New Music Festival for Trans and Nonbinary Artists

On the 17th of December, Australia’s first ever music festival dedicated to transgender and nonbinary musicians will be rattling the roof at the Red Rattler Theatre, Sydney. Headlined by bubblegum punk duo Cry Club, TransGenre features a lineup of gender diverse musicians from across Australia. We caught up with organisers Tim Blunt (they/them) and Ellie Robinson (she/her) to discuss the importance of the music festival and what their hope for the future is.

Tim, who is a musician themself, explains that a lack of representation in the festival scene was part of why they wanted to create TransGenre.

“I’ve spent so much time lamenting how limited the representation is for trans and non binary artists in Australian music, and music generally, but yeah, particularly on festival lineups. I remember it was so significant, being at the Big Day Out, and seeing Against Me play and seeing Laura Jane Grace up there.”

“It was really such a pivotal moment for me personally in finally being able to recognize myself in someone up on a stage like that.”

“I guess we just decided to take things into our own hands and realize that if things were going to change, we were going to have to kind of really lead that charge ourselves.”

Ellie, a music journalist, says that she felt like something positive was needed for the community.

“We kind of agreed that we really needed something positive, and something that would sort of galvanize our community and show that there is like a positive, you know, there are positive things that we can, we can band together and get out of each other.”

“And I think, you know, what better way to rally around and boost each other up than hanging out at a music festival and enjoying something that we all sort of bond over and all like.”

While the lineup is trans and nonbinary musicians, the festival certainly doesn’t discriminate. As Ellie says, the festival is for everyone.

“It’s not just trans people, or not just this microcosm of our community that we’re inviting into this space. It’s everyone that wants to connect with the trans community and everyone that wants to broaden their horizons to see new artists and see new types of artists that they might not have been aware of before.”

You can learn more at transgenre.com.au

Image courtesy of TransGenre.