Feb 19 2025 71 mins
Notes and Links to Lamya H’s Work
Lamya H (she/they) is a queer Muslim writer and organizer living in New York City. Their memoir HIJAB BUTCH BLUES (February, 2023 from Dial Press/Penguin Randomhouse) won the Brooklyn Public Library Book Prize and a Stonewall Non-fiction Book Award, and was a finalist for Lambda Literary and Publishing Triangle Awards. Lamya’s work has appeared in Los Angeles Review of Books, Salon, Autostraddle, Vice, and others. She has received fellowships from Lambda Literary and Queer|Arts.
Lamya’s organizing work centers around creating spaces for LGBTQ+ Muslims, fighting Islamophobia, Palestine and prison abolition. In her free time, she eats lots of desserts baked by her partner, plays board games with whoever she can corral, and works on her goal of traveling to every subway stop in the city. She has never run a marathon.
Find her on Twitter and IG: @lamyaisangry
Book Review for Hijab Butch Blues from NPR
At about 2:20: Lamya shouts out Dominion as a top-tier board game and talks about flickering hopes of running a marathon
At about 5:35, Lamya talks about reading and writing and speaking in multiple languages growing up, as well as reading a lot of colonial texts from the British Empire
At about 7:30, Lamya talks about beijing “flabbergasted” by the great White Teeth at age 15
At about 9:30, Lamya uses the evocative image of “fish not understanding that they’re in water” in responding to Pete’s questions about how she recognized representation and colonial tropes in lit
At about 11:10, Lamya cites formative and transformative texts and authors in her adolescent year
At about 13:55, Lamya discusses early sparks for activism through a friend’s introduction of Audre Lorde, Angela Davis, and more
At about 15:15, Lamya responds to Pete’s questions about her current reading, including her love for Huda F’s work
At about 18:45, Lamya responds to Pete’s questions about her usage of “queer” and the titular “butch”
At about 22:30, The two discuss a meaningful Quranic verse that starts off the book-Lamya explains ideas of “faith in flux”
At about 25:00, Lamya gives background on surahs and a significant part of her book discussing Maryam’s life and trials
At about 26:45, Lamya discusses boredom in the high school years and how she felt connections to Maryam
At about 29:45, Lamya responds to Pete’s questions about feeling like life “is out of your control” as a teenager/high schooler
At about 30:45, Lamya explains feelings of internalizing queerness upon experiencing a crush at age 14
At about 34:50, Lamya describes the importance of Quranic verses involving Maryam and “intentionality” and taqwa
At about 38:00, Lamya responds to Pete’s questions about the “Arab hierarchy” that she experienced as a kid, and the ways in which she and her family were targets of racism
At about 41:40, Lamya details many meanings of “jinn” and describes its usage in her memoir
At about 43:40, Lamya describes a friend “jumpstarting” a repudiation of internalized racism
At about 45:15, Lamya gives background on Allah and ideas of “transcending” gender
At about 49:00, The two discuss “rigid gender roles” as featured in the memoir, as well as connections to the Biblical Adam
At about 50:00, Lamya outlines a offbeat “outing” experience
At about 51:30, Pete describe Musa’s connections to Lamya’s “coming out slowly process” and asks Lamya to comment-she talks about “reframing the negative”
At about 53:45, Lamya cites “inviting in” as a way of reframing the “coming out” trope
At about 55:35, Pete shouts out Christina Cooke’s quote of queerness as “divine”
At about 56:25, The two discuss empathetic and sensitive friends
At about 57:10, The Prophet Muhammed and connections to fealty and openness of fath and individuality are discussed
At about 59:50, The two discuss “being “comfortable” in one's own skin and finding community
At about 1:00:45, Lamya responds to Pete’s questions about Asiya and those who encourage and perpetuate victimizers, including about ideas of citizenship in a country that has so often victimized
At about 1:03:40, Pete shouts out great “plot” in the book and a dizzying scene painted so well by Lamya
At about 1:05:30: Lamya talks about hopes that her book and story can be universal while it is quite specific
At about 1:07:00, Lamya encourages people to “buy local”
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Please tune in for Episode 273 with Raúl Perez. He is an Associate Professor of Sociology at University of La Verne and the author of The Souls of White Jokes: How Racist Humor Fuels White Supremacy. His work has been published in American Behavioral Scientist, Discourse and Society, Ethnicities, and Sociological Perspectives, and featured in Time, The Grio, Latino Rebels, and Zócalo Public Square.
The episode airs on February 25.