Laura Jane Grace was born on November 8, 1980. She is an American writer, producer, musician, and activist from Gainesville, Florida. She is best known for the Florida punk rock band Against Me!, which she founded in 1997 and continues to work in today. She also released a solo album in 2008 under her dead name, Tom Gabel. In 2012, she came out publicly via Rolling Stone as a transgender woman and is often seen as a kind of role model for the community.