Dharma Mirza Oral History Interview, 2018

Partial Transcript: Hello. Today's date is January 22, 2018, and my name is Sam Shelton. This is an oral history interview...

Segment Synopsis: Mirza briefly describes her experiences growing up in an Islamic family in Utah as well as how her identities shaped her experiences in that context and her relationship to her family. She mentions past experiences with trauma, including discrimination, substance abuse, and sexual violence. She also talks about her experiences with schooling.

Keywords: Alcohol; Childhood; College; Discrimination; Drugs; Education; Family; Gender; Islam; Linn Benton Community College; Oregon; Race; Religion; Sexual Assault; Sexuality; Substance Abuse; Utah

Partial Transcript: So, either before college or at college, can you talk a little bit about how LGBT issues were discussed and the climate around that?

Segment Synopsis: Mirza talks about the climate surrounding gender and sexuality both at college and within the communities she has been part of. She discusses some of her experiences with transphobia and discrimination.

Keywords: Coming Out; Discrimination; Gender; Queer; Sexuality; Transgender; Transphobia; family

Partial Transcript: So, going back just a little bit, can you talk about how your identities affected your relationship to your family as you were growing up?

Segment Synopsis: Mirza talks about how her identities have impacted her relationship to her family, including her parents and her siblings. She describes how she came to identify with "Hijra" and how this identity allowed her to have conversations and reconnect with her father in a language her could engage with.

Keywords: Coming Out; Family; Gender; Hijra; Language; Sexuality; Suicide; Transgender

Partial Transcript: So, you have been speaking about it already, but can you give a little more information about how you personally identify? How would you answer the question, "Who am I?"

Segment Synopsis: Dharma talks about how she understands her own identity and the process she went through to become aware of herself. She also talks about how her identities and self-perceptions have shifted over time.

Keywords: Coming Out; Discrimination; Gender; Identity; Intersectionality; Language; Race; Religion; Sexuality; Transgender; ability; colonization; nationality; pronouns

Partial Transcript: It's clear both sort of from what we have been talking about here as well as what I know about you from other contexts that you have a lot of really strong political beliefs that you are invested in supporting. So, could you talk a little bit about how you define social justice and where your commitments to it come from?

Segment Synopsis: Dharma talks about her definitions of approaches to social justice. She talks about many of the social issues that are important to her and where her care for them comes from. She also shares some of her own forms of activism and her visions for the future.

Keywords: Activism; HIV prevention; Pride Center; Social Justice; campus organizing; community-building; criminalization; drag; drugs; education; islamaphobia; oppression; privilege; queer; self-care; sexual violence; substance abuse; systems of power; transgender; visibility

Partial Transcript: So, going back just a little bit before we jump into the next section, can you talk a little bit about your work experience? What were some of your first jobs and what was it like working at them?

Segment Synopsis: Dharma talks about her experiences with work as well as discrimination based on her gender and being forced into criminalized economies. She also discusses the types of work she is doing today, such as drag and lectures/presentations.

Keywords: Work; discrimination; drugs; market research; sex work; sexual assault; teaching; transphobia

Partial Transcript: Ok, and then, going back to your schooling, did you have any mentors or teachers that stood out to you or are very memorable to you?

Segment Synopsis: Dharma talks about some of her mentors during her time in school, both before and during college.

Keywords: education; mentors

Partial Transcript: So, next I want to transition into some specific questions about your experiences with and perceptions of drag performance as it relates to transgender identities and communities. SO, to being, what were your first experiences with drag and what made you decide to get involved with drag?

Segment Synopsis: Dharma describes her first experiences as a drag performer and how they led her to where she is today as the mother of the Haus of Dharma and one of the Queens of the Valley. She also talks briefly about the connection between drag performance and transness.

Keywords: Activism; Drag; Haus of Dharma; Performance; Queens of the Valley; Trans; Transgender; Transphobia

Partial Transcript: So, that definitely leads into the next question. So, when you spoke on the panel "Herstory and the Culture of Drag," which is also available in the Oregon State Queer Archives Oral History Collection, you talked a lit bit about the at times difficult connections between drag and trans identities and communities. Could you speak a little more to that interplay here as well?

Segment Synopsis: Dharma describes her perceptions of the relationships between drag and trans identities/communities, including the hostility and violence often directed towards trans people as well as the ways that drag can be a source of resistance and learning for trans folks.

Keywords: Drag; Gender; Performance; Representation; RuPaul's Drag Race; Safety; Trans; Transgender; Transphobia; Violence

Partial Transcript: So, obviously drag involves gender and sexuality in different ways, but can you talk a little bit about how your other identities go into your drag performance, if at all?

Segment Synopsis: Dharma talks about how she brings religion into her drag performance and the importance of representing Hijabi and Muslim people in Drag spaces.

Keywords: Drag; Religion

Partial Transcript: So, throughout this interview you've talked a lot about your past and sort of your experiences with trauma, and that is a big discussion sort of among trans people and trans communities about whether trauma "causes" transness or is connected to transness in some way. Could you talk a little bit about that debate?

Segment Synopsis: Dharma speaks to the relationship between trans identities and trauma. She asserts that transness and trauma are inseparable, not because trauma causes transness or anything like that, but rather because being trans makes people vulnerable to trauma.

Keywords: Trans; Transgender; Transphobia; Trauma; Violence

Partial Transcript: One other question: We have talked a lot in this interview about the connections between your religion, your family's religion, and your gender and sexual identities... Could you say a little bit more about that connection here and how that sort affected your awareness of your identities or your path to those things?

Segment Synopsis: Dharma talks about her experiences as a transwoman with religion and spirituality and pushes back against the belief that the two are always in conflict with one another. She talks specifically about how Islamaphobia has often portrayed Muslims as exceptionally homophobic and transphobic.

Keywords: Islam; Islamaphobia; Religion; Trans; Transgender; Transphobia

Partial Transcript: So, I know we have covered a lot in this interview, but is there anything else you would like to talk about or additions to your previous responses before we finish up?

Segment Synopsis: Dharma offers some final thoughts before concluding the interview.