LCD Soundsystem’s Gavin Russom Comes Out as Transgender

Gavin Russom, who plays keyboards and sings backup in LCD Soundsystem, has come out as transgender. Russom will continue to use the name "Gavin," although she said that could change in the future.

She announced the news in an interview with Grindr, but has been telling people close to her about it since the beginning of the year. However, it's something she's been thinking about for her entire life.

“This is my fifth decade being alive,” she said, “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.”

The band is preparing to release its first album in seven years, American Dream, on Sept. 1. Russom said that the timing of the new record helped her to go public with the news because she "could not imagine" going through the cycle of promoting the record while living a lie. “My body rejected it in the same way that it now utterly rejects going into a men’s bathroom or when somebody calls me ‘sir,’” she said.

Russom has been a part of LCD Soundsystem since their 2005 self-titled debut, and co-wrote 2010's "Drunk Girls." “The general feeling in the group is that will make the band better,” adding that they've been “really supportive” of her journey, adding, “The general feeling in the group is that will make the band better."

And she's hoping that her role in a highly visible band will serve as an example to others who have gone through the same experiences. "For anybody who is struggling with their gender identity or who wants to come out and is afraid to,” she continued, “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 realizes that she has an uphill climb in terms of society's acceptance of transgenders, but has also faced challenges from within her own mind. “I am someone who has spoken out on both women’s rights and trans rights for a long time,” she said, “but when I started to transition myself, that was one of the most shocking things. 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.”

Still, her decision has had a profound effect on her. “I’m the happiest I’ve ever been,” Russom said, “but I have my good days and my bad days. On my bad days, it really sucks and I wait until I get home to go to the bathroom -- which is such a basic thing.”

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