Governor Moore presents Eric with the Governor's Disability Culture & Achievement Award
Honored at the ceremony closing Disability Pride Month — alongside an inaugural Legacy Award for Rep. Steny Hoyer.
The story · Silver Spring, Maryland
A mother, a son, and a prayer that became a butterfly.
Act I — the talk
He cried for his friends.
After George Floyd was murdered, Linda had the talk with her son. Eric understood — and then he began to cry, not for himself, but for his friends on the spectrum, afraid of what a traffic stop could become for them. "We gotta do something now," Eric Carpenter-Grantham said. He prayed on the symbol. They considered a star. He chose the butterfly.
Act II — the law
Maryland said yes.
Three months after Eric testified, Governor Wes Moore signed House Bill 707 — May 13, 2025. The state asked for the butterfly in black to print on the license, and black became the mark of the law. On October 1, Eric became the first Marylander to carry it.
Act III — the mission
Forty-nine to go.
Now Eric and Linda are building a nonprofit to carry the butterfly to every state — and the blue they carry it in is Eric's tribute to his father: royal blue, the autism-ribbon color for acceptance and calmness.
"We wrote a law so my friends could live."