Seven Graham is a British

intersex Intersex people are those born with any of several sex characteristics, including chromosome patterns, gonads, or genitals that, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, "do not fit typical binar ...

activist, comedian, filmmaker and playwright, and drug addiction counsellor. He was a member of the

Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) is a British statutory advisory non-departmental public body, which was established under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. Mandate Its terms of reference, according to the Act, are as follows: ...

and is a co-founder of the Amy Winehouse Foundation. In recognition of his intersex activism, ''

The Independent on Sunday ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publishe ...

'' called him an LGBT "national treasure" and ranked him second in its 2015 " Rainbow List" of the most influential LGBT people in the UK. In 2017, he wrote and performed in a solo play called ''Angels are Intersex'', and in 2018, he executive produced the short film ''Ponyboi''.

Life

Graham was born in the United Kingdom in 1969 with the first name Sarah. He has XY chromosomes, but due to a diagnosis of

complete androgen insensitivity syndrome Complete androgen insensitivity syndrome (CAIS) is an AIS condition that results in the complete inability of the cell to respond to androgens. As such, the insensitivity to androgens is only clinically significant when it occurs in individual ...

(CAIS), he was identified and raised as a girl. Doctors lied to him and his parents about his diagnosis, subjected him to repeated medical investigations, and removed his internal testes (which the doctors claimed were ovaries) at age seven or eight "to protect him from cancer and imminent death", resulting in him needing otherwise-unnecessary

hormone replacement therapy Hormone replacement therapy (HRT), also known as menopausal hormone therapy or postmenopausal hormone therapy, is a form of hormone therapy used to treat symptoms associated with female menopause. Effects of menopause can include symptoms such ...

from age 12. Graham was not given his CAIS diagnosis until he was 25. He was offered no support and, already a regular drug user, the diagnosis led to a period of self-destruction including alcohol and drug addiction. After several months of treatment, Graham recovered. He later became an addiction counsellor, saying "I have turned my pain into my work". Graham later found that CAIS was likely a misdiagnosis, and that he more likely has

partial androgen insensitivity syndrome Partial androgen insensitivity syndrome (PAIS) is a condition that results in the partial inability of the Eukaryote#Animal cell, cell to respond to androgens. It is an X linked recessive condition. The partial unresponsiveness of the cell to the ...

(PAIS). Graham is

non-binary Non-binary or genderqueer Gender identity, gender identities are those that are outside the male/female gender binary. Non-binary identities often fall under the transgender umbrella since non-binary people typically identify with a gende ...

and uses he/him and they/them pronouns.

Career and activism

Graham worked as an addiction counsellor and therapist, running his own

drug rehabilitation Drug rehabilitation is the process of medical or psychotherapeutic treatment for dependency on psychoactive substances such as alcohol, prescription drugs, and street drugs such as cannabis, cocaine, heroin, and amphetamines. The general int ...

company which included a weekly

LGBTI Intersex people are born with sex characteristics (such as genitals, gonads, and chromosome patterns) that "do not fit the typical definitions for male or female bodies". They are substantially more likely to identify as lesbian, gay, bisexua ...

addiction and recovery therapy group. He has written articles on drug addiction for a variety of newspapers and magazines including ''

The Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot Plasma (physics), plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as ...

'', ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

,'' and ''

Diva Diva (, ) is the Latin word for a goddess. Diva is a name from Roman mythology, and is associated with the nouns divus, diva, which means god, goddess, and the adjective divinius, which means divine or heavenly. It has often been used to refer t ...

'', and appeared on radio and television programmes including ''

The Today Programme ''Today'', colloquially known as ''the Today programme'', is BBC Radio 4's long-running morning news and current-affairs radio programme. Broadcast on Monday to Saturday from 06:00 to 09:00 (starting on Saturday at 07:00), it is produced by BB ...

'', ''

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

,'' and '' This Morning''. Graham was on the

from 2011 to 2017. He was an expert communicator for the government drug education service FRANK, and co-founded the Amy Winehouse Foundation. Because of his activism, ''

'' listed him as a "national treasure" in its 2011 " Pink List", and in the renamed 2015 "Rainbow List" called him the second most influential LGBT person in the UK. Graham has advocated for

intersex human rights Intersex people are born with sex characteristics, such as chromosomes, gonads, or genitals, that, according to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, "do not fit typical binary notions of male or female bodies." Intersex pe ...

, including speaking out against surgery to "normalise" intersex children's bodies. He has also investigated legal recognition of intersex as a distinct gender, and praised Germany for allowing intersex babies to be recorded as neither male nor female. In 2020, Graham joined other intersex activists including River Gallo to help the

Los Angeles LGBT Center The Los Angeles LGBT Center (previously known as the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center) is a provider of programs and services for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. The organization's work spans four categories, including health, so ...

expand care for intersex patients. Graham has appeared as a guest on several podcasts, including Caitlin Durante's ''Sludge: An American Healthcare Story'', Nadège August's ''What The Fockery?'', Lauren Wallett's ''The Creativity Coach,'' and Jeff Miller and Anthony Navarro's ''Talk Out Loud''.

Creative works

In 2010, Graham contributed an essay to the

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

"Letter to My Body" series, in which he expressed how the discovery that he was intersex led to addiction and depression. In 2017, Graham wrote and performed a solo play titled ''Angels are Intersex.'' After ''Angels are Intersex'', he began using the name Seven Graham and they/them pronouns (later adopting he/they pronouns). Graham was an executive producer of the 2018 short film ''Ponyboi'', along with executive producers

Stephen Fry Sir Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director, narrator and writer. He came to prominence as a member of the comic act Fry and Laurie alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring in ''A Bit of ...

, Johan Sorenson, Elizabeth Sorenson, and DJ Rutherford, and co-producers

Emma Thompson Dame Emma Thompson (born 15 April 1959) is a British actress and screenwriter. Emma Thompson on screen and stage, Her work spans over four decades of screen and stage, and List of awards and nominations received by Emma Thompson, her accola ...

, Rachel Singer, and Jamison Monroe. It was the first film to feature an intersex actor, River Gallo, playing the role of an intersex person.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Graham, Sarah 1969 births 20th-century British comedians 20th-century British dramatists and playwrights 21st-century British comedians 21st-century British dramatists and playwrights British film producers British human rights activists British psychotherapists Intersex non-binary people Intersex rights activists Intersex rights in the United Kingdom Living people British non-binary writers Non-binary comedians Non-binary activists Substance abuse counselors British intersex people