Embracing her true self, the musician made the revelation in an interview published in Grindr on July 6, reported Us Weekly.
"Over the last year and a half, I went from my trans identity being something I was in touch with and worked through in one way or another, to suddenly this shift where it's on the front burner. Now it's time to become a whole person," Russom, 43, said.
The musician said she was "on (her) way to coming out into transitioning" in her early 20s, but faced "a lot of violence and harassment" and did not go through with it.
"Getting closer to me, they would see me as masculine and then become very angry. I was assaulted on a number of occasions," she said.
After touring and recording with LCD Soundsystem last year, Russom took time off to focus on self-care, ultimately finding comfort in support groups geared toward what she described as "trans-identified people of colour" in New York City.
Russom will DJ publicly for the first time as a trans woman at the Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago on July 13.