Albanian Sworn Virgins

Queer as Fact

History

4.8 • 644 Ratings

🗓️ 15 January 2020

⏱️ 85 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In today's episode, we will be talking about Albanian sworn virgins, a traditional Albanian custom that allowed someone assigned female at birth to assume a male gender role by taking a vow of chastity. Tune in to learn how sworn virgins live as men with the respect of their communities, as well as meeting a few rogue Franciscan missionaries and nuns with guns. We also have an announcement at the start of the episode featuring a special guest! Alexandra Amerides is an operatic contralto & androgyne working with Gertrude Opera to bring acclaimed modern trans opera As One to life right here in our home city of Melbourne. Listen in for not only discounted tickets but also an opportunity to participate in a video call with the creators of the most produced modern opera in America. Please follow us on Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook as Queer as Fact! If you'd like to support the podcast financially, check out our Patreon or our Redbubble store if you'd like merchandise with our logo on it! Photo: Jill Peters, 2013.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hello and welcome to Queer as Fact, a podcast bringing you queer history from around the world and throughout time.
0:04.9	I'm Irene. I'm Alice. I'm Eli.
0:07.3	And today we're going to be talking about Albanian sworn virgins.
0:19.3	Before we start, we have a brief announcement from Jason and a special guest.
0:23.8	Before we begin the episode, hello, I'm Jason, and I've got a special guest here for a brief
0:28.4	interview about something very exciting and very queer. If you would like to introduce
0:32.2	herself. Hello, everyone. My name's Alexandra. I'm they-them and I'm an opera singer.
0:39.7	So Alexandra is a friend of the podcast who's involved in a very exciting production that's starting January 22nd right here in Melbourne.
0:45.7	Would you like to tell us a little bit about this production? Absolutely. So coming to you from the
0:50.9	production team at Gertrude Opera, we are putting together a chamber
0:54.5	opera for Midsummer Festival this year, and it's a coming of age story about Hannah, who is a
0:59.9	transgender woman, and she's portrayed by two singers. The voices are pre and post transition.
1:05.1	We watch Hannah grow up and we see her challenges in conforming to gender norms, surviving
1:10.3	assault and self-imposed alienation while leading a double life,
1:13.6	and then how she finally connects with the larger trans community
1:16.1	and with herself as one whole Hannah.
1:18.1	The music and concept were by Laura Kaminsky, who's a transgender composer.
1:22.3	She's American, and the libretto were put together by Kimberly Reid and Mark Campbell,
1:26.8	also American, queer, fabulous people.
1:29.7	As one was actually commissioned in 2014 by American Opera Projects, and it's the most produced modern opera in America right now.
1:36.7	Wow, that's really cool.
1:37.9	First of its kind of think, it's super informative, and it's definitely for all ages as well.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Queer as Fact, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Queer as Fact and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.