Rupert Raj, a Eurasian-Canadian, pansexual, and trans activist since 1971, is mindful of his place in the historical record.

Raj added a new dimension to his activism in 2013 when LGBTQ Oral History Digital Collaboratory Director, Professor Elspeth Brown, organized his personal papers and recorded four oral history interviews with him for The ArQuives: Canada’s LGBTQ2+ Archives. In addition to founding two service organizations, three support groups and three counselling/consulting services for transsexuals, crossdressers and their loved ones, Raj is invested in preserving the trans past for generations to come.  

When I decided to center Raj’s earlier activism in my own work, the archivists and scholars that knew him were elated. I was told time and time again about how lovely of a person he is, what a joy to work with he has been, and most importantly, how careful he is about properly recording his histories.  

In 2018, Raj combined his passion for preserving the trans past with his carefulness when he compiled his unpublished international trans poetry anthology, Of Souls & Roles, Of Sex & Gender: A Treasury of Transsexual, Transgenderist & Transvestic Verse from 1967 to 1991. The poems in his anthology are what Raj calls ‘artivism,’ short for art-as-activism, where the personal and political intersect through media. I’ll make my own portmanteau: ‘archtivism’ — the blending of the personal and political through archival preservation.  

Raj’s archtivism has taken many forms, including the compilation of his poetry anthology. But Raj’s archtivism, and the carefulness that he is so well known for, are on fullest display in his oral history interviews, and particularly so in interviews like the one below. In summer of 2022, Raj requested the Collaboratory’s assistance in amplifying Of Souls & Roles with a video interview, to be conducted by former Collaboratory member, Dr. Evan Taylor, and later edited by Collaboratory Research Manager, Alisha Stranges. Much like the standard oral history interview, the questions were prepared in advance and, in essence, facilitate the preservation of the anthology’s own oral history, in stunningly intricate detail. But, unlike the standard oral history interview, so too were the answers prepared in advance, a testament to Raj’s steadfast commitment never to forget a single detail. Raj also extends his penchant for careful archtivism into the creative development of the final product — a short film of sorts — as evidenced by the many email threads between Raj and Stranges, outlining requests for revisions great and small. In effect, Raj’s creative process enlists all his collaborators in the effortful work of artivism (and archtivism). The resulting piece of digital media is and is not an oral history interview, is and is not an archival object, is and is not a work of art.   

Oral history as a method has been lauded for the power it gives historical actors to tell their own life stories in their own words. One of the co-creators of the source is the person whose life history is in question, with the knowledge that their story is being recorded for posterity. Oral histories are an arena where Raj’s personal stories, which focus on his political orientations and activist work, take centre stage in the historical record. Raj controls his narrative, while sharing authority with the interviewer. The relationship is akin to that of the poet and the reader. Poets are intentional about word choice, line structure, syntax, meter, mood, and tone; but ultimately, the reader decides how to make meaning of the poem. Similarly, oral history narrators can construct script-like stories over time, but the researcher is the ultimate meaning-maker.  

Poetry and oral history are mediums that cling to affect just as much as they are sites for readers and researchers to make meaning of the work of the artivist and archtivist. They are mediums through which the makers explore and express truths that evade other forms. Much like the artivist, the oral history archtivist communicates what gets left out of the correspondences and organizational documentation that make up written archives. But ultimately, both must relinquish control once the creative object is released into the world. I suppose it’s your turn to make meaning of it all.   

Rupert dedicates this short film to all of his fellow transsexual, transgender(ist), transvestite (crossdressing), gender nonbinary, genderqueer, transqueer, Hijra, intersex and Two-Spirit community members, and their partners, families, friends, allies and supporters. And to all the contributors to Of Souls & Roles, with a special dedication to the following contributors, at least five of whom have since departed: 

Linda T. O’Connell (19??-????)

A Canadian transsexual activist and poet, whose fighting spirit expressed through her two trans poetry anthologies of 1978 and 1982, inspired me to compile the present collection. It’s uncertain if she’s still alive as she was wheelchair-bound with Multiple Sclerosis in 1988. See “The Poets” for more information, and my poetic tribute, “For Linda T., With Love” (Of Souls & Roles, Book 1, Pt. 1).

David Aaron Liebman (1966-1984)

An American, autistic member of my Metamorphosis Medical Research Foundation (MMRF), who took his life at 18 due to intense depression. See the entry for his sister, Maura Liebman, in “The Poets” for more information, and my poetic tribute, “For David – And Both Our Sisters” (Of Souls & Roles, Book 1 Pt. 2).

Louis Graydon Sullivan (1951-1991)

An American, gay trans activist, newsletter editor and biographer, who died of HIV/AIDS at 39. See “The Poets” for more information, and my poetic tribute, “For Lou, My Fellow Transqueer Gender Transgressor” (Of Souls & Roles, Book 1 Pt. 2).

Stephen (Steve) E. Parent (19??–199?)

An American trans activist and gender therapist, who died of kidney failure in his mid or late 40s. See “The Poets” for more information, and my poetic tribute, “For Steve, My Fine American Friend” (Of Souls & Roles, Book 1 Pt. 2).

Johnny A. (aka Johnny Science) (1955-2007)

An American former drag king, gay trans activist, musician, video maker and newsletter editor, who died at 62. See “The Poets” for more information, and my poetic tribute, “For Johnny A., My Fellow Trans Cultural Activist“ (Of Souls & Roles, Book 1 Pt. 2). 

Merissa Sherrill Lynn (1942-2017)

An American transgender activist and magazine editor, who died in a hospice at 75, following a much earlier massive stroke. (See “The Poets” for more information, and my poetic tribute, “For Merissa, The ‘Tiffany Rose’“ (Of Souls & Roles, Book 1 Pt. 1).