Jake Graf
{{Short description|English actor, screenwriter, director, and activist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Jake Graf
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_date =
| birth_place =
| other_names =
| education = London School of Dramatic Art
| occupation = {{hlist|Actor|screenwriter|director|transgender rights activist}}
| years_active = 2011–present
| known_for =
| notable_works =
| website = {{URL|https://www.jakegraf.com/}}
}}
Jake Graf is an English actor, screenwriter, director, and transgender rights activist. Graf specialises in short films dealing with transgender issues in an effort to normalise queer and trans experiences to a wider, more mainstream audience.{{cite news|last=Shiel|first=J.|title=It seems like a lot of people don't even know trans men exist|publisher=Gay Times|date=1 July 2017}} Many of Graf's films emphasise the daily lived experiences of trans men.
Early life
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.{{Cite web |date=30 September 2015 |title=Jake Graf On Why Trans Men Need More Visibility In The Media |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/09/30/jake-graf-interview-transgender-men-visibility-in-the-media_n_8214468.html |access-date=2 December 2022 |website=Huffington Post UK |language=en}} Graf spent much of his youth "trying my best just to 'pass' as male".{{Cite web |last=Label |first=Ditch the |date=23 March 2018 |title=Jake Graf: "You will find your tribe and your people, friends that love and accept you for exactly who you are" |url=https://mx.ditchthelabel.org/jake-graf-interview/ |access-date=2 December 2022 |website=Ditch the Label |language=en-GB}} 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"{{Cite web |date=11 July 2017 |title=Interview: Jake Graf talks short films and trans representation |url=https://www.filmdoo.com/blog/2017/07/11/interview-jake-graf-talks-short-films-and-trans-representation/ |accessdate=2 December 2022 |website=Filmdoo |language=ja}} and did not know trans men existed until he was nearly 16. This lack of representation that he experienced as a young person made him feel "lonely and isolated". He decided to start transitioning in 2008 at the age of 28.{{Cite web |title=Transgender activists Hannah and Jake Graf welcome first baby via surrogate: 'We're in love' |url=https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/transgender-couple-welcome-baby-via-surrogate-101731401.html |access-date=2 December 2022 |website=Yahoo |date=17 April 2020 |language=en-US}} With the emotional and financial support of his mother, Graf started hormone treatment.
Career
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.{{Cite web|url=http://www.thenewcurrent.co.uk/brace-interview-jake-graf|title=The New Current|website=The New Current|access-date=3 November 2016|archive-date=14 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161114084115/http://www.thenewcurrent.co.uk/brace-interview-jake-graf|url-status=dead}} 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. 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/jake-graf-interview-transgender-men-visibility-in-the-media_n_8214468.html|title=Jake Graf, Transgender Filmmaker And Cover Star, On Why Trans Men Need Greater Visibility In The Media|last1=Hinde|first1=Natasha|last2=Driscoll|first2=Brogan|date=30 September 2015|website=The Huffington Post UK}} In 2015 Graf was one of 101 people nominated for a Rainbow Award, which recognises prominent LGBT+ people in Britain. The nomination acknowledges Graf's work in raising awareness of trans and queer issues through film.{{cite web|last=Morrison|first=S.|title=Rainbow List 2015: 1 to 101|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/therainbowlist/rainbow-list-2015-1-to-101-a6731391.html|website=The Independent|date=15 November 2015}} Alongside nominations for his work, Graf has been included in judge positions for festivals and award ceremonies. In 2019 he took a chair in the Iris Prize Jury, an LGBTQ+ film festival.{{Cite web |date=29 November 2022 |title=Jake Graf - Iris Prize Jury Chair 2019 |url=https://irisprize.org/people/jake-graf-jury-chair/ |access-date=29 November 2022 |website=irisprize.org}} Three years later, Graf also became a judge in the 2022 National Diversity Awards.{{Cite web |date=29 November 2022 |title=Jake Graf National Diversity Awards Judge (2022) |url=https://www.nationaldiversityawards.co.uk/jake-graf/ |access-date=29 November 2022 |website=National Diversity Awards}}
Personal life
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 Winterbourne'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.{{Cite web |date=22 May 2018 |title="Growing up trans, I resigned myself to never finding love" |url=https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/love-sex/relationships/a20084546/hannah-winterbourne-jake-graf-relationship/ |access-date=2 December 2022 |website=Cosmopolitan |language=en-GB}} 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.{{Cite web |date=22 December 2020 |title=Transgender parents Jake and Hannah Graf on what having a baby during a pandemic is really like |url=https://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/article/transgender-parents-real-life-story |access-date=2 December 2022 |website=Glamour UK |language=en-GB}} Two years later, the couple announced the birth of their second child in June 2022.{{cite news |last=Baska |first=Maggie |title=Trans parents explain why they're not raising their kids gender neutral |url=https://www.thepinknews.com/2022/06/07/jake-hannah-graf-trans-parents-pinknews-pride-for-all/ |access-date=3 December 2022 |work=PinkNews |date=7 June 2022}}
Filmography
=Film=
=Television=
| class="wikitable"
!Year !Title !Role !Notes !Network !{{Tooltip|Ref.|Reference(s)}} |
| rowspan="2"|2017
|Spectrum London |James Roche |8 episodes |Web series | |
| Different for Girls
|Claude |Episode: "Mythical Amazon" | | |
| 2018
|Butterfly |James |Episode #1.2 | | |
| 2021
|Episode: "Deadname" |
| 2022
|Pathologist |Episode: "Belvedere" |BritBox | |
Awards and nominations
{{BLP unreferenced section|date=January 2025}}
| class="wikitable sortable"
!Year !Association !Category !Work !Result !class="unsortable"|{{Tooltip|Ref.|Reference(s)}} |
| 2015
|rowspan="2"|Outflix Film Festival |Best Foreign Short |Chance |{{Won}} | |
| 2016
|Best Foreign Short |Dawn |{{Won}} | |
| 2016
|Oxford Film Festival, Mississippi, USA |Best LBGTQ Film |Chance |{{Nominated}} | |
| 2016
|SENE Film, Music and Art Festival |Best LGBT Short |Chance |{{Won}} | |
| 2016
|Stamped Pensacola LGBT Film Festival |Best Short Film |Boys on Film: Time & Tied |{{Won}} | |
| 2017
|Changing Face International Film Festival |Best Short Drama |Dusk |{{Won}} | |
| 2017
|El Lugar Sin Limites |Best Short Film |Dusk |{{Won}} | |
| 2017
|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}} | |
| rowspan="2"|2017
|rowspan="2"|SENE Film, Music and Art Festival |Best LGBT Short |Dusk |{{Won}} | |
| LGBT Short
|Dusk |{{Won}} | |
| 2017
|Shropshire Rainbow Film Festival |Best British Short Film |Dusk |{{Won}} | |
| 2017
|Translations: The Seattle Transgender Film Festival |Best Narrative Short |Dusk |{{Won}} | |
See also
External links
- {{IMDb name}}
{{authority control}}
References
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Graf, Jake}}
Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:Transgender male writers
Category:English film directors
Category:British LGBTQ film directors
Category:English transgender writers
Category:English transgender men
Category:21st-century English male actors
Category:21st-century English writers
Category:English LGBTQ screenwriters
Category:English male screenwriters
Category:English LGBTQ rights activists
Category:Transgender rights activists
Category:21st-century English screenwriters