Jake Graf is an English actor, screenwriter, director, and transgender rights activist. Graf specializes in short films dealing with transgender issues in an effort to normalize queer and trans experiences to a wider, more mainstream audience. [1] Many of Graf's films emphasize the daily lived experiences of trans men.
Graf's first work within the industry was a screenplay dealing with his experiences as a trans man in making a female-to-male transition. [2] In 2015, Graf visited the White House to take part in a Q&A and viewing of the film The Danish Girl with U.S. president Barack Obama. [3] That year, he became the first trans man to appear on the cover of QX magazine and, in the following year, was featured on the covers of GNI, LGBT Weekly, and FTM Magazine. [4] In 2015, Graf was one of 101 people nominated for a Rainbow Award, which recognizes prominent LGBT+ people in Britain. The nomination acknowledges Graf's work in raising awareness of trans and queer issues through film. [5] Alongside nominations for his work, Jake Graf has been included in judge positions for festivals and award ceremonies. In 2019, Graf took a chair in the Iris Prize Jury, an LGBTQ+ Film Festival. [6] Three years later, Graf also became a judge in the 2022 National Diversity Awards. [7]
From the age of two, Graf knew that he was different from other kids. As a young child, he was very vocal about his feelings and tried telling anyone who would listen that he was a boy. [8] Graf spent much of his youth "trying my best just to 'pass' as male". [9] He has repeatedly talked about the importance of LGBTQ+ representation in the media. Graf believed he "was the only person in the world that felt like he did" [10] and did not know trans men existed until he was nearly 16. [9] This lack of representation that he experienced as a young person made him feel "lonely and isolated". [4] He decided to start transitioning in 2008 at the age of 28. [11] With the emotional and financial support of his mother, Graf started hormone treatment. [11]
Graf is married to Hannah Winterbourne. The couple went on a date on 30 December 2015 after being introduced by a mutual friend. After three years of dating and receiving Hannah's father's blessing, Graf proposed in New York in September 2017. Their wedding took place on 23 March 2018 at Chelsea Old Town Hall in London. [12] Approximately six years after starting transitioning, Graf decided to have his eggs frozen so that he would have the opportunity to have children in the future. In April 2020, their daughter was born via surrogate. [13] Two years later, the couple announced the birth of their second child in June 2022. [14]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | X-WHY | Sam Film director and producer | Short film Shown at 2012 BFI London Film Festival Shortlisted for 2012 Iris Prize | [15] |
| 2012 | Cocktale | Film writer and director | Short film Iris Prize Nominee 2012 | |
| 2015 | Brace | Adam Film writer | Short film | [16] [17] |
| 2015 | The Danish Girl | [18] | ||
| 2015 | Chance | Film director and producer | Short film | [3] |
| 2016 | Dawn | Film writer and director | Short film | |
| 2017 | Dusk | Film writer and director | Short film | [3] |
| 2017 | Headspace | Film writer and director | Short film | [19] |
| 2018 | Colette | Gaston Arman de Caillavet | [20] |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Network | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Spectrum London | James Roche | 8 episodes | Web Series | |
| 2017 | Different for Girls | Claude | 1 episode | ||
| 2018 | Butterfly | James | 1 episode | ||
| 2020 | McDonald & Dodds | Pathologist | 1 episode | BritBox | |
| 2021 | Doctors | Olly Brockhurst | 1 episode | BBC One | [21] |
| Year | Association | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Changing Face International Film Festival | Best Short Drama | Dusk | Won | |
| 2017 | El Lugar Sin Limites | Best Short Film | Dusk | Won | |
| 2017 | FilmOut San Diego, US | Best International Short Film | Dusk | Won | |
| 2017 | Glitter Awards | Best Short Film | Dusk | Won | |
| 2017 | Indianapolis LGBT Film Festival | Best of Festival | Dusk | Won | |
| 2017 | Louisville LGBT Film Festival | Short Film | Dusk | Won | |
| 2017 | Macon Film Festival | Best LGBT Short | Dusk | Won | |
| 2017 | Miami Gay and Lesbian Film Festival | Best Short | Dusk | Won | |
| 2017 | North Carolina Gay and Lesbian Film Festival | Best Trans International Short | Dusk | Won | |
| 2017 | Out & Loud - Pune International Queer Film Festival | Best Short Film | Dusk | Won | |
| 2017 | OUT at the Movies Int'l LGBT Film Fest | Best Short Film | Dusk | Won | |
| 2017 | Out Here Now: the Kansas City LGBT Film Festival | Best Dramatic Short | Dusk | Won | |
| 2017 | Outflix Film Festival | Best Foreign Short | Dusk | Won | |
| 2016 | Best Foreign Short | Dawn | Won | ||
| 2015 | Best Foreign Short | Chance | Won | ||
| 2016 | Oxford Film Festival, Mississippi, USA | Best LBGTQ Film | Chance | Nominated | |
| 2017 | SENE Film, Music and Art Festival | Best LGBT Short | Dusk | Won | |
| LGBT Short | Dusk | Won | |||
| 2016 | Best LGBT Short | Chance | Won | ||
| 2017 | Shropshire Rainbow Film Festival | Best British Short Film | Dusk | Won | |
| 2016 | Stamped Pensacola LGBT Film Festival | Best Short Film | Boys on Film: Time & Tied | Won | |
| 2017 | Translations: The Seattle Transgender Film Festival | Best Narrative Short | Dusk | Won |
The Queer Youth Network (QYN) was a national non-profit-making organisation that was run by and for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBTQ) young people and is based in the United Kingdom. It had an aim to represent the needs and views of younger LGBT people by campaigning for greater visibility and equal rights, as well as providing general support and information to those who are just coming out or who are experiencing homophobia.
LGBTQ themes in horror fiction refers to sexuality in horror fiction that can often focus on LGBTQ+ characters and themes within various forms of media. It may deal with characters who are coded as or who are openly LGBTQ+, or it may deal with themes or plots that are specific to gender and sexual minorities.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQ) rights in Nepal have expanded in the 21st century, though much of Nepal's advancements on LGBT rights have come from the judiciary and not the legislature. Same-sex sexual acts have been legal in Nepal since 2007 after a ruling by the Supreme Court of Nepal.
The transgender rights movement is a movement to promote the legal status of transgender people and to eliminate discrimination and violence against transgender people regarding housing, employment, public accommodations, education, and health care. A major goal of transgender activism is to allow changes to identification documents to conform with a person's current gender identity without the need for gender-affirming surgery or any medical requirements, which is known as gender self-identification. It is part of the broader LGBT rights movements.
Historically, the portrayal of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people in media has been largely negative if not altogether absent, reflecting a general cultural intolerance of LGBTQ individuals; however, from the 1990s to present day, there has been an increase in the positive depictions of LGBTQ people, issues, and concerns within mainstream media in North America. The LGBTQ communities have taken an increasingly proactive stand in defining their own culture, with a primary goal of achieving an affirmative visibility in mainstream media. The positive portrayal or increased presence of the LGBTQ communities in media has served to increase acceptance and support for LGBT communities, establish LGBTQ communities as a norm, and provide information on the topic.
Buck Angel is an American sex educator and former pornographic film actor and producer. He founded the media production company Buck Angel Entertainment. Angel is a transsexual man. He currently works as an advocate and educator. Angel served on the board of directors of the Woodhull Freedom Foundation from 2010 to 2016. The Foundation works to affirm sexual freedom as a fundamental human right through advocacy and education.
LGBTQ history in Turkey covers the development, contributions and struggles of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people in the history of Turkey and their relation between Turkish politics from the abolition of the Caliphate to modern-day Turkey.
India has a long and ancient tradition of culture associated with the LGBTQ community, with many aspects that differ markedly from modern liberal western culture.
Portrayals of transgender people in mass media reflect societal attitudes about transgender identity, and have varied and evolved with public perception and understanding. Media representation, culture industry, and social marginalization all hint at popular culture standards and the applicability and significance to mass culture, even though media depictions represent only a minuscule spectrum of the transgender group, which essentially conveys that those that are shown are the only interpretations and ideas society has of them. However, in 2014, the United States reached a "transgender tipping point", according to Time. At this time, the media visibility of transgender people reached a level higher than seen before. Since then, the number of transgender portrayals across TV platforms has stayed elevated. Research has found that viewing multiple transgender TV characters and stories improves viewers' attitudes toward transgender people and related policies.
Abby Chava Stein is an Israeli-American transgender author, rabbi, activist, blogger, model, and speaker. She is the first openly transgender woman raised in a Hasidic community, and is a direct descendant of Hasidic Judaism's founder, the Baal Shem Tov. In 2015, she founded one of the first support groups nationwide for trans people with an Orthodox Jewish background who have left Orthodox Judaism.
Shon Faye is an English writer, editor, journalist, and presenter, known for her commentary on LGBTQ+, women's, and mental health issues. She hosts the podcast Call Me Mother and is the author of the 2021 book The Transgender Issue: An Argument for Justice. She was an editor-at-large at Dazed and has contributed features and comment journalism to The Guardian, The Independent, VICE, n+1, Attitude, Vogue, Verso and others.
Queer erasure refers to the tendency to intentionally or unintentionally remove LGBT groups or people from record, or downplay their significance, which includes lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people. This erasure can be found in a number of written and oral texts, including popular and scholarly texts.
Ian Alexander is an American actor, known for their roles as Buck Vu on The OA, Lev in The Last of Us Part II, and Gray Tal on Star Trek: Discovery.
Captain Hannah Graf (née Winterbourne) is a former officer of the British Army and a transgender rights activist. Graf was a captain in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers and the highest-ranking transgender officer in the British Army, overseeing a company of a hundred soldiers. After she came out as transgender in 2013, she advised the army on transgender issues.
The LGBT community in Cardiff is the largest in Wales. The 2021 census found that 5.33% of people aged 16 and over identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or other. It has also been ranked as the 8th most accepting city in the world for the LGBT community.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)