Katherine Wolfgramme is a pioneer in the transgender rights movement. She is an Australian LGBTIQ+ activist and has worked her whole life for the LGBTIQ+ community to be visible, accepted and supported. Born in Fiji in 1972, her family immigrated to Australia when she was two. In 1997, Wolfgramme made a bold move on the path to recognizing herself. The name change made her the first transgender person in Fiji allowed to legally change her name, a historic moment in her life and the ongoing struggle for transgender rights across the Pacific.
Inspired in part by her affection for her significant other, Wolfgramme undertook an epic journey to amend her ID documents. She started her campaign by phoning the Fijian embassy in Canberra. There, she looked for guidance on the legal procedures required to change her name. Her Fijian family was resolutely in her corner. With that support, she received vital guidance that allowed her to assess and interpret the often overwhelming bureaucratic landscape. The big breakthrough came when she took the time to have a truly honest conversation with her uncle in Fiji. He encouraged her to accept her true self.
Intent on winning, Wolfgramme made the return trip to Fiji, hoping she would finally win her new legal name. Once she arrived, she ran into unforeseen obstacles when the Fijian government denied meeting with her. This left her marooned in a hotel for weeks, dealing with despair and a lack of clarity about her fate. She faced these tremendous odds and she pressed on and once again went back to Fiji, this time making it very clear that she wanted a female name.
Wolfgramme has discussed how colonization has bred transphobia in Pacific cultures. She thinks these historical undercurrents have resulted in confusion and rejection around transgender identities. Her activism is informed by personal experience and by a larger commitment to creating spaces for dialogue and ultimately, compassion.
Yet it wasn’t until 1990, when Wolfgramme’s understanding of gender identity deepened on a trip to Sydney for that city’s annual Sleaze Ball. This incredible event made her realize how colorful and fabulous the LGBTIQ + community is with all its freedom and acceptance and creativity. She has spent many years advocating for transgender rights. Her voice—intentional, piercing, and vast—unearths suppressed stories and shrinks the gap between timeless experience and contemporary struggle.
Though the United States has taken enormous steps in the past few decades to promote equality and acceptance, glaring challenges still exist for LGBTIQ+ Americans. Fellow activist Sallie Colechin reflects on the violence queer people experienced in past decades. She remembers a chaotic period where police violence against LGBTIQ+ people was consistent.
“They didn’t have any of their badge numbers on, so they couldn’t be identified. And we had a very big concern because in those days, the garbage bins were metal. They were being thrown, people were being pulled from side to side, thrown into paddy wagons.” – Sallie Colechin
Like any other movement in America, the fight for equality has transformed along with the times. Colechin acknowledges that while major progress has clearly been achieved, dangers still remain in law enforcement’s interactions with marginalized communities.
“We have the police still treating homosexual men appallingly, and lesbians at times as well.” – Sallie Colechin
Jeremy Fisher, well-known in the LGBTIQ+ rights movement, discusses the changing political climate over the years. Though he’s realistic about the cyclical nature of progress and setbacks, he’s optimistic about the future.
“I have watched politics and the pendulum of politics; it swings to the left, it swings to the right… So we are far better off even today than we were 20 years ago.” – Jeremy Fisher
Fisher’s lived experiences are a snapshot of what many went through during the AIDS crisis of the 1980s. The loss of friends and community members allegedly made this the most painful chapter in LGBTIQ+ history. It left deep scars that continue to affect the community today.
“By ’82 then AIDS was happening… there was kind of a decade in the eighties when it was very miserable in terms of the fact that so many people were dying.” – Jeremy Fisher
Wolfgramme’s journey has been a testament to the personal struggle and triumph alike. After years of transitioning and advocacy work, she found love with a partner in finance who swept her off her feet. Even as she thrived, societal expectations were a far cry.
“After about five years on hormones, I developed into a beautiful young woman… I couldn’t travel under a male name because I didn’t want to embarrass him mainly.” – Katherine Wolfgramme
Her story is iconic of individual tenacity and the social strides made by the LGBTIQ+ community as a whole. As Katherine Wolfgramme’s advocacy work is just beginning, she is determined to continue lifting up voices that have been so long unheard.
