Why Do Some People Think Kurt Cobain Was Trans? The Viral Debate Explained

Earlier this week, Twitter descended into a fresh round of debating whether Kurt Cobain, the late frontman of Nirvana, was transgender. Without a deep knowledge of Kurt's feelings on his sexuality, this may come as a surprise, but the debate has circulated for some time, particularly in LGBTQ communities on the internet. Usually, the debate focuses on choice Kurt quotes and while people speculate, they concede they can never know without Kurt himself making it explicit, and that will never happen.

However, some people on social media are insistent that Cobain was, in fact, transgender, and the strong position has led to more, shall we say, heated discussions online. Here's why the theory has spread — and why it's so controversial.

Why Do People Think Kurt Cobain Was Trans?

Kurt Cobain never said he was trans in his lifetime, but he did offer some thoughts about his own sexuality that have led people to believe he may have been trans and not out. In October of 2013, the YouTube channel Blank on Blank posted a lost interview with Cobain in which he discussed his sexuality.

The key quote from Kurt comes from questioning whether he was gay. While discussing sexuality, he describes himself as a "feminine" person who didn't find girls in his school attractive.

See, I've always wanted male friends that I could be real intimate with and talk about important things with and be as affectionate with that person as I would be with a girl. Throughout my life, I've always been really close with girls and made friends with girls. And I've always been a really sickly, feminine person anyhow, so I thought I was gay for a while because I didn't find any of the girls in my high school attractive at all.

In another interview, he is quoted as saying, "I definitely feel closer to the feminine side of the human being than I do the male – or the American idea of what a male is supposed to be. Just watch a beer commercial and you'll see what I mean."

He also had a widely documented penchant for cross-dressing while performing.

These factors led to the first discussions of whether Kurt Cobain could have been trans in small LGBT forums on sites including Susans and Empty Closets.

Others have dissected some of Kurt's lyrics, including some lost ones, to find clues to support the theory. In a supposed original draft of "All Apologies," Kurt is purported to have written "Let me grow some breasts" as one of the lyrics.

How Has The Debate Spread?

In the initial discussions in the forums, the conversation was mostly polite, as users conceded there was compelling evidence to suggest Cobain may have been a closeted woman but also noted there was little point in debating, as the only person who could answer the question was the late Cobain.

However, some people have been far more insistent that the "Kurt Cobain was trans" theory is true, and their zealousness has sparked more intense discussion of the theory. In 2019, a Twitter user by the name of @psychwardslut made an impassioned thread insisting the theory was true and that "estrogen could have saved her."

In 2022 and 2023, Twitter user @MagsVisaggs twice went viral for tweets insisting Cobain was transgender.

The insistence that Cobain was trans has been met with pushback from both outside and inside the LGBTQ community. While some have argued that people insisting the theory is true are somehow insulting Kurt, some LGBTQ commenters have argued that attempting to claim real, dead people were transgender is not helpful or useful, believing that figuring out an individual's gender and sexuality can only be done by that individual.

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For more information, check out the Kurt Cobain Was Trans Debate entry on Know Your Meme.