Editorials
[Reaction] Why The Support For Tom Gabel Is So Important
Just a few days ago, in an interview with Rolling Stone (the full interview will appear in their June issue), Against Me! singer Tom Gabel announced that she was transgender and was going to undergo hormone treatment and electrolysis. She also announced plans to undertake the name Laura Jane Grace. Her wife Heather, who she has a two-year old daughter with, has committed her full support.
But she’s not the only one who has shown support. As a matter of fact, it seems that no matter which way I turn regarding this story, everyone has nothing but praise and encouragement for Tom and the journey that she is about to undergo. And that fills me with great hope for not only the mentality of our generation but also the mentality of a musical genre.
Punk is a genre that is dominated by masculinity. Even a great majority of the female musicians are either wearing clothes that are deemed more “masculine” or they dress and present themselves as more androgynous. That doesn’t mean that they are attempting to be more masculine, but it hints that they are eschewing their femininity, as though there were something wrong with it (which, of course, there isn’t).
So that’s why I see the punk community giving such strong support to Tom as a sign of the times. You see, even though 31 States have some sort of ban or prohibition when it comes to gay marriage, the youth is growing more and more supportive of making it legal. And regardless of whether or not we pine for the old days when punk was “real” and “meant something”, the youth of today finds rebellion in music where they need it.
Tom Gabel choosing to remain in the face of the public whilst undergoing her transformation is very much a form of rebellion. Now, I’m not saying that this is her intent. Rather, I’m almost positive that she just wants to be able to go through everything she needs to in order to feel at home in her own body and possibly, just possibly, be seen as a positive role model. But to be seen as a rebel? I’m gonna assume that this is not the intent.
But like it or not we’re still not in a time when our society can see this and be okay with it. There are still conservatives, the devoutly religious, and many more who see this as an abomination. If it’s not a sin against god, it’s a sin against humanity and a crime against our own bodies. “Being born male and wanting to become female? What kind of monstrosity is this???”
So, Tom Gabel is, without probably intending to do so, giving rise to a new form of rebellion: she is bringing gender dysphoria into the face of many people who might not have known a thing about it before. And the youth of today are already supporting the LGBTQ community in greater numbers than ever before. All they have to do is see her story and lend their support, be it in blogs, tweets, YouTube videos, Facebook posts, whatever. More so, once they are able, they need to go out and vote, making their voice heard in the most important of ways possible, the way that actually cause real change. Their support, and all those else who believe in Tom’s right to choose a new life for herself, flies in the face of those who are currently in power. After all, isn’t that what the punk movement has always been about?
Got any thoughts/questions/concerns for Jonny B.? Shoot him a message on Twitter!
Judging from the unprecedented box office success of Kane Parsons’ Backrooms adaptation, you’ve likely already seen the liminal horror hit that managed to make audiences afraid of empty hallways and bad wallpaper. And now that so many of us have already entered the yellow labyrinth (some of us more than once), the time has come to discuss the spoiler-filled details that make the movie so fascinating in the first place.
And if there’s one element here that makes the Backrooms movie stand out from any previous lore/mythology, it has to be the genius addition of the Still Life entities. Warped recreations of real people that somehow wandered into the Complex, these misremembered creatures are responsible for some of the most disturbing imagery of 2026 – as well as laugh-out-loud memes created by one of the film’s very own concept artists.
However, true to Parsons’ word that the movie would rely heavily on practical effects, each of these distorted monsters was brought to life by real actors under heavy layers of makeup and prosthetics (with the occasional splash of CGI enhancements). While Anora and If I Had Legs I’d Kick You actress Ivy Wolk wasn’t among these performers, despite what Letterboxd might have you believe, the creature cast did benefit from veteran players with plenty of genre experience.
For starters, Alien: Romulus alumni Robert Bobroczkyi (who previously brought that film’s horrific Offspring to life during its most memorable sequence) plays the flick’s main antagonist, the Still Life version of Captain Clark. And though there was some obvious CGI involved in making the character’s peg-leg and nightmarish face more believable, Bobroczkyi’s monstrous performance and his natural 7’7″ frame helped to make that final chase sequence a clear highlight among this year’s genre offerings.
The film’s Texas-Chain-Saw-inspired “dinner” scene also features a freaky collection of less-aggressive Still Life creatures in the form of the Bearded Man, the Red-Headed Woman and, strangest of them all, the cheekily named “Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life” (who earned this title among fans and crewmembers as a reference to his apparent affinity for lamps).
While this was the first major horror outing for both Patrick Baynham (The Bearded Man) and Dana Mahmood (Archibald), Rhiannon Roberts has worked as a stunt performer in everything from Yellowjackets to HBO’s The Last of Us adaptation – which is probably why The Red-Headed Woman is the most active out of Clark’s impromptu “family.” That being said, the Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life is my personal favorite of the bunch simply because his anachronistic outfit suggests that the Backrooms phenomenon might be a lot older than the Async Foundation. I also love how hard he tries to be helpful with that little light of his!
That might be it for the Still Life entities, but I think horror fans will also be pleased to hear that the film’s Found Footage prologue stars none other than Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City star Avan Jogia as Naren Warne – and American Mary herself Katharine Isabelle also shows up in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo at Mary’s house party towards the middle of the story (though I have a feeling that she originally had a bigger part that was likely cut for time).
At the end of the day, Parsons’ Backrooms may have been an auteur-driven project motivated by the young director’s unique take on the classic creepypasta, but film has always been a collective artform, so it’s fun to see just how many talented performers it takes to bring this kind of supernatural nightmare to life in a way that connects with so many people.
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