Did you know Birmingham has a thriving trans-punk rock scene? Did you know it had any punk rock scene?
Videos of the Birmingham Public Library event “Loud at the Library” punk rock show have gone viral with millions of likes and shares on social media, shining light on local punk and alternative bands.
There have been three events at the library with three bands each since the biannual program began last January, and each show included at least one band featuring a transgender or queer-identifying member.
While the target audience may be punk rocker teens and adults, whose custom it is to flail and thrash about mosh pit-style to the loud, often discordant music — patrons were encouraged to bring ear plugs — the shows were billed as “free, for all ages.”
At the inaugural event on Jan. 19, 2023, the band Sugarplums rounded out the lineup with one self-identifying “transwoman,” Francine Karg, and another member who called herself a “queer enigma.” The band described itself as “queer as hell” in a January interview with Magic City Underground.
The second show took place Oct. 13, 2023, and featured a trans performer, Sloane Haddock, of the band Fauxdeep, WBHM reported. The NPR affiliate loosely defined punk rock as “performing as your fully formed self.”
“So that means your politics, your ideology, your identity,” Haddock said.
Karg made another appearance at the library last Friday for the 2024 Spring Break show, this time as the solo act Domesticatrix. In a recent Instagram post, Karg credited punk rock with providing the “confidence to transition” and “being able to celebrate and to conquer the amazing parts of being transgender.”
1819 News contacted the event's coordinator, BPL outreach librarian Weston Flippo, via email for more information about the program, but we have yet to receive a response.
Domesticatrix is set to join several other bands on March 30 at the Firehouse Community Arts Center in Birmingham for a Transgender Day of Visibility show. According to the event flyer, all door proceeds will be donated to local trans organizations.
To connect with the story's author or comment, email daniel.taylor@1819news.com or find him on Twitter and Facebook.
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