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Podcast: Desert Oracle Radio
Episode:

Documenting queer and trans history in the Mojave
Category: Society & Culture
Duration: 00:00:00
Publish Date: 2025-07-05 18:07:36
Description:

In the shimmering quiet of the Mojave, a different kind of archive is forming, one built not from dusty files or census records, but from memory, voice, and lived experience.

The Hi-Desert Queer & Trans Oral History Project, created by artist and community-based researcher Tania “T” Hammidi, documents queer life across the Morongo Basin, capturing stories that might otherwise be lost to time. What began as a conversation with an elder in a thrift store has grown into a living archive—both digital and physical—of LGBTQIA+ life in the desert.

Launched in early 2023 with support from a California Humanities Quick Grant, the project first took shape as an interactive storytelling experience at the Joshua Tree Music Festival. Inside a replica British phone booth, participants were invited to reflect on their identity, their love for the desert, and answer the question: Is the desert queer?

“Everyone said yes,” Hammidi recalls. “The desert is wild, strange, and hard to define. It doesn’t apologize. And that’s exactly what queerness is.”

Through images, audio, and storytelling, the archive chronicles the lives of LGBTQIA+ individuals in places such as Flamingo Heights, Wonder Valley, Twentynine Palms, and Joshua Tree. The Morongo Basin is where elders raised families, trans people found healing, and queer artists helped build iconic spaces like Pappy & Harriet’s. Since those first story recordings, Hammidi has conducted 22 one-on-one interviews.

“We’ve had gay elders here since before it was legal,” Hammidi says. “Some came for health, some for freedom, some to be invisible. But they were here, and they matter.”

As the desert undergoes rapid change, Hammidi views this work as a means to preserve not only personal memories but also cultural heritage. The project celebrates survival, joy, creativity, and love that transcends binaries. It also honors those no longer with us, such as Larry Lane, an early organizer of Desert Pride events.

Looking ahead, Hammidi envisions expanding the archive by utilizing new technologies, recruiting volunteer interviewers, and documenting up to 500 additional stories. “This isn’t just a community archive,” she says. “It’s a gift to future generations.”

“Oral history is different from written history,” she explains. “It’s about silence and breath. It’s about how someone tells their story, not just what they say. And in that, we find something sacred.”

To learn more or get involved, visit @queerdesertarchive on Instagram or queerdesertarchive.com.
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