Laura Jane Grace, singer, songwriter, and founder of the punk rock band Against Me! will receive a Key to the City for her many contributions to the punk scene and for helping raise Gainesville’s profile internationally as a music destination. Gainesville Mayor Harvey Ward will also proclaim October 27th as Laura Jane Grace Day.
When the news first broke out in September, Laura shared: ”This is ridiculous. Was told about last week. Feel bad cause I was asked for a quote and I was completely stumped. Genuinely at a loss for words. What do you say to something like this beyond the obvious of woah and thank you? Hard to feel like you deserve something like this though. If anything I feel like I’m accepting on behalf of a group of people or a scene Circa late 90’s early 2000’s. How about, I’ll just hold the keys for a second. When I was 19 years old Joe Courter gave me the keys to the Civic Media Center and I’d go there at night and listen to records and work on zine art. Those keys were a huge responsibility to me. I’ll treat these the same. There’s someone who REALLY deserves the keys to the city though, Joe Courter. I’m just holding these keys for a second they actually belong to Joe.”