Hedwig (John Cameron Mitchell) is a trans-gendered punk rock star. She is touring with her band, and telling the story of her life. When she was a young boy named Hansel in East Berlin, she decided to have a sex change operation, and run away to the United States with her boyfriend, who is in Germany for the war, to get married. When her sex change operation is unsuccessful, she is left with an "angry inch" her GI husband runs off and leaves her in Kansas. She then meets a young man named Tommy Gnosis (Michael Pitt). The two of them develop a relationship, and seem to be getting closer until Tommy steals her songs and runs away with them. Hedwig is touring the country trying to track him down, singing her life story to everyone and anyone who will listen. Meanwhile, Tommy has used Hedwig's songs to become a famous rock star.