Madison, Wisconsin: University Archives and Records Management Services
Summary
In their oral history interview with Chloe Foor, Jae Weller talks about their experience growing up in a mixed-faith blended family, where their mom was a Sunni Muslim and their dad was an atheist ex-Chrsitian. While growing up, Jae was mostly confused about how religion worked due to the adults in their life telling them conflicting information. However, Jae was mostly raised by their Muslim mother, though outside the bounds of traditional Islam. Since the representation for queer Muslims is “abysmal,” Jae was not really able to reconcile their queerness and their religion until college. Jae went to UCLA to study linguistics and computer science, and their roommates were a great support system to help them gain confidence. Jae now attends UW-Madison and is in the PhD program for Linguistics. Today, they consider their identities pretty intertwined, though they have always had a more individualized view of faith.