Watch Laura Jane Grace Explore Parenting, Relationships in Web Series
The final episodes of Laura Jane Grace‘s web series True Trans have arrived on AOL, capping off the Against Me! singer’s examination of her own transition alongside the numerous issues facing those in the transgender community.
Since the series began in October, Grace has tackled issues like gender dysphoria, the difficulties of coming out and staying resilient in the face of immense prejudice. The final three episodes delve into relationships, being a trans parent and acceptance, both at a personal and global level.
In “Relationships,” available to watch above, Grace and others discuss not just dating, but how coming out as trans can affect friendships and familial ties. As for her own marriage, Grace reveals how difficult it was to realize that everything she’d build up with her ex-wife was now crumbling.
After coming out in Rolling Stone and a whirlwind tour with Against Me!, Grace remembers: “I kind of got spit out at the other end of that where I had the realization, ‘I thought it was like this, but it’s not like this. This is how it actually is.’ And realizing that my marriage was actually over and so much that I’d worked for was gone. It just destroyed me.”
In the next episode, “Transparenting,” Grace details the equally difficult task of explaining her transition to her young daughter, Evelyn. While Grace remembers Evelyn wanting her dad to stay a boy early on, the four-year-old now shows a keen understanding of who her mother is. Grace’s own mother Bonnie points out that Evelyn has even started correcting people if they use the wrong pronoun when referring to Grace. Still, Grace remains wary of the difficulties Evelyn will likely face as she gets older, especially when it comes to bullying or harassment from other kids who don’t understand or accept trans people.
Carving out a better future for herself, Evelyn and the rest of the trans community is the subject of True Trans‘ final episode, “Acceptance.” While things have changed drastically in recent years, there’s still much that needs to be done to achieve complete equality. Throughout her public transition, Grace has become an inspiration for trans people everywhere, while also preaching awareness and acceptance to a new generation of cisgender people. “I hope what the audience realizes is that while the specifics of being trans, they might not be able to relate to, but when it comes down to it, feelings of isolation, alienation, depression and just struggling to exist in the world are universal things that everyone deals with,” Grace says.
Grace has been an outspoken advocate for the trans community since coming out in Rolling Stone in 2012. She’s also remained busy as ever with Against Me! — despite a few shifts in the lineup — releasing the True Trans EP in 2013, and a full-length, Transgender Dysphoria Blues, in January.