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How KC Councilor Drew His Truest Self

Elsa Holahan | June 23rd, 2021

How KC Councilor Drew His Truest Self

LGBTQ  |  Southern Connecticut State University  |  Arts & Culture  |  Visual Arts  |  Youth Arts Journalism Initiative  |  COVID-19  |  Trans rights  |  Education

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The artist on SCSU's campus. Isabel Chenoweth/SCSU Photo. 

KC Councilor had little interest in cartooning seven years ago when he signed up for a class at his alma mater, the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW). Then he learned that taking a class in that art form was like learning a new language. 

And that language helped him unlock the door to his own identity and changed his life.

Councilor took six cartooning classes under artist Lynda Barry during his time in Wisconsin. In school, he drew himself over and over, panel by panel. This constant visual of his face and figure allowed his hand to create the him that he had always been. Councilor is a trans man whose comics address his transition and lived experience as a trans person. 

“Part of me knew I wanted to transition before the rational part of my brain knew,” he said. “My hands and drawing really helped me get there.”

After working closely with Barry at UW, Councilor authored Between You and Me: Transitional Comics in 2018. He is running discounts on the book for Pride Month; more on that at the bottom of this article. 

Barry was the one who put Councilor’s stories together and decided it was worthy of a book. She was also Councilor’s editor throughout the publishing process. 

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K.C. Councilor's work at the New Haven Pride Center's gallery in November 2019. Lucy Gellman File Photo.  

On his website, Councilor describes Between You and Me as “a collection of comics that reflects two transitions—from a person who doesn’t draw to a cartoonist and from a butch lesbian to a transgender dude.”

According to Councilor, Between You and Me is not a comprehensive story of his life. He described the compilation of non-fiction stories as his memoir.

In addition to cartooning, Councilor is a professor of Communications at Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU). SCSU is home to over 400 faculty. Councilor is unsure as to how many of the faculty are out transgender people. 

He said that being transparent and open about who he is is important to him—particularly because he passes as a cisgender man. At the beginning of each school year, he comes out to his classes.

Despite Councilor’s shy demeanor, he pushes himself to be more visible and “out there” with his students. “I know that makes a difference for students,” he said. 

When SCSU was in-person, Councilor incorporated cartooning into his teachings. In the beginning of each class, his students were tasked with a two minute self-portrait. To Councilor, this is a way to arrive in the classroom together and generate bonds when people feel vulnerable. 

By the end of the semester, his students became comfortable drawing themselves, whereas at the beginning, most were totally freaked out.

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A detail from "Dear Doctor." K.C. Councilor Photo. 

The shift to online learning was tough for Councilor. The introductory sketches stopped and in the final semester, he was teaching to blank screens. “It was demoralizing,” he said. To Councilor, remote teaching is more work and less gratifying.

Balancing four classes at SCSU during the academic year, Councilor dedicates summertime to his cartoons. Although he is technically on vacation, cartooning for Councilor is not meditative. 

“My students always say ‘ugh I don’t like drawing’ and most of the time I don’t like drawing either,” he said. 

Councilor theorized that the lack of pleasure he gains when drawing is because he began cartooning in his thirties. Most of the cartoonist Councilor knows who enjoy the art began when they were children. 

However, Councilor loves how accessible cartoons are and how they can easily be shared with others.

“It may not be satisfying to me at the moment, but sharing the stories is on a deeper level of satisfying,” he said.

Councilor bases most of his work on personal experiences. Notably, he wrote a cartoon letter titled “Dear Doctor” to thank the doctor who first prescribed him hormones. Councilor uses his art to reflect, process, grieve and figure things out. 

Councilor hopes people can relate and confide in his comics. Through his comics, he assures people that they are not alone and gives them storylines to connect with on a personal level. 

“Cartooning is my best way of reaching people, it’s my best contribution,” he said. 

Find out more about KC at his website. For the month of June—Pride Month—he is offering $5 off Between You and Me: Transitional Comics with the code “HOORAY4GAY!”

Elsa Holahan is a rising junior at James Hillhouse High School. This piece comes to the Arts Paper through the Spring 2021 cohort of the Youth Arts Journalism Initiative (YAJI), a program of theArts Council of Greater New Haven. This year, YAJI has gone virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more about the programhereor by checking out the"YAJI" tag.