Digital Transgender Archive

Interview with Ash Farah

Ash Farah identifies as a bisexual black trans man and was born with an intersex condition with gonads that were surgically enhanced. He was assigned female at birth and was born in the middle part of East Africa within the border lands of Kenya and Somalia in a small farming village. He immigrated to the United States as a toddler, arriving in New York post 9/11. He just got U.S. citizenship a year previously. He grew up in New York City with his Muslim family. When he entered kindergarten and first grade, he was immediately called towel head, and ever since then he’s had to defend his existence and his right to be here in America. He could not speak, only being able to mumble and make fairly audible sounds, until the age of 7, and he was treated differently as if he wasn’t as intelligent as a result. His speech impediment made assimilating to Minneapolis, Minnesota more difficult when his family moved there. He was derailed for being Muslim, humiliated for having voice issues, lied to about his gender identity, and on top of that, his father discouraged Farah from engaging in masculine pursuits such as math, science, and riding a bike since he was raised to be a girl. Farah worked up the courage to tell others he was a boy, leading to his father telling him he wasn’t “raising no fags” and pulling Farah by the ear, taking him outside where he was paraded around, disciplining him. Farah’s mother defended her child, but his family believed that he was cursed, and his father soon left them. After his father left, Farah was able to express himself more openly as a tomboy, wearing his hijab askew and wearing dirty, ripped jeans. He was teased constantly in school and had a hard time making friends. He then cut his hair and expressed himself as a boy in school. Puberty left him feeling as if he couldn’t fully be a girl but also not a guy either since he didn’t develop fully as either female or male because of his intersex condition called CAH or Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia which affected his gonads and hormone levels. His mother tried various exorcisms to pray the gay away. Failing to do so, his mom kicked him out. He then went into a random café which turned out to be the Minnesota Trans Health Coalition at Café Southside. Roxanne Anderson sat Farah down at Café Southside and helped him find resources through Host Home Project, which is run by Avenues for Homeless Youth. Farah is currently starting an internship at OutFront to extend the work he was doing in the Minneapolis Public Schools teaching educators about trans issues. He just started testosterone but got off it because of difficultly with insurance. He got a PFund Scholarship for $10,000 for college tuition, and he’s allowed to use the money for top surgery. He describes himself as a fuck boy, somebody, he says, “who doesn’t have serious relationships and just goes around.” He will be going to Augsburg College to study pre-med to become one of the first black trans men surgeons.