CLEVELAND, Ohio - Laura Jane Grace, the transgender frontwoman for the punk group Against Me!, has by virtue of just being herself seen a lot of bias and adversity.

With that in mind, while she's concerned about the current political climate under President Trump and especially Vice President Pence, whose attacks against the LGBTQ community have been numerous and documented, she's able to put it into perspective. And she's been able to do that in a way that's probably unique to touring rock stars.

"I spent the last 40 days on tour in Europe,'' said Grace, who began her career as Tom Gabel and was twice married before coming out as transgender in 2012. "Walking around Europe gives you a perspective and you realize just how young America is.''

Seeing cities and structures that have survived the ravages of war and time provides a sense if not of peace, then of confidence, she said.

"Italy is still there, and Rome is still there, even though Rome has fallen,'' said Grace, who will be part of the "LGBTQ in Music" panel discussion that will be part of the Alternative Press Music Awards Fan Day at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, July 16.

Other events as part of the fan day include free concerts outside on the Rock Hall Plaza. Tickets to the tour the museum are $10 that day, available at rockhall.com. It's all a prelude to the Alternative Press Music Awards Show set for 7 p.m. Monday at Playhouse Square's State Theatre.

"There will be revolutions and moments when so many things seem uncertain, but as a parent, I have to have hope,'' she said.

The night before, Grace said, she'd just finished reading "The World According to Mr. Rogers'' to her daughter. It's a book that features the wisdom of the man Grace - and many of us - grew up watching on children's television.

In the book, Rogers acknowledges that even in his own youth and before that, "terrible things'' had happened.

" 'If you see these terrible things happening, look for the helpers,' '' Rogers is quoted as saying. " 'There are always people trying to do good.' ''

"That gives me hope,'' said Grace.

But hope without action is pretty much useless, and that's where Grace and others who refuse to be silenced when speaking out against prejudice and homophobia come in.

"That goes back to issues,'' said Grace of those who insist that artists "shut up and sing.'' "Oftentimes, just being LGBTQ in music is seen as a political statement.

"For me, that's always been the point of music - to communicate ideas,'' she said. "If you weren't saying something with your music, THEN you should shut up. If you don't have anything to say, sit the [expletive] down.''

Music, she said, should always have a message. But the irony is that those who deliver that message - despite the flamboyance of their stage personas - often are almost clinically shy offstage.

"I think the term is 'an introverted extrovert,' '' said Grace, with a rueful laugh. "There are moments when it's a real period of adjustment, and I've been experiencing that for the last week.

"You go from being surrounded by people when you're on tour, with so much socializing to nothing - just you and your kid'' alone at home, she said. "I don't have a social life. I don't like to go out. I like to PLAY shows, I don't like to GO to shows anymore.

"Crippling social anxiety is what drew me to music anyway,'' said Grace.

That is all documented in her memories, "Tranny: Confessions of Punk Rock's Most Infamous Anarchist Sellout,'' which uses the journals she'd kept starting as an Army brat in the third grade as their basis.

Even tapping that resource wasn't easy, although it did have the added benefit that came from knowing she'd have to sit at a computer, all by her lonesome, and type three decades worth of handwritten entries into a computer.

"I guess that also comes from a little bit of masochism,'' said Grace, added that the book itself turned into a worthwhile monument to reflection.

"That's been my life,'' she said. "Those were the choices I made and that's who I was.

"It wasn't always great, but I put it out there and it is what it is,'' said Grace of the book that Rolling Stone rightly named one of the 100 best music books in rock history. "My biggest regret is knowing how miserable I was for long periods of time, and I shouldn't have been.''

The honesty in the book - large parts of which came from journal entries "written while extremely inebriated,'' she joked - and the honesty in her music are two reasons Alternative Press is giving Grace the coveted Icon Award in Monday's show, at which she and fellow panel member Mina Caputo of Life of Agony will also perform.

True to form, the award comes with its own obstacle:

"It makes me really uncomfortable,'' joked Grace. "Now I have to write this [expletive] speech.''

What:

Day of outdoor concerts and an indoor panel discussion featuring Laura Jane Grace of Against Me! and Mina Caputo of Life of Agony called "LGBTQ in Music.''

Special:

The concerts and the panel discussion are free. The Rock Hall is offering special $10 pricing to tour the museum.