Rachel Dodd
Audio By Carbonatix
Jenni Rose, founder and frontwoman of beloved Dallas cowpunk band Vandoliers, came out as a trans woman in an interview with Rolling Stone on Friday. The band’s new single, “Life Behind Bars,” and upcoming album of the same name will document Rose’s coming out journey with the same mix of vulnerability and radiant energy that Vandoliers fans have come to love.
“For 36 years, I’ve tried to be anything but a trans person, and it never went away,” Rose told Rolling Stone. “I know that there are all these people who are kind of going back in the closet. But I’m going to come out and see what happens.”
Trans folks in America are up against an onslaught of hostility. Texas alone has passed a staggering number of bills targeting the LGBTQ community, with a particular focus on transgender people and drag performers. Senate Bill 12, which criminalizes sexually explicit performances in front of children, was originally designed to restrict minors from attending drag show and still contains references to “accessories or prosthetics that exaggerate male or female sexual characteristics.”
Rose and her band are no strangers to fearless self expression. Vandoliers are well-known and unabashed allies to the LGBTQ community, having previously made headlines for performing in dresses to protest anti-drag legislation in Tennessee. One of Rose’s favorite shirts to wear onstage reads “Protect Trans Kids.”
Creating a safe space for fans has been a personal issue for the Vandoliers since long before Rose came out.
“The central mission of this band is to be a positive force for good,” Rose told the Observer last year. “And even by doing that and by being there for everyone with that mindset, sometimes it does ruffle feathers.”
Vandoliers’ new single, “Life Behind Bars,” is now available on most streaming platforms. Their new album of the same comes out on June 27.
