Hannah Graf

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Hannah Graf

MBE
AllegianceUnited Kingdom United Kingdom
Service/branch British Army
RankCaptain
UnitRoyal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers
Spouse(s)
​
(m. 2018)​

Captain Hannah Graf MBE (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.

Biography

While training as an officer at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, Graf openly identified as a gay man, however she felt the identification was "never particularly satisfactory" and "never found much solace in the gay male community".[1] In 2012, she was stationed at the Camp Bastion airbase in Afghanistan.[1] A captain in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, she oversaw a company of a hundred soldiers. After returning from a tour of duty in Afghanistan, in 2013, she began living openly as a trans woman and became the highest ranking transgender person in the British Army.[2][3] Although her colleagues were supportive of her decision to transition, she felt unsure how others would view her after her transition.[4] After coming out, she additionally served as an advisor for transgender issues in the army.[2]

Graf is a patron of the charity Mermaids and served an ambassador for LGBT Sport Cymru.[5] She received an honorary fellowship from Cardiff University in 2016 for her work with the two organisations.[6] In 2018, she was made an MBE by Prince William, Duke of Cambridge for "services to the LGBTQ community in the military". After receiving the honour at Buckingham Palace, she voiced her support for the British Army's "embrace" of transgender individuals and criticised recent bans of transgender personnel in the United States military.[7] The LGBT rights organisation Stonewall named Graf their "Trans Role Model of the Year" in 2019.[3]

She met actor and filmmaker Jake Graf, who is also transgender, in December 2015. The couple announced their engagement in 2017[8] and married the following year.[9] In 2020, the couple had their first child;[10] their experience as transgender parents was broadcast later that year in the Channel 4 documentary Our Baby: A Modern Miracle.[11]

References

  1. ^ a b Gilmour, Alexander (16 November 2016). "Hannah Winterbourne, Britain's highest ranking transgender soldier". Financial Times. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
  2. ^ a b Ross, Chloe (21 January 2015). "'I was acting for everyone around me': Captain Hannah Winterbourne comes out as highest-ranking British trans soldier". 9news.com.au. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Trans Role Model of the Year 2019: Captain Hannah Graf". Stonewall. 9 January 2019. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
  4. ^ Godfrey, Kara (3 December 2015). ""I'm speaking out to help other trans-individuals"". Cosmopolitan. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  5. ^ Peters, Lewis (29 February 2016). "Meet the woman who became the British Army's first trans officer". Gay Star News. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  6. ^ "Rugby referee Nigel Owens gets honorary fellowship". BBC. 11 July 2016. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
  7. ^ "Transgender ex-Army officer awarded MBE by Prince William". BBC. 12 June 2019. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
  8. ^ Sandeman, George (27 September 2017). "Transgender army captain to marry Danish Girl actor". The Times. Archived from the original on 6 October 2021. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  9. ^ Jackman, Josh (27 March 2018). "Highest-ranking trans soldier marries actor in Disney wedding". PinkNews. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
  10. ^ Rear, Jack (2 July 2021). "What it's really like to become parents when you're both trans". The Telegraph. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
  11. ^ Hogan, Michael (28 July 2020). "Our Baby: A Modern Miracle, review: a tender portrait of the UK's first transgender parents". The Telegraph. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
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