The Mark Of Cain’s Josie Scott has come out as a transgender woman, sharing a deeply personal open letter with fans that reframes decades of the band’s music through a more honest lens.
Posting to The Mark Of Cain’s Facebook page on Monday night (February , 2nd), Scott explained that she has struggled with gender dysphoria since childhood and has now chosen to live openly as herself at the age of 63 (per The Music).
She told fans that her decision has been “liberating,” adding that “the happiness I feel outweighs any obstacles I’ve faced so far.”
Opening her message “with little or no bullshit,” Scott wrote that she’s spent much of her life enduring who she was rather than embracing it.
“I always assumed I’d just live my life, complain a lot, and die leaving some clues in my songs and journals for family to read and think, ‘Oohaahh what a very strange (albeit talented) person.’”
Scott shared that her internal conflict has long been embedded in The Mark Of Cain’s music, particularly on their 1995 album Ill At Ease, produced by Henry Rollins, describing the record as a “key note address” to her struggles, even if she was “trying not to be too obvious.”
A period of recovery from long Covid in 2022 forced deeper reflection.
“My answer was a big, ‘No, you’ve never been authentic’,” she wrote, explaining that seeing younger generations live openly helped her realise “maybe I can finally be me in my autumn years.”
Addressing the band’s reputation
Scott acknowledged that The Mark Of Cain has often been perceived as a “very masculine, testosterone-driven band,” describing that image as a “beard.” “Much of what was interpreted as masculine was often being generated from my internal rage about my own dissatisfaction about myself,” she explained.
Scott was clear that her announcement doesn’t change the band’s future.
“We’ll continue to write, record and perform hard heavy music and I may look a little more androgynous but everything else remains the same.”
The response from fans and peers has been overwhelmingly supportive, reinforcing that for many, The Mark Of Cain’s music has always been about alienation, honesty, and survival.
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