Dharma Mirza Oral History Interview

In this interview, Miss Dharma Prada MacPherson (Dharma Mirza) begins by describing her early life growing up in a strict Islamic household in Utah with several siblings and a religious father. During this first portion of the interview, she describes many of her childhood and adolescent experiences, which were often traumatic and greatly impacted her relationship with various members of her family and community. She also talks about coming into her own identities and how her self-perceptions have changed over time, due to shifts in language, experiences with discrimination, discovering popular culture representations, and other catalysts. Much of her background is marked by experiences with violence and harm, including, among other things, sexual violence, substance abuse, being diagnosed as HIV positive, employment discrimination, and persistent transphobia. These experiences are one of the main reasons why Dharma has become such a fierce activist and advocate for queer and trans people today. During this portion of the interview, she also talks about her experiences in school, including mentors she had growing up, her experiences with work, and her experiences with moving from Utah to Oregon.

In the second part of the interview, Dharma speaks to the often uneasy relationship between drag performances/cultures and trans people/communities. She believes that drag often does become transphobic, especially when it is narrowly defined as cross-dressing, but that it can ultimately be a form of resistance for trans and gender non-conforming folks as well as anyone who wants to trouble gender norms. For her, drag has provided a space to engage in activism surrounding a number of social issues: her performances often take on a political edge and founding the “Haus of Dharma” has enabled her to create a community for herself and other trans drag performers, who are so often mistreated and isolated. In this portion of the interview, she also discusses how drag relates to other aspects of her identity, such as her nationality. Finally, based on themes that emerged throughout the oral history, the interviewer (Sam Shelton) poses two additional questions. The first question asks Dharma to discuss the relationship between transness and trauma, which is often (problematically) talked about in causal terms with traumatic experiences causing transness. Dharma asserts that transness is trauma in the sense that being or becoming trans means that an individual will have many traumatic experiences throughout their life as a result of systems of power that make transphobia and violence so pervasive. The second question asked Dharma to expand on the relationship between transness and religion/spirituality. Her response offered insights into how she has brought these two aspects of her identity together and navigated through the tensions between them.