Collection

Vera, Elena Rose Interview Transcript from Reed College Oral History Project

Span Dates: 2014
Bulk Dates:
Volume: 277 page transcript

Description

This interview covered the 2011 Twin Towers attack, Bush's re-election, protest of Iraq Invasion and many instances of feminist activism, trans changes on campus, drag ball, sexual orientation, gender dynamics in class, working with Student Services, Women's Self-Defense class, sexual assault, Queer Alliance, Women's Center, Interfaith Council, being in Student Senate, serving on the Appointment Committee, Hyde Park Mafia, Pagan Circle, "Oh, for Christ's Sake" group, "Say Hello Day", Fellowship for Christian Athletes, Chabad-Lubavitchers, Jewish Student Union, Orientation workshops, Unitarian Universalist, Feminist Student Union, being a CSO, cofounder of the Sexual Assault Task Force, Segel parties, Fetish club, being the Reed College Pope, Critical Black Mass prank, Reed Communal Shit collective, Russian House October Revolution party, being an exorcist, clearing houses, Innuendo and Big Pink off-campus house, "The White Male Oppressors", white supremacy, interning at the Multicultural Resource Center, Women's Speak Out, Black Student Union, Speak Radical Women of Color Media Collective, ghost hangings, transition, perceptions about men and women, being Filipino-American, checking sources, scholarship, radical feminists, Olivia Records, Mary Daly, Janice Raymond, The Transsexual Empire, Bailey-Blanchard Theory, J. Michael Bailey, harassment of trans women, working as a Reed Community Safety Officer, teaching poetry by women class, Birch Woods apartment, work after graduation, drug and alcohol policy, honor principle, sexual violence, ministry, directing Renn Fayre security, ghost stories, Sexual Assault Task Force, sex-related terms, transgender discussions, Seattle Trans Pride event, Janet Mock, Laverne Cox, Michelle Goldberg, Sheila Jeffreys, race and gender, building cultural meaning for trans people, religious and liturgical capabilities, Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies, Biblical scholarship, Dianic Wiccans, pronouns, stereotypes and media representations of trans people, Janet Mock, and flawed medical/scientific studies.

Hist/Bio Note

Elena Rose Vera grew up in Washington, D.C., then California and Bend, Oregon to a mixed race, Filipino American family. She identified as bisexual, queer, and trans before coming to Reed College as a religion major. She later attended the Graduate Theological Union Seminary and was involved in a wide variety of spiritual traditions. Elena Rose Vera became an internationally recognized writer, speaker, community organizer and performer. A longtime interfaith justice activist and theologian, she was ordained by the Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples, a historic San Francisco civil rights congregation. Elena Rose Vera is an internationally recognized writer, speaker, and community organizer. A longtime interfaith justice activist and theologian, she was ordained by the Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples, a historic San Francisco civil rights congregation. Elena consults extensively on issues of equity and policy in care work and resource access, and served in executive leadership at Trans Lifeline from 2018 to 2021. She served on the Board of Directors for the Bay Area’s Queer Cultural Center and the Allied Media Projects in Detroit.

Finding Aid

The summary of the interview is available online.
https://researchworks.oclc.org/archivegrid/collection/data/1405975547

Location

The transcript is available at Special Collections and Archives, Reed College, Eric V. Hauser Memorial Library.
https://library.reed.edu

Tags

Artist/musician/poet | Clergy Activist | Feminism | Asian American | Jewish (ethnic, Reform, Reconstructionist, Orthodox) | Trans activism