Steve Grand: ‘We can’t forget about the ‘T’ in LGBT’

Country singer Steve Grand has argued that the gay, lesbian and bisexual community need to remember that there is a “T” in “LGBT”.

Grand shot to fame with the release of his gay-themed single All American Boy in 2013. Following one of the most successful Kickstarter music campaigns in the crowdfunding site’s history, he released his anticipated debut album last week.

In a new interview, the openly gay former underwear model claims that there are “a lot of issues” that the trans community face that gay people don’t experience.

“Well we can’t forget about the T in LGBT. I think now it’s our trans brothers and sisters that we really need to allow to take the lead,” he told The Daily Beast. “We need to listen to them and support them the way they have supported us all these years.”

He continued: “I feel like they’ve put their needs, they’ve taken a backseat, to really help marriage equality come through and help people accept gay people better but that doesn’t necessarily help trans people.”

“I think we need to be there to support them now. There’s a lot of issues that community faces that gay and lesbian people don’t have to face,” he said. “There’s issues of what bathrooms they can go to and there’s blatant discrimination against them and even the way society thinks of gender is problematic for the way they see themselves and want to be seen by society. We have a long way to go.”

“We’re really just beginning now so we really need to allow trans people to take the lead,” he added.

Meanwhile, Grand said this week that “99% of the hate” that he gets online is from other gay men – find out more here.

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