Even under the best circumstances, life is challenging. When nature hiccups and a girl is born in a boy’s body, or vice versa, challenges become prisons. But not forever and not for all. Catherine Graffam is breaking free, and she’s doing it beautifully.
Graffam, a local artist and transgender woman, paints portraits of people in the transgender community. More than a dozen of her works are on display at McGowan Fine Art in downtown Concord, a show that runs through April 22. On their own and without context, the pieces are captivating. Add in the backstory of the artist and the community she has carried into the light, and the art becomes a movement.
She is just the latest local hero for transgender people. Kae Mason, the owner of Salon K on Pleasant Street, is a transgender woman who uses her skills as a master stylist to help others with the transition. In 2013, Concord High School students overwhelmingly chose transgender high school senior Ray Ramsey as homecoming king.
There are others, and soon a day will come when their stories, and successes, cease to be unique. But until that day arrives, they could use some help.
New Hampshire is still among the states that do not offer explicit protection against discrimination for transgender residents. That’s truly a shame in the “Live free or die” state, and lawmakers should address the omission. At the federal level, the Equality Act was introduced in Congress in July. The bill would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to establish federal equality for LGBT people, including adding gender identity to the “prohibited categories of discrimination or segregation in places of public accommodation.”
To New Hampshire’s great credit, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen and Rep. Annie Kuster are co-sponsors of the legislation. Though Sen. Kelly Ayotte has not taken that step, she has been willing in the past to break with her party’s majority on the issue of discrimination. In 2013, she was one of 10 Senate Republicans who joined with Democrats in support of the Employee Non-Discrimination Act, which if it passed the House would have prevented employers from discriminating against job applicants based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.
To have the state’s congressional delegation speak with one voice on the issue would send a strong and positive message to the rest of the country. And that voice is sorely needed.
Earlier this month, North Carolina lawmakers passed a bill that requires transgender people to use bathrooms that correspond with the gender listed on their birth certificates.
After Republican Gov. Pat McCrory signed the bill into law on March 23, condemnation was swift and widespread. More than 100 CEOs from businesses such as Apple, Facebook and IBM called for the law’s repeal, and governors in New York, Washington and Vermont have halted state travel to North Carolina. Gov. Hassan urged all those who “value inclusion and equality” to reconsider their business there.
Clearly, more evolution is needed in New Hampshire and the nation as a whole before transgender people can truly feel free to live as they are. In the meantime, we applaud people like Catherine Graffam who are creating avenues for conversation and acceptance outside of the realm of politics.
For that is where real change will happen.