Litha 2025: GAHD LOVES YOU With Uma Gahd

Let this be your Summer Solstice message: Gahd loves you as you are.

We're celebrating the Summer Solstice 2025 with one of the brightest, sunniest, shiniest Witches we know: star of Canada's Drag Race Season 5, mother of the House of Gahd, and unofficial Auntie to us all, Uma Gahd! Together we discuss labels, emotionally preparing for the scrutiny of a rabid fandom, the importance of having and building community, and also building character. For Uma, activism means activation. There are points of intersection between Drag, Politics, Religion and Witchcraft, and we cover them all. Queer Spirituality, Dirt-worshipping Hippie Paganism, Hellenic Revivalism, Religious Reclamation, and Joy.
"The Sun is coming, so soak it up, but even when it's not there, shine light."

Listen now, transcript below:

Check out House of Gahd: Montreal’s most divine Drag House!

Follow Uma on Instagram!

Buy her Merch!

Montreal: Weekly Scrambled Legs Drag Brunch!

Check out Amy's episode on the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.

And GAHD BLESS!!

TRANSCRIPT

AMY: Hello and welcome to another episode of the Missing Witches Podcast! I'm Amy. And today we are celebrating the summer solstice with one of the sunniest people that I know. Please welcome to the stage the star. Canada's drag race, season five.
Mother of the House of Gahd, mother of the House of Lorraine, and Auntie to the rest of us, Uma Gahd. Hi, Uma. Hello. Hello. Thank you so much for being here with me today to celebrate solstice and pride and all of the sunniness that you bring into the world. How are you feeling today?
UMA: I'm feeling great. I got to sleep in a little bit and the, the sun is shining.
It was, it's a wonderful way to wake up.
AMY: Yes, it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood today. So you've, you've been on the pod before, but that was like way back in 2019 when the world was like a completely different place. Yes. So can, can [00:01:00] you like, reintroduce yourself to our listeners or maybe, I know your life has changed a lot since 2019.
So who are you now? Who are you today?
UMA: Well, so I am Uma Gahd and I am a full-time drag queen. Uh, I am one of the founding members of the House of Gahd, uh, my theater and production company that I run with my husband slash drag sister Selma, Gahd. And I've been doing drag for 10 years now, and I was previously an early childhood educator, but behind all of that, uh, in my, in my.
Mundane life. I am also, well, I mean, it's not really that mundane because it's magical. I am a witch and a pagan. I have been since I was, uh, you know, since I graduated the sixth grade. Um, I was a former president of the Montreal Pagan Resource Center and all around, [00:02:00] uh, dirt worshiping hippie pagan extraordinary.
AMY: Yeah, I, I wanted to kind of lead in with that because obviously, like we believe that, you know, drag is witchcraft. It's that shapeshifting, you know, but you self-identify as witch. Beyond that shapeshifting nature, like you said, um, what was the, the Montreal Pagan, what now? How have I never heard of this called Pagan Resource Center?
Is this still active?
UMA: Um, I, it's not, uh, it's not active as a physical space anymore because mm-hmm. This was like an iconic part of the Pagan community, uh, in Montreal for a really long time. Uh, for anyone who's local. You might remember, uh, mil Magic, the Magical Blend, which was one of our key, uh, community hubs.
It was a witchcraft shop that existed for. I want to say it was 22 years, but I could be wrong. Uh, and in [00:03:00] that space they had a physical resource center, so library, uh, computer center. They would put on, uh, community events for, you know, all the big celebrations and they would do mixers and bring in, um, bring in big name pagans to do workshops, all kinds of stuff like that.
And, uh, for a, a. Just for a very brief moment, I was the, the president for a little while, so I got to see, uh, a really wonderful side of our community through that. And, uh, but once Mile Magic closed, unfortunately, uh, the, the, the community center lost its physical space, but it does continue to do, uh, community events every once in a while.
I'm not really, uh, a part of it anymore, just 'cause I've got so many other things going on. But, uh, yeah, it's, the community's still out there. Yeah.
AMY: And so tell me like, the word witch is such a huge umbrella that encompasses so many things, you know, hippies to goths. So what, what does the [00:04:00] word witch mean to you?
Or what does being a witch mean to you?
UMA: Um. So the thing is that like, as a, as a queer person, I always like, I love, I love a label in the sense that like, when it means something to somebody, it's really important to be able to have that label. Uh, but I also realize that like, you know, if, if, again, if I put it in like kind of a queer context.
You know, we have he, him lesbians who are, you know, non-binary. And that can sound really confusing to somebody outside of the, the community, but you kind of realize, like, listen, the words are there to help us, not necessarily to like trap us. So. I kind of feel the same way with witch, where like witch is what witch does, I guess.
You know, like if you're, if you're out there slinging spells you're a witch. And if you're not slinging spells and you still say you're a witch and you can like, explain that to me, I'll probably be on your [00:05:00] side. So like, for me, being a witch is just that I am, uh, like I said, I'm a a, it's part of my spirituality, it's part of the way that I.
Keep myself grounded. And I don't like to say like, in touch with nature because listen, I can, I can barely tell what day it is. I don't know what the moon cycles are. I need a book for it. There's an app for that, you know? So like, but it is what chi kind of keeps me grounded, gives me a little bit of my sense of, uh, power and control.
I love the ritual of things. So, uh, yeah, I mean, I'm, I'm a witch 'cause I said so.
AMY: I love that. And we talk about that a lot. Like, um, witch is one of the few things where you can self ordain. Like you get to decide that you are the high priestess of your life or whatever. So if you say you're a witch, then you are one. It's kind of the whole thrust of the missing witches project, right.
Um, I want to dig [00:06:00] into so many things, but this is a question that I've wanted to ask you since the cast announcement of Drag Race season five. So. The drag race fandom is like notoriously, um, passionate. I'm using scare quotes here. Someone would say, you're being very generous. Yes. Yeah. But if they love you, they love you.
And if they hate you, they're gonna DM you like slurs. So, and that's like very, very, very real. And to me. Very, very, very scary. So how did you like psychologically and emotionally prepare for that kind of like scrutiny, especially specific to the drag race fandom who are fucking crazy? Like how, what, like what, how, and how did you psychologically and emotionally prepare for this new notoriety?
UMA: So, okay, so, well, I, I, I don't think I said it when I was introducing [00:07:00] myself, but yes, as a drag artist, I was on, uh, season five of Canada's Drag Race. I had been auditioning since season one and I finally made it. And, uh, my season has now been over for just a, uh, like, it's, it's been a couple of months since it's been, it's finished airing.
So, uh, yeah. Uh, I think the hardest part about kind of conceptualizing what I was heading into was that. Uh, well, it's, it's that for a long time you can't tell anyone. So you can't, like, you have to be really selective. You're not allowed to tell anyone that you've, you've filmed the show. You can't tell any details.
You can't tell anybody anything until they announce it. And so if you're really following the letter of the law, then you're not, you don't have a lot of opportunity to kind of, uh, get a system down on how you're gonna deal with these things. But I am very lucky because, like I said. My husband is also my drag sister, uh, and she [00:08:00] is incredible.
We call her the mistress of business. She had everything organized for me, and she's also like the organizer of my life, so. Selma was there the entire time she was aware that I was there. Like it, it'd be hard for me to get on the show and not tell my husband, but she was there to like basically keep an eye on the socials.
I basically wouldn't check my socials until. Selma had done it for me because she would make sure to block anybody that needed to be blocked. She made sure to highlight the best comments. She took screenshots of the ones that she knew. I, you know, like there's platforms that I don't touch, like Reddit. I don't know how it works.
So like I'm not on there. But she was, and she would take screenshots of the, the, the nice things that people were saying. 'cause she knew, like you said, they're very passionate. The fandom. And so it's easy to lose track of all of the positive things that people are saying. So she was there to make sure that I saw the good stuff.
Um, [00:09:00] luckily I kind of hit this sweet spot where, yeah, there's a bunch of people that absolutely couldn't stand me, but I'm used to that. My drag is. My drag is very intentional. None of this is happening by accident. You know what I mean? So I know what I look like, what I sound like. I know what my sense of humor is, and I know that that is very polarizing.
So I've been doing this for 10 years. I knew that it was going to be polarizing, so it's nothing new. It was just a lot bigger. And yeah, I had a really great support system there. Selma was screening all of the contact stuff that was coming into me. And anytime something really upset me, I had lots of people that I could talk to because when I was auditioning for the show, I always kept telling them.
I was like, they, they'd say like, what are you gonna do if people don't like you? And I kept telling them like, well, of course I'm gonna be upset. Like I want to be liked. But in the end of the day, at the end of the day, I know that I'm loved, so I'm gonna be fine.
AMY: I want that on a t-shirt. I want to be [00:10:00] liked, but I know that I'm loved.
I'm just gonna say it one more time. Listeners, like, let's try to internalize this. All of us. I want to be liked, but I know that I am loved. That's brilliant. That's
UMA: brilliant. And go ahead. It was one of the things that that kept me going through the competition is that like I knew that I had a great community.
Even outside of like, you know, yes there are fans that are super important to my career. People that like are at every show and they become like a part of the, the big, big drag family in a, in a, in an extended way. But in the end, I knew that I had those core people that were gonna be there to support me and cheer me on, and defend me and whatever else I needed, I knew that it was gonna be there.
So like that's really what kept me going through a lot of this experience and. You know, just to tie it back a little bit to what we were talking about before, like, I, I always knew the importance of [00:11:00] community, like as a queer person, but also like my work at the, the resource center. You know, again, you see how, you see how community can rally around somebody who's in need, and you can see how, what it looks like to reach out to community when you're in need.
So, like I had experience on, on both sides, so I, I was well prepared. Yeah.
AMY: Yeah, when, when you and Selma were on the show together way back in the olden days, um, the, the theme of the podcast was chosen family. So I know that there are a lot of people out there who are, you know, feeling lonely, feeling isolated, even, even still post pandemic or.
Post during whatever's happening right now. I always say, I always say Post lockdown. Post
UMA: lockdown, because we're still, we're still in it, but we're at least we're allowed to go outside now.
AMY: Exactly. So what, what's your advice to people who are looking to build community? [00:12:00]
UMA: It's always so hard, right? Because the different reasons that people may feel like they are lacking in community.
Like there's so many, there's, there's so many. Um. What's the word that I'm looking for? Variables that are at play in everyone's scenario. So there's no way to like give a, a, a, an idea to somebody and be like, here's how you fix it. Because I have no idea. Right. So like I am very, very lucky in that I live in a big city that has a pagan community, has a queer community, has a drag community, has a community of artists.
And so I'm, I'm very lucky I can talk to how I manage to make that happen. But I know that it won't always work for everybody. But like my biggest thing is always you can't. Necessarily wait for community to come to you. You have to be able to seek out community. And so like for me, for instance, I come from, I'm like, I grew up in [00:13:00] Ontario in a very tiny, tiny, tiny village of 250 people.
And I knew that going to high school in this tiny community was going to be bad for me. I had already, like, before I even got to high school, they told me, they, they said, uh, you know, the boys on my bus that were in the high school, they told us like, we have, we, we made a paddle with your name on it in shop class.
Like, we're gonna, we're gonna beat you. And so I knew it wasn't gonna be a good idea. And so I auditioned for an art school in. Like Ottawa proper. Mm-hmm. And so that's how I knew like, okay, I'm not gonna have my community here. I have to go to my community. So I went to an art school. When I graduated from college, my husband said that, you know, he wants to go to school in Montreal.
And I said, well, you make all of the best food for me, so I'm going with you. Uh, so [00:14:00] like we moved to Montreal and when I was here, I actually, I fell out of performing for. A little while. And so the thing that got me back into that sense of community is that I started going to the, the witchcraft shop. And while I was at the witchcraft shop, I talked to the people that were there and they told me about the, the Pagan Resource Center, which meant that I started to build community there.
When I stopped being part of the, like a, a. Uh, an active par member of the, the Pagan community here in Montreal. Part of it was work related, but eventually I managed to find the drag community and it was always seeking out those spaces and, and ma like putting my hand out, letting people know that I'm there talking to people.
It can be as simple as like going to a class that you like. It doesn't necessarily mean like I have to find queer people, so I'm going to the queer spaces. Listen, like we are everywhere. So that means that [00:15:00] like if I go to a pottery class and someone picks up on the fact that I'm queer, well. Then the queer people in the room are gonna gravitate towards me.
And the same thing can happen for if you go to a space and you know, there's a little bit of like a, if you, if you give out the vibe of the, the witchy pagan experience, the witchy, pagans are everywhere. And you, that's who you're gonna pull towards you. You have to get out there. And it's scary and it's hard and sometimes it's not always safe.
So you do have to be careful. But it's just one of those things where you have to, you have to get out there and make yourself part of the community.
AMY: And you have become like a, a pillar of that community. I think you have many drag children. Um, does your background, I mean, I, I think I know the answer to this, but like, does your background in early childhood education influence like Uma, the, the character of uma?
UMA: Um, yes and no. Mm-hmm. So I think [00:16:00] because I actually, I never intended on becoming an early childhood educator. Um, basically I did a co-op placement in high school in a Head Start program with Children's Aid, and that was, that was fine. Uh, but I had no idea what I wanted to do as a career. I. And so I was supposed to take a year off between high school and college to figure out what program I wanted to take.
And on the last day of school, my parents came to my school while I was all done up in costume for the, the final day assembly. And they were like, we're signing you up for college now. And they dragged me to the, the guidance counselor and they were like, we're signing her up for, for something. And it was my guidance counselor.
It was like, well, you seem like you have it in you to be an educator. So why don't you pursue that? And she, she like listed off all these things that I'd never thought about of myself. And she was like, look at all these personality traits that you have. You'd make a great educator, I think. And [00:17:00] so I think that that's why for Uma being an early childhood educator doesn't necessarily inform Uma.
It's the, it's those parts of me that I carried over into ECE also got carried over into. Uh, into drag, because I always said that's why she's everyone's unofficial auntie. Mm-hmm. Is because I always said that I wanted Uma to be like a warm hug. I wanted her to be your, the, the welcoming face of the community.
I wanted everyone to feel good when she was around. I didn't wanna be, you know, uh, a Ty Cty, ti patta girl. Like, that's not me.
AMY: No high kicks.
UMA: Well, and like even just kind of like the, the, the shade and mm-hmm. You know, the, the, I'm better than everyone attitude there is. There's a time and a place and a person that is great at doing that, and it's the place for them, but it's not for me.
So that's why it kind of like all of the, the elements that made me a good educator are also what make Uma a good, you know, unofficial auntie, I say. Mm-hmm. [00:18:00] Um, so, so yeah. I mean, in the end it wasn't really like one influenced the other. It's more that I influenced both of those scenarios as who I am as a person.
AMY: Because they're both you
UMA: tell me. Well, yeah, exactly. Yeah. Uma is a character. I always like, you know, I have a whole theater piece that I'm bringing back to the Edinburgh Fringe this summer. Uh, that's all about like Uma's life. It tells the story of her career and her, or her building her family. So, like, Uma is a, is a character, but I always say that Uma is.
Uh, is me cranked up to 10, you know, like it's, she's, she's the full-time best version of me. You know, I have my down days and I have my bad days, and Uma is kind of like me without those. And so she is me, but better, well, not better,
AMY: but just more, more, more, more, more, more, more. Is that, um, are you there, Margaret?
It's me, Gahd. Are you taking that back?
UMA: Yes, I am actually. Yeah. I'm really, really proud [00:19:00] of that one. Yeah. And we figured now that I've been on Drag Race, maybe I'll have a little bit of an easier time, you know, getting bums in the seats. So we figured now's the time. Let's, let's give it another go. The first time went beautifully.
The Edinburgh Fringe is the biggest fringe. It's the original fringe. Uh, there's 3,700 shows the last time I was there, but I had sold out nights. I got amazing reviews, so we're bringing it back and. We're hoping to share the joy of, of drag.
AMY: Yeah. Tell me about the genesis of the Uma character.
UMA: Um, so when I, when I moved to Montreal, I fell out of the performance scene for a little while.
And the thing that got me back in was actually I was a backup dancer because the art school that I auditioned for and got into Canterbury in Ottawa, um, I was in the dance program, so my dream was to become a dancer. Uh, I was a very late start, so I knew I was never gonna make it professionally, but I always wanted to be a dancer.
And [00:20:00] so when I had the opportunity, I was a backup dancer for a celebrity impersonator and drag queen here in Montreal. I had no intention of ever doing drag. I had no interest whatsoever. A lot of that was internalized, like, like a lot of fem phobia mm-hmm. And homophobia that I had taken in. But also I just never really saw it as, unfortunately my only exposure to drag was very limited, and a lot of it was, um, feminine gay men who were bullied in school.
So they became drag queens and then started bullying people at the bars to like, yes, feel powerful. Mm-hmm. It was a lot of that very, you know, bitchy, hunty, cty kind of vibe. Uh, but this was. You know, in the late nineties, early two thousands, so like the wigs were not nearly as good. And the access, the access
AMY: to
UMA: stuff was Well, exactly.
So like the scene wasn't [00:21:00] particularly, um, intriguing to me. Once I danced for this, uh, this drag artist, I realized, I was like, oh, okay. So like drag can really be a fantastic. Business, and it can be an art form and you can take it very seriously. And it doesn't just have to be getting drunk at a bar and being mean to people, which was like, like I said, it was a, a messed up point of view that I had, but that's where I was.
So I, it really changed my mind, but I still didn't want to do it. What ended up happening is that eventually I, uh, did, um, uh, a live play version of the Rocky Horror Show. And I was rocky and frank, and Ferer was being played by a drag queen and this drag queen, and I did not get along, Ooh, until opening night when we had to do our makeout scene.
And she misjudged the like, her depth perception was off. I don't know if the lashes were in the way or what, but she ended up making out with my nose. So. Can, [00:22:00] can I say four letter words on this? You can say all, uh, A, B, C, D, E, F, all of them. Oh, okay. So she was tongue fucking my nostril on stage and the audience lost it and I just went along with it.
And then that's when she realized, she was like, oh, this kid's actually, okay. Right. So. We became really fast friends after that, and she said, I'm gonna put on a fringe play, and I want it to be all about gender drag and Canadian politics. And I was like, I'm not interested, I don't wanna do drag. And she said, well, you're already a backup dancer for me, so why don't you just do it for the play?
You know, it's not ju, it's not drag, it's theater and you're gonna do it for 11 nights and then you'll never do it again. And it's been 10 years and I'm still doing it. So when I did it, I, that's why I really put it into the context of like a character. Uh, I was like, this is a theater piece. I'm building a character.
Here's her backstory. That's why she has an accent. 'cause I [00:23:00] love accents. Um, and, and that's kind of where it came from. And the whole idea was that everything, that, that was popular at that time. So the makeup styles that were popular, the hair colors that were popular, the performances that were popular, I didn't wanna do any of it because I have to be that special snowflake.
Mm-hmm. I have to be contrarian. So I was like, all of these girls, they're all doing the exact same makeup. 'cause there was like one YouTube tutorial on how to do drag makeup and everyone followed it. Exactly. And I said, I'm not gonna do that. And so that's why my makeup looks so different. That's why I don't strive for the same things that a lot of drag artists do.
There's nothing wrong with those things, it's just that it wasn't what brought me into drag. And I really said, I want Uma to be an auntie. I want her to be a warm presence. I want her to be a hug. I want her to be a welcoming sign. And all, everything I picked, uh, you know, my makeup is made up of round shapes.
I don't have a lot of angles. Because I wanted to look like a round soft person. I wanted to [00:24:00] look like Judy Garland and Donna Summer. And Ededie McClure is the biggest inspiration for my, for my, the visual of my drag. Yes. Got it. So a lot of people don't know who she is, but you can look her up. She was in, uh, the Elvira movie.
She's, she, she's, uh, what, what's her name? Cons, uh, temperance. Temperance, I think is her name. Yeah.
AMY: I mean, yeah. Yeah. She was like Ferris Bueller's day off and like Exactly. Planes and
UMA: automobiles. And she always plays this like Midwestern mom. Mm-hmm. So that's why Uma Gahd has an accent when she talks is 'cause of Ed McClure.
So like Carol Burnett inspired my comedy, Lucille Ball inspired my comedy. But basically if they were funny and a redhead, I was in love with them. So Lucille Ball, Carol Burnett, Edie McClure, Sherry Lewis, you know all of them.
AMY: All of them. You mentioned something about Canadian politics and I, I really do want to dive into this.
Like, so I, I've [00:25:00] seen Uma perform many, many, many times over, you know, the past however many years. And there always is like an element of politics, an element of activism. Um, and so I, I want you to tell me about that, like through Uma's. Ryan's 2025 lens, what is that intersection between drag and politics?
So,
UMA: because I started drag in a political play, my drag has always been, I. Political. I know that a lot of drag artists just say like, my drag is political because drag is, you know, almost illegal. And like, yes, that's true, but there is also more, and I'm not even saying that because I think like I'm doing the most.
My best friend is like a real deal activist. Like she's out there making food for the poor, like for, for unhoused people and for poor [00:26:00] people. And she is at consulates and she's, you know, uh, she's, she's uh, translating for legal aid and like she's out there. She's an activist. Activist. And when people call me an activist, she kinda laughs.
Because she is like, yes, but your friends are crazy. Like, and I'm like, I, I know that she's being playful. She's not being mean at all, but. What I'm saying is that like, you know, there's always more that we can do, but my drag has always been a little bit more political because of where I started. I started in the Fringe Festival and the whole point of me getting into drag was to say political things about gender, about, at the time it was Stephen Harper about, you know, colon colonization, about gender, about trans people.
It's always been there, and so I built my career on that and then eventually it just kind of becomes. Um, I say it's like it's, it's the couch that I sit in so that even if I'm not saying political things, the, the, the work just kind of [00:27:00] already has that aura about it. A lot of people already know it's part of what I do.
Um, I always feel like as, uh, I'm lucky that I live in Montreal because we have drag cabarets. Where people come to sit down and watch the show. So when we do our shows, we host and it's not just, Hey, what's your name? Are you gay? Have a shot. Like it's not just that. So I'm lucky because I'm a hostess.
That's my biggest thing, is that I'm a host and so I can get on the mic and after I do a really stupid drag number, and I do plenty of them. I can say what I need to say about our community and in getting people engaged. You know, if I have a mic, I need to use it. And so that's why it's always been part of what I do is because I know that I have a platform, I have a lot of privilege as somebody who is white and able bodied, somebody who, you know is I'm non-binary, but nobody reads that into who I am unless they [00:28:00] notice that I don't have eyebrows.
So like. I've got a lot of, I've got a lot of privilege that I need to use and it's, it's something that I'm happy to do.
AMY: Um, you made me think of, I think it was Jasmine Masters who said, um, anytime you're on a stage is an opportunity for ministry. And I think that's kind of like, if I have a mic, I'm gonna say something.
UMA: Exactly. And you know, it's, um, you know, in terms of who Uma is. Part of that work that I want to do as somebody who is like the warm hug, is that I want to, I want to entice people to, when I say activism, I mean it in the sense of like, you are activated. It doesn't necessarily mean that you are out there doing the most and every moment of your day is you thinking about how terrible the world is and how it's your job to fix it, but rather that you are activated to.
Do something [00:29:00] to pay attention, to be informed, to find what your strengths are. And then use them, because like, I'm not, I'm not the smartest person in the world. Like I'm an eloquent speaker and I, I am somebody that is good at, you know, that's that ECE in me, the, the, the teacher in me. I'm really good at taking abstract concepts and making them accessible to people.
But I'm not actually like Game of Thrones. Never watched it, never read it, never going to, because it's too political. I don't understand what's happening. If you ask me how a law gets passed. In Canada, I couldn't answer the question because it's complicated and I don't necessarily internalize that the same way.
So that's not necessarily what my job is. I want people to, like, I surround myself with the people that do know how it works, and I help them get the information out. That's my strength, that's how I am activated as a person. And so Uma is always trying to do the [00:30:00] same thing where I'm just trying to get people activated.
I don't want them to feel that politics is like, it's too dark, it's too complicated. 'cause if a funny woman who is a birthday clown made of couch cushions, who does silly comedy drag, can turn around and say, by the way, this is an important political thing. If I can do that, then it means that you can also do it without feeling like you have to be.
Debbie Downer at all times. You know, like I'm trying to set that example and I'm trying to get people involved in a warm, welcoming way. And then in contrast, you have Selma again, my drag sister and my husband who is the mistress of business and your motivational monster. So her job is getting people riled up.
She is so good at making people feel the fire inside of them to get out there. And she's also incredibly intimidating. So she's gonna like dominatrix you into being a better person into [00:31:00] being an, you know, an activated person into being someone who is involved because you want her to be impressed by you because you want her to like you because you're a little afraid that she might step on your neck.
So like that's kind of what we always have done is that that. You know, we have our point of view as drag characters, but we want to make sure that it leads to the same place. We're all on different roads heading to the same destination.
AMY: I saw in one interview you called yourself lazy and I was like, really?
Like I think of Uma and Ryan as extremely hardworking people. Is that just Selma kicking your ass? Absolutely. One.
UMA: Got it. Hundred percent. Got it. I tell her all the time, I'm like, yes, I have a accomplished a great deal in my, in my career and. I can only say that it's because of Selma, because if it was me, I would've, yeah, maybe I would've started drag maybe, but I would be doing it once a month maybe when I feel [00:32:00] like it, and I would still have a day job.
And you know, I would never have gone to Edinburgh. I never would've gone to Port of Ida. I never would've gone to, you know, I never would've brought a show to Toronto. Like none of that would be happening. It's because she sees the world as full of possibilities and roads to get places, and she is great at reading the map.
I'm just happy to be here.
AMY: I feel you. I think that's like me and Reese's dynamic as well, where I, I'm just happy to be here and she is like very, a very driven person.
UMA: I say that Selma, uh, Selma is my agenda, and she's like, she's my stylist, my co-director, my, my editor, my chauffeur, my cheerleader. My agenda, uh, she points me in the right direction.
I'm just here to spin. And, and
AMY: also like an incredible performer in her own right? Absolutely. We love to see Selma perform. It's always a joy. And speaking of joy, like we talk about [00:33:00] politics as being like this dark, you know, angry, that kind of feeling. But I feel like that that's what Uma brings is that like reminder that joy is political.
Especially for marginalized people.
UMA: Well, I mean, there's that really popular, uh, quote that's going around. I believe it was Dan Savage that said it, where, you know, we would go to a funeral in the morning, a protest in the afternoon, and then dance all night. Mm-hmm. And like. The dancing all night part is really important because you have to remember why you are fighting.
It's for the joy. You're fighting to protect your joy, your happiness, your strength, your community, your calm, you're, you're fighting for all of that. And that's one of the things that I always tell people as well when we're talking about politics. It can be really daunting in the world right now because there's always something to, to, to be upset about.
And I will tell people like, no, you sometimes you do have to take a rest. Sometimes you do have to [00:34:00] disengage, but the disengaging is for rest, is for recuperation, is for ensuring that you take the time to feel your joy and to recharge on that. But the whole thing is that you rest and then you come back.
AMY: Yes.
UMA: So even me, like I don't use Facebook anymore because it became. Too, too much for me. It was too many comments. It was too many posts from people that I thought that I could trust, and it just, it became so much that eventually I was like, no. So I don't deal with Facebook anymore, but you know, Twitter has a lot of my more political stuff.
And then Instagram, I try to make sure that it's always in there to keep things moving and so that it's always on top of mind for as many people as I can make it happen. But I set my limits in a way that makes sure that I am. I'm keeping myself primed to be involved without exhausting myself, but without disengaging so much that I become kind of like, well, literally [00:35:00] disengaged.
You know? That's, for me, that's always been really important is finding that balance and showing that kind of balance, remembering the joy because, you know, during, during the lockdowns, we were doing three twitch streams a week. And Montreal's lockdown lasted longer than I think anywhere in Canada. So like we were at it for a long time and people said like, you are the thing that is keeping me on schedule.
You're the thing that's keeping me, like, I know I can. I can wake up at this time and I can go see your show. And then I make sure that I'm in bed at this hour. It keeps my life on schedule and it reminds me that there's people out there. It reminds me that there's people who care. There's people who are having.
You know, they have a smile on their face and joy in their heart. It's really important, but that's my job. It doesn't mean that everybody has to only focus on finding joy. I am here to bring you the joy, and then somebody else is gonna help you get the knowledge to do more of the, the nitty gritty stuff.
And I'm doing it behind the scenes as [00:36:00] well. Like my, my persona helps me bring it out there. But then when I'm back. You know, when the camera's turned off, I am back to doing the work, reading the articles, talking to the people, whatever I can do.
AMY: Let's move quickly from one taboo to another, um, from politics to religion.
So this kind of a two-part question. Um, number one is like, why Uma Gahd? Why is that, why did you choose that as your name and. Secondly, uh, you play with a lot of religious iconography in your looks, in your presentation, in your art direction. So I wanna know, is that just like a riff on the God name? Um, or is there like a, a deeper point that you're trying to make?
UMA: Uh, so yes and
AMY: yes and all
UMA: of that, of course theater, darling. Yes. And yes. Originally, Uma's name is literally just because I [00:37:00] was with my best friend and we were hanging out at her place and. I realized that we hadn't eaten in like hours and hours and hours. And I said, I'm so hungry. Oh my God. Oh my God.
And, and it clicked and I realized, I was like, that would be a great drag name. And it did in, it did influence the entirety of the character. 'cause originally I was actually gonna go with, um, I was gonna be rain just, and it was like Cher, it was, it was a. Yeah. Rain. Yeah. And it was just gonna be the, the one name, and it was actually based on all of like the pagan stereotypes, like all of the pagan witchy stereotypes.
So it's, um, it, the, I got the name from that bit in friends when, um, Rachel and Ross are trying to figure out names for the baby and they each get a veto and Rachel says, I, what about rain? And Ross vetoes it. And when he has to explain why he goes. Hi, [00:38:00] my name is Rain. I made my skirt out of wheat, and then Phoebe says, oh, I know her.
And I was like, I literally know her like I know her. So that was actually gonna be my original drag name, my original drag character. But like, can you imagine me hosting an entire show? Like, hi everyone. It's really nice to be here. You do love accents? Oh, I love it. But like, that would've been a terrible drag persona.
So luckily I changed it to Uma Gahd. And yes, I built the um, kind of like the shtick around the idea of like, I am God. Part of it is just because it's entertaining. It's really great iconography. You can have so much room to play in there. It's just so recognizable and so much fun. But part of it really is that I grew up going to Catholic school.
You know, I did my confession, communion confirmation. I did all of that, and luckily I don't have [00:39:00] any massive religious trauma. But I also know that I never 100% felt like. I always felt like God loved me, but not everyone else did. And that really soured my relationship. Kind of one of those things where it was like, yes, I love you, but your friends are pissing me off so we're not gonna hang out anymore.
Like that's kind of how it felt. And so, you know, eventually, yes, I converted to Paganism because this to me, actually, this is the, this is the audience I need to tell this story to. Yeah. Uh, so everyone, so being an unofficial auntie is actually a reference to my godmother. Mm-hmm. Because we call her Auntie Ann.
She's not my aunt, she's my mom's best friend. I've always called her Auntie Anne, and she was my godmother. And so that's kind of where that idea of like being an unofficial auntie came from. [00:40:00] And so she's the woman that if my parents die, she is in charge of my eternal soul. Yeah, the godmother piece. Yeah.
She's supposed to send me to heaven. Basically. She's making sure I get sent to heaven and for my, in the, like in grade six when I did my confirmation. Part of my confirmation gift was a book on Greek gods. Mm. Mm-hmm. So I spent the day saying, yes, I believe in God, the Holy Trinity, the Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost and all this stuff.
And then that afternoon she go and she's the one standing next to me with her hand on my shoulder while I make this announcement to the church. And then she gets home and goes, now here's all the other ones.
Auntie Ann. Yeah, all hail Auntie Ann. I don't know if she knew what she was doing, but so like, I like to joke that it's her fault. Um, but yeah, so like I converted to Paganism right after [00:41:00] doing my confirmation, so I am no longer Catholic, but I still want, I know that it's a, so it's a sore spot for a lot of people.
And it's a place that it, you know, a lot of people have a lot of hurt, and so for me it was part of that mission to be that ante that makes everyone feel welcome. My idea was someone needs to hear God loves you as you are. Yes. And that's why I leaned into it was because I needed someone to be able to, like I knew that it would be good for someone because it was good for me to be able to say, you know, I used to do shows on Sundays and we would tell people like, you're gonna spend the day with Ghad.
You're you. You know, if you ask your mom, you can say, you, on Sunday, you went to church, you, you talk to Ghad. 'cause my show was called church. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So like that was part of it was just being able to reclaim some of that trauma. And I know that mine is not enormous, but I was there to do it for myself and then to bring everyone else along with me.
Now, it's kind of [00:42:00] funny though, because I've been doing this for 10 years and in those 10 years there's only ever been one person that thought like, oh, are you like a super evangelical Christian? Like, that's so weird. And then I, and then they asked me and I said, no. And they went, oh, okay. And that was like in the first year that I did drag.
Yeah. So it's been nine years since anyone has thought that I went on Drag Race and I, there is. There is so many people that are like talking about how I'm shoving my religion down their throats and they can't stand that. I'm so preachy and I was like, I'm talking about me.
AMY: I'm Ghad like when you say Gahd, they think you mean like, yeah.
Yeah. They,
UMA: they think, I mean GOD and I'm like, no, I mean GAHD means, yeah, yeah, yeah. They understand that they wrote God in the subtitles. 'cause they didn't ask me. But anytime I say God, I'm saying Ghad.
AMY: Yes. Yes. Yes. And that's kind of like the vibe that I get is exactly what you're saying, where like, if you have been told God hates you or God [00:43:00] hates.
F slurs. Um, then you need to be told God loves you. You need someone to be told to, to tell you that God loves you, whether that's GAHD or not. Like we. And I wanna quote from your little, um, go off, um, unofficial auntie for those who are rejected. God loves. That's GAHD. God loves you as you are. Your queerness is perfected, and that's such an incredible message.
Like we were talking about that like kind of cty reading, you know? Cutting up and kiking, but like this message of like, you are loved and you are welcome and I am your auntie is so huge, I'm sure to like so many young people who need to hear God loves you. Tell me a bit like the [00:44:00] writing of that and the idea of that.
UMA: Well, so that, that was one of the things that I knew that I was like, okay, if we have to write a song. I am not gonna be sitting there talking about, you know, how big my hair is and how small my waist is, and how bitchy I am. Mama ru the crown. Like, you know, all of the things that every drag race girl sings about.
Um, I knew that that wasn't like one, it doesn't make sense coming from me anyways 'cause like what? But also I was like, this is my one opportunity. They told us, because that's the first, that song is from the first episode of my season. And they said, you know, this is what we're doing and, you know, going into Drag Race, I said, the only episode I am guaranteed to be on is the first one.
So this is the one where I tell everyone, this is Uma. So my first runway, my my entrance look, my promo look, and this song, I was like, [00:45:00] alright, these are the ones that we're gonna, like, we're gonna spend the money, the time, the effort on. And so, uh, like. I, I knew that I was going to say, try to say something that would make it clear to people that this is the personality that Uma has and in the end, yeah, it really did help or I, no, I can say, I can say that it helped people because I got, I got dms from people that said like, here I am on a Saturday morning watching drag race.
Crying because I didn't realize how much I wanted to hear someone say that God loves me. Yeah. You know, people wrote to me to tell me that as much as there were people that were upset with me for shoving religion down their throat because they didn't get the joke, Uhhuh, there was people who either. Got the joke and it meant something, or they didn't get it, and it still meant something.
And I'm like, yes. My, my drag is always gonna be divisive. I'm never gonna please everybody, but I'm doing it for the people who need it. [00:46:00] And that's, that's what happened.
AMY: That's the Exactly, exactly. Anglophones. Um, that is like my aunt. So like a auntie is how we would say it. Um, before we run out of time, I wanna do a little like.
Magic manifesting and conjuring here with you today. So if you're comfortable doing so, you can close your eyes. Um, I wanna know, considering queer as a verb, like queering, tell me about what a queer world would look like and how do we bring that to fruition? What does a weird world look like?
UMA: Um, I think that a queer world is a world where we have a much better understanding [00:47:00] of how to balance none of my business and good for you.
That is the queer world that I want to live in, because that's what a lot of the tension in the world right now boils down to, is people that don't understand one or both of those things because people being who they are, unless it literally impacts somebody, that's none of your business. And if we can see somebody being their most authentic self in a way that doesn't negatively impact anyone around them, literally, then good for them.
If it's good for them and it's good for the people around them, it's none of my business. We can just be happy that they're happy, and the more that we realize those two things. The happier we will be with [00:48:00] ourselves and the people around us. And sometimes, and this is something that happens in the queer community just as much as it does in the rest of the world, where we are so caught up in being afraid of being hurt, being taken advantage of, being scared of something.
Any of those things that we. We read the worst and least charitable thing into everything that happens around us. Sometimes we have excellent reason to, but it still is to our detriment when it be, when it goes too far, sometimes it's just none of my business. Good for you. I
AMY: love that. The, the queering of the world is this space where we can be happy for people who are happy.
Yes, exactly. Beautifully said. Like, and it's, I mean, you know, you and [00:49:00] I, we, we live in our own little bubble where like that's how we wanna go into the world and that. But like, there are so many people. Who just want other people to be unhappy. It's mind boggling.
UMA: Well, and like specifically if we look at something like religion or witchcraft or spirituality, those kinds of things, I know a lot of atheists that are against the idea of any religion, just because it is religion, and religion has been used for such terrible things.
Mm-hmm. And the thing is, is that in my head, your religion. Is for you. Mm-hmm. It's not for everyone around you. And if you can find a way to make it rich in your own life, it shouldn't need to be about anybody else. And so that's why I don't necessarily think that we need to abolish religion completely from the world.
There's so much beautiful. [00:50:00] Art and philosophy and socialization that has come from people who are devoutly religious, that I can't imagine a world where it's completely gone. But if people would just mind their business. We would have so much less difficulty because you don't worry about whether or not somebody else is practicing that religion.
You don't worry about what they are or are not practicing. You're busy tend to your own garden. Don't worry about mine, tend to your own garden. That's what your spirituality should be about and that's one of the reasons that I think that like queer spirituality in particular. And this, you know, is, is especially true of like the big more mainstream religions, but of any religion.
I find queer spirituality is so magnificent because we can't take any of it for granted really. Because even if you look at something [00:51:00] that's really popular in queer spaces like wca. WCA is very binary in a lot of ways. Mm-hmm. And if we are non-binary or care about non-binary people, it's hard to find your place.
And so if you're a, a queer person saying I'm a Wiccan, it's because you had to find yourself in that space. You had to make it work. You had to do the work to be. Whatever that title is, whether it's Christian or Muslim or or, or Wiccan or broadly Pagan or whatever it is, you had to look so deep that you could find yourself in there.
To me, I think that that is stunning. I think that's beautiful and that's why Queer Spirituality, it. It means so much to me because it means so much to every person that does it. There is, there is like the cases of, of queer people who are religious and I mean that in like the, the big way. None of it's by accident.
None of them are sitting there like, yeah, you know, my [00:52:00] parents were Catholic, so like I figured I'd keep doing it like. It doesn't happen like that the same way because we have to sit there and go, yeah, my parents are Catholic, but you know, everyone wanted me gone, but I decided to stay because, and then you have to think about that.
The self-reflection and the meaning that you find in your spirituality, or lack thereof. Even atheism is like, you know, at some point you have to find yourself in that. To me, I think that queer spirituality is so beautiful for that reason.
AMY: I know that, excuse me. I know that we are almost out of time, but I feel like we can't talk about Queer Spirituality without me asking you about your involvement with the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.
So you can be as long or as short as you like with that description.
UMA: So, I mean, I, I've done a lot of talking about religion and not actually named what I do. So, um, I am generally just kind of. Pagan and witchy, but also, um, a Hellenic [00:53:00] revivalist, which means that I worship specifically, I worship Dion isis.
Um, but not necessarily in a, uh, reconstructionist kind of way. I kind of try to make it current to the world that we live in, not necessarily exactly how they did it in the old days. Mm-hmm. Um, so that's kind of what I do. But, um, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, uh, is a group. That was founded in, uh, in San Francisco just before the AIDS epidemic.
And they are a group of queer nuns. So the way that I describe them is that they are, uh, nuns for those who have none. Mm-hmm. And sisters for those who have no sisters. Mm-hmm. So the idea is that they are non-denominational queer nuns that are there for the queer community and beyond to promulgate. Joy and expiate guilt.
The whole idea is that we are queers that are out there and we take your, your spirit, such as you [00:54:00] might describe it, and we wanna protect it. We want to love it, we want to see it flourish. We. You know, uh, sisters out in public, they'll take confessional from people in the community. So, you know, like we'll be at the bar and someone will be like, I've gotta talk to somebody.
And we we're there to listen. We're fundraisers, we're activists, we're theater people, we're drag artists. We do all of this stuff. And I was lucky enough to be one of the founding members of the Montreal Chapter of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. And part of that really was, you know, like I hadn't really started in drag yet, and I was looking for a way to.
Bring performance and spirituality into the queer spaces. And the sisters were the perfect thing for that. So if you're ever out at a queer bar and you see some funny dressed people that have white faces with the, like, funny hats on every, every, um, chapter has a different wimple, a different hat for their nuns.
Mm-hmm. Uh, but you know, like if you ever hear anyone talking about the sisters, it might be the Sisters of [00:55:00] Perpetual Indulgence and we're there for the community to. Link people up for resources to form community, to take confessional, to stand up for people, to be guardian, angels to do all of that. And, uh, it's one of my proudest moments that I, I got to be one of the, one of the sisters that founded the Montreal chapter.
AMY: Yeah. Um, listeners, I did, um, an episode about the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, so I will link that in the show notes. Also, I got to interview Sister Roma. Yes. And like. Uh, uh, I, I don't even know how to articulate how I felt when I discovered the existence of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. Like I felt like this is the world that I wanna live in.
As long as I can like, share a reality with this group that actually exists, then like it's gonna be okay. Like Roma is like. Such an icon has raised millions of dollars, like saved, who knows how many lives. So [00:56:00] I was so delighted to hear that you, you had this, um, and I was at one of your shows and there was a sister in the audience, and you'll recognize them listeners.
If you're out and about and you see a sister of perpetual indulgence, you will know that it is a sister of perpetual indulgence and you can go up to them and ask them to take your confession. Or, or to receive
UMA: blessings. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. So the, the sisters, um, they are, they are parts, you know, um, ag, they are part non-denominational spirituality, part theater, but also part politics.
So like they were the first people to print, um, information about the aids. Crisis. Yeah. Uh, refer like they were the first people to address it as kind of like a sexually transmitted disease and how to try to mitigate it as queer people. So they put out, it was called Fair Play. Mm-hmm. And it was a sex ed pamphlet that addressed, [00:57:00] you know, sex for men who have sex with men and what they, what at the time were the best practices to keep each other safer.
And so they've been doing that since the very beginning. They also used to hand out what were called rain check. So like they would give it to people and they would say like, if you wanna hook up with a guy and that, or like if a guy comes up to you and says like, oh, I wanna have sex, but you've got an STI.
Well, you can sign your rain check with your phone number and your name, and you can give it to 'em. You can say like, not right now, but later. And you know, like these are all kinds of things that they've done. They've run for the sister boom, boom was one of the, the sisters in San Francisco that ran for office.
With her, like as sister, boom, boom, there's a law in place because they let her do it. And then they said, from now on you have to run with your legal name. Yeah. Sister Roma was also the face of the, uh, the movement to try to limit Facebook's control of, uh, legal names on Facebook. And part of it was because drag artists were losing our pages, but [00:58:00] part of it was because she recognized that.
Trans people don't always have their name as they would like it on their, on their legal documents. And, you know, people who are hiding from abusive spouses don't necessarily have their, their real name on Facebook. And she stood up for all of those people. So like, when, when the sisters are out there, they're out there for everyone, for every different reason you can think of.
That's what they're there for.
AMY: Yes. Amazing, amazing. Um, Izzy's in the chat, she wants to know if your drag were a cocktail, what would be in it and what would it do to us?
UMA: So here's the thing is that I am a, a Dion Isan and I have been in, um, commercials for the Quebec Liquor Board, and I work in bars and I don't really drink much.
I hear you. Um, I was straight edge until I was 25, which means that I didn't do any drugs and didn't drink. Uh, so I'm actually not well versed in [00:59:00] cocktails. I, I always, uh, there's a series on the, the SAQ that's our, our liquor board on their Instagram and YouTube specifically, uh, on YouTube. It's easier to find.
There's a series that we did Selma and I called Cute. So the whole thing is just something cute because the concept is that I don't really know what I wanna drink, but I know I want it to be cute. So when I go to a bar, I will ask them like, what's the cutest drink? So, um, all I know is that it would probably be sweet, it would be purple, and it would be available in an alcoholic and non-alcoholic variety.
And what would it do to you? Um, I think that it would make you.