INDIANAPOLIS — At the top of the United States, I-90 is an east-to-west highway that goes through the majority of the country. It starts on the East Coast and travels through the top of Indiana towards Chicago.
This particular stretch of road was the inspiration for “I-90,” a song by Ekko Astral, as well as the inspiration for the band’s first tour through the Midwest, which includes portions of the country that have restrictions involving the transgender community and gender-affirming care.
“My experience traveling through spaces as someone who is out as trans is one that, in some respects, is coded by the privilege of living in a part of the country where I don’t have to walk around with fear that I could, you know, face violence in the immediate or have difficulty entering a public restroom or disclosing to people who I am,” said Jael Holzman, the lead vocalist and bassist for the Washington D.C.-based punk band.
As part of its “Save The Heartland” tour, Ekko Astral will perform at Healer, a concert venue on the near southeast side of Indianapolis at 7 p.m. Wednesday. The band first formed in 2021 and released its critically-acclaimed first album “pink balloons” this year. Combining bubblegum noise punk and no-wave art rock, the band has performed with Idles as well as Ted Leo and the Pharmacists.
During each tour date, which also travels through cities like Chicago and Columbus, Ohio, the band will work with local nonprofits that center around gender diversity and the local transgender community.
Holzman, who is also a journalist for Heatmap News, a climate change-centered publication, said the dates were intentionally chosen, with it being set around the driving route on I-90. This experience shaped the song, which features Josaleigh Pollett and differs from what the majority of “pink balloons” sounds like.
“I was driving from DC to Chicago to attend a music festival and I literally did not realize that I was driving through spaces where, like, I myself as a journalist as well as someone who was out as trans, I knew that I would have to look over my shoulder in a restroom, for example,” she said.
In states along the route, bans for gender-affirming health care have been implemented. In both Indiana and Ohio, those bans are for those under the age of 18.
According to previous reports, the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals lifted a preliminary injunction in late February, officially allowing a bill that banned gender-affirming care for Hoosier youth to become law. This bill, Senate Bill 480, was signed into law during the 2023 legislative session by Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb.
As of late February, Indiana has banned medical providers from providing gender-affirming care to Hoosiers under the age of 18, including:
- Gender-transitioning surgeries
- Hormone treatments
- Puberty blockers
The bill also bans “aiding or abetting another physician or practitioner in the provision of gender transition procedures to a minor.”
As of 2022, the Williams Institute at UCLA’s School of Law estimates that 4,100 transgender youth and 25,800 transgender adults live in the state of Indiana. Overall, an estimated 1.6 million ages 13 and older identify as transgender in the United States, more than 285,000 of which come from the Midwest.
Ekko Astral wants to use this tour to help set up a community network, working with reputable nonprofit organizations that help the gender-diverse and transgender communities at each stop.
For the Indianapolis show, the band is partnering with two nonprofits, GenderNexus, an Indianapolis-based social services agency, and Y’all, a nonprofit organization that aims to make affirming care accessible to all. These groups will have a table at Healer during the show, and will have QR codes for donations all over the venues. Officials from the groups are also expected to speak during the show.
“We know that merely by bringing people into these spaces, we know that more resources will get to this community, that people who are really in need may get a little bit more of an olive branch that they were getting before,” Holzman said.
“That’s why we are working with these places,” she continued. “It’s because, honestly, like we’d be giving a greater awareness of the dire circumstances around civil rights and medical care for trans people in the state of Indiana. And, these folks are really, really passionate about making sure that happens.”
Emma Voisicky, the executive director for GenderNexus, said having a presence at a concert like this, as well as other events, gives the chance for the organization to be visible and known to community members who may not know what they do.
“People don’t even know that there are folks around who can say ‘Hey, you know what? I’ve been here doing this, I understand what it means for you, or I understand what it’s like,'” Voisicky said. “We’re here to help you explore whatever it means for you and if there are certain types of social service resources you need, you’re not alone.”
Through Y’all, Daniel Stec, the president and co-founder of the nonprofit, said members of the gender-diverse and transgender communities can apply for funding for gender-affirming-related micro-grants for medical care or surgery, or funding for clothing changes, hair removal or “anything that might help someone to live more authentically.”.
“While our organization is Indy-centric, we do serve the entire state of Indiana and we realize that our impact is probably greater, the farther out from Indianapolis you get,” he said. “We have so many people in very rural parts of the state who don’t have, you know, bands coming to their city, do shows like this, or who don’t have the organizations like us and GenderNexus and Trans Solutions, places that are actively supporting their communities.”
Voisicky said she is grateful for bands who are creating music, and singing about who they are, reaching people who also struggle with similar circumstances and stressing what it means to be true to a person’s self, even if they live in a hostile world.
“To have this musical group who are expressing themselves come here and not only show up in town to perform and be recognized, but to also recognize the struggles of all of their community living here in a state like Indiana, I think that’s just incredibly important and very much appreciated,” Voisicky said. “They didn’t have to do that.”
Through this “Save The Heartland” tour, Holzman hopes to bring what Ekko Astral has been doing in Washington D.C. to the Midwest. Holzman said she “can think of nothing better in the world” than to open up a few hearts through this show.
“Anyone who comes is going to see that there’s more than music going on here,” Holzman said. “It is our sincere hope that at a minimum… we are giving people a space for joy. It’s so easy to organize a rally and bring people around that, but that can be incredibly draining where you’re so at risk and you’re being bombarded with new threats to your way of life and your body all the time.
“Hopefully, we’re able to give the folks who work for these organizations, the folks who support these organizations, a space for joy and for solace and for, you know, honestly, empathy and love,” Holzman continued. “That’s really what we’re doing this for.”
Tickets for Ekko Astral’s show at Healer on Wednesday are $15. For more information, and to purchase tickets, click here. For more information about GenderNexus, click here, and for more information about Y’all, click here.
