V Fixmer-Oraiz papers
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Scope and Contents
The V Fixmer-Oraiz papers date from 2002 to 2024 and measure 5.5 linear inches and 1.68 gigabytes in one box. The papers are arranged in three series: Oral history interview, Drag career, and Johnson County Board of Supervisors.
The oral history interview series contains an audio recording and transcript from an interview conducted by Kate Orazem on September 8, 2023. In the interview, Fixmer-Oraiz recalls their childhood, including growing up in a military family, living in Panama in 1989 during the US invasion, and coming out as gay in high school and the role played in their life by a supportive coach and teacher. The interview covers Fixmer-Oraiz’s educational path, including their experiences researching in the Philippines as a Fulbright scholar and a biracial Filipino American person. They discuss their urban planning career, with reference to Iowa water quality issues and the Johnson County Historic Poor Farm project. Fixmer-Oraiz also describes their campaign and service as a Johnson County supervisor, including conflict between county and state-level regulations and their attempts to support LGBTQ+ rights at the county level, as well as how their identity as a nonbinary trans person affected their campaign. Fixmer-Oraiz talks about political developments in Iowa in the 2020s, including bans on LGBTQ+ content and accommodations in public schools, and their analysis of fascism in the United States. The interview also contains Fixmer-Oraiz’s reflections on their career as a drag king, including their role in co-founding a drag troupe based in North Carolina and the impact drag performance has had on their political development. Fixmer-Oraiz also discusses their gender identity and how they came to understand themselves as a nonbinary transgender person. The interview concludes with reflections on parenthood and the future of Iowa politics. The interview is preserved in an audio recording of 105 minutes and a transcript available as a PDF file or in hard copy.
The Drag career series contains two folders of zines and event programs from Fixmer-Oraiz's tenure with Cuntry Kings, a touring drag group based out of Durham, North Carolina.
The Johnson County Board of Supervisors series contains two folders of materials related to Fixmer-Oraiz's election to the Johnson County Board of Supervisors in 2022 including newspaper clippings, constituent letters, notes from speaking engagements, and a campaign t-shirt.
Dates
- Creation: 2023
Creator
- Fixmer-Oraiz, V (1978- ) (Interviewee, Person)
- Orazem, Kate (1989-) (Interviewee, Person)
Conditions Governing Access
The papers are open for research. Digital content may be made available upon request.
Biographical / Historical
V Fixmer-Oraiz was born April 25, 1978 at the Balboa Naval Hospital in San Diego to Gilda Payosing Oraiz Bowman and James Allen. They graduated from Coronado High School in San Diego and completed coursework at several colleges California and North Carolina before earning an associates degree from Durham Technical Community College in 2008 and a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina in 2010. During this period, Fixmer-Oraiz worked in food service, construction, and as a welder. In North Carolina, they began working as a drag performer, eventually becoming co-founder of a troupe of drag kings known as the Cuntry Kings, which operated for 10 years and toured nationally and internationally. Fixmer-Oraiz traveled to the Philippines from 2010-2011 as a Fulbright scholar, researching the impact of climate change on rural bamboo farmers. After moving to Iowa City, they completed a master’s degree in urban and regional planning at the University of Iowa in 2015. Fixmer-Oraiz then founded Astig Planning, a consultancy combining urban planning expertise with community organizing techniques. They have been involved with a number of community housing organizations, chairing the Housing and Community Development Commission and serving as vice president of the Johnson County Affordable Housing Commission. They were elected to the Johnson County Board of Supervisors in 2022 as the first biracial, transgender, and queer county supervisor in Iowa. Fixmer-Oraiz married their spouse Natalie in 2008, and the couple’s two children were born in 2015 and 2018.
Extent
1.68 Gigabytes
5 linear inches
Language of Materials
English
Existence and Location of Copies
Materials from the oral history interview series are available in the Iowa Digital Library.
Geographic
Occupation
Topical
- Author
- Kate Orazem, 2023; Andrew Newell, 2024
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Iowa Women's Archives Repository
100 Main Library
University of Iowa Libraries
Iowa City IA 52242 IaU
319-335-5068
319-335-5900 (Fax)
lib-women@uiowa.edu