Digital Transgender Archive

Interview with Melissa Harl

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In this oral history Melissa Harl shares her story as a female with transgender experience and history. Growing up in Mequon, WI, a suburb of Milwaukee, she discusses her childhood, her realizations of her gender identity from a young age, the difficulty of not having language to conceptualize her identity, and her experience with being bullied as a child for her expression. Harl is currently a professor at the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities in the department of Classical and Near Eastern Studies. She shares her life story, meeting her late wife in college and getting married on graduation day, coming out to her wife shortly before her passing, and discussing what it means to be a transgender parent. Harl discusses coming out in her late fifties, coming out at work, medical transitioning, medical discrimination, her experience as a Christian. She shares details about her work with 20% Theatre Company, which focuses on highlighting the voices of queer folks, trans folks, and people of color, and about the need for authenticity and preserving transgender voices and stories.

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