WE LOST MARCIE! LET’S SEE IF THEY LEARN TO NAME HER.

The Transphobia of Memory and Rock with the Marcie Free Case.

This October, the community of hard rock and melodic metal said goodbye to Marcie Free, the powerful voice behind iconic bands like King Kobra, Signal, and Unruly Child. Marcie was a woman, a trans singer who, after a successful initial stage in the music world, transitioned in 1993, adopting the name she identified with: Marcie. And that’s it. End of the story, right? Well, no.

Marcie’s death has once again uncovered the rancid and recalcitrant cesspool of the media (and, let’s be honest, of a large part of the fandom) that refuses to accept reality, even post mortem. We are witnessing a festival of disrespect, morbid headlines, and articles that, in a pathetic attempt to «cover her entire career,» end up perpetuating the worst kind of violence: the use of the deadname (or birth name), the reference to her previous identity, and the insistence on treating her past male pronouns as if they were a parallel reality that coexisted with her identity as a woman.

Marcie Free was a woman. She always was, even though the glam metal of the 80s forced her to wear a gigantic blonde wig and hide her truth behind the spotlights and leather jackets (which, by the way, is quite a thing: the hyper-masculinization of metal versus the androgynous and made-up aesthetic. Paradoxical, right?). Her life as a trans woman was not a spin-off nor a second season, but the authentic one. The one that saved her life, as she herself admitted.

Hard Rock, Memory, and Cis-Denial

Why this insistence on splitting Marcie’s identity? Why the need to drag her birth name to the grave? The excuse, as vague as it is hurtful, is that it is necessary so that «people know who sang in King Kobra.» Oh, good heavens! Do you really think our musical memory is so fragile that if we say «Marcie Free, the singer of King Kobra,» the universe will collapse?

The problem, dears, is not memory. The problem is the internalized transphobia and institutionalized cis-denial that permeates the world of metal and, by extension, mainstream heteropatriarchal culture. This denial manifests in several layers, all of them nauseating:

1. The «Phase» Fallacy: Gender transition is treated as a «phase» in the person’s life, a hobby, or a change of look, instead of the reaffirmation of their essential identity. By using the deadname to refer to her previous work, it is implied that that work was done by «someone else» (a man, in this case), retroactively erasing Marcie’s trans reality. Marcie Free, the woman, was the one who sang in King Kobra. Period. Her voice was her voice, her talent her talent, her person her person.
2. **The Cis Archive: Whose Story Are We Telling? The media, with their supposed journalistic «rigor,» become notaries of the cis past. Insisting on the deadname is a violent act that privileges the bureaucratic, legal, and social record of a former life over the true and lived identity. It is, essentially, saying: «Your current identity is fine, but for me, the ‘real’ and ‘relevant’ person is the former one.» This is a profoundly transphobic and pathologizing gesture.
3. The Fear of Complexity and Fandom Toxicity: Rock (especially the glam of the 80s, although the problem is transversal) often carries a burden of toxic masculinity and stale conservatism. There is an absurd panic about «confusing» the cis audience or challenging the heteronormative image of youth idols. The media, in an act of capitalist cowardice, prefer to placate the trolls and the most reactionary sector of the fandom rather than respect the dignity of a deceased artist.

Toxicity in the Air: Marcie Was Not «He» or «He/She»

Let’s be direct: deadnaming is a form of symbolic violence. It is the denial of the existence of the trans person as they conceive themselves. It is a stab in the memory. And using the cowardly formula of «he (Marcie)» or «he/she» or, even worse, the «Mark or Marcie» dichotomy is an insult to her trajectory and her struggle.

Marcie Free was she. Her pronouns were she. They were she when she sang «Iron Eagle» and they were she when she passed away. There is no need to binary-reduce her or play linguistic equidistance just to avoid upsetting anyone. Anyone who feels «confused» or «bothered» by Marcie’s identity has a problem with reality, not with the history of rock.

This case is a mirror. It shows us that the world of rock, despite its transgressive and rebellious pose, remains a ableist, classist, racist, and transphobic stronghold in many of its corners. The death of Marcie Free should be a moment of homage to her voice and her courage, not an excuse for the press and the capitalist and patriarchal media to whitewash their own transphobia.

The solution is simple and applies to Marcie, to all trans artists, and to all gender dissenters: respect, period. Use the chosen name and the correct pronouns. Honor the identity that brought them peace.

Now, let the cis-thematic media continue with their deadnaming, let the trolls continue to roar in the comments. Meanwhile, we, from this feminist, anti-racist, anti-capitalist, and absolutely trans allied trench, will shout her name loud and clear.

Marcie Free. A woman, a voice, a legend. Period.