Laura Jane Grace recently vowed to play in North Carolina despite the state passing HB2, a law that prohibits transgender people from using public bathrooms that do not match the sex stated on their birth certificate. Although many other high profile musicians (including Bruce Springsteen and Ringo Starr) had cancelled performances in the state in protest, the Against Me! artist – who is transgender – explained that she was “even more eager” to play because of the bill.

“I’m going to create an event around the show as a form of protest to say that despite whatever stupid laws they enact, trans people are not going to be scared. They are not going to go away,” she said at the time.

And ‘create an event’ she certainly did: when the band took to the stage last night at a sold-out show at the Motorco Music Hall, Grace burnt her birth certificate on the spot. As The Washington Post report, Grace apparently then told the crowd that “the way you affect change is by empowering the grassroots movement, by empowering the people.” 

Before the show, Grace also spoke to the Post about HB2, saying that the focus on bathroom use was overshadowing the deeper problems with the bill. “One of the other huge parts is that it takes away a transgender person’s right to sue for discrimination on the state level and that is huge,” she said. “I mean, if someone else has the right to sue for discrimination and I don’t, how that is constitutional?”

Watch a video of Grace burning her birth certificate below.