Against Me! Singer Tom Gabel

Against Me! Singer Tom Gabel, Late Tuesday, Tom Gabel, lead singer and songwriter for the Florida punk quartet Against Me!, stunned rock fans worldwide by announcing in an online article excerpt from Rolling Stone his decision to begin living as a woman. According to the story, that process will begin with a treatment of hormones and electrolysis before Gabel decides whether or not to undergo S-EX-ual reassignment surgery down the line.

But judging from Against Me!’s discography, maybe the real shocker was that it had taken the singer so long to formalize the news with a public announcement.

Evidence of Gabel’s difficulty with gender identification has been hiding in plain sight for at least half a decade. In the article, he says he has battled “gender dysphoria” since childhood. And as far back as 2007, Gabel specifically addressed the issue via music, most directly on the song “The Ocean” from Against Me!’s breakthrough debut album New Wave:

“If I could have chosen, I would have been born a woman,” Gabel sings on the song. “My mother once told me she would have named me Laura/I would grow up to be strong and beautiful like her/One day, I’d find an honest man to make my husband.”

Moreover, Gabel began performing a song earlier this year called “Transgender Dysphoria Blues”-the title track for a new concept album of the same name about a transgender prostitute. (Daily Beast)