rayna Russom.”
In an op-ed, Russom said that she hopes
her coming out will help others struggling with similar issues.
“I think the most helpful thing was
talking to people with different transgender experiences, especially
those with upbringings, economic circumstances, and ethnic
backgrounds different than my own. It allowed me to hear all these
different perspectives and see the ways in which the trans experience
is so varied and so individual. But also, there are certain things
that seem to be common threads,” Russom wrote on Pitchfork.
“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,” she
added.
Russom's July 13th
performance at Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago will be her first
show as a woman.