Alice Domurat Dreger is an American historian and anti-transgender activist. This biography supplements an overview of the harm Dreger has caused to many minorities, including conjoined twins, little people, people with differences of sex development, trans people, and other sex and gender minorities.
Biography
Alice Domurat Dreger was born on March 17, 1966 to Marianna Domurat “Mary” Dreger (born 1935) and Francis Adalbert “Frank” Dreger (1929–2022).
Dreger grew up in suburban Long Island in a strict Catholic family. Dreger has three siblings: Sister Mary Diana Dreger (born 1952), a Catholic nun and physician; Christopher “Chris” Dreger, a designer; and Paul J. Dreger, Sr. (born 1969).
Dreger attended Georgetown University, but dropped out in 1985 at age 19 under murky circumstances:
I have rarely spoken publicly about my own history of the teacher using me for sex. I know that if I do, it’s going to be slotted into standardized tropes. I tried once to talk to my literary agent about how I would like to tell that story — as deeply complicated, because I was complicit in some of it and had agency to some degree. But she freaked out at the idea of telling that story in any way other than predator/prey. And then I would be forever marked as prey of the sort that just doesn’t die fast enough for everyone’s taste.
Dreger (2024)
That relationship is part of a lifelong pattern of desire for validation from men Dreger sees as powerful and respected authorities.
Dreger then worked as a mortgage broker in the New York City area during the 1980s, later noting “that whole NY real estate culture was a racist, sexist, sexually-assaulting sewer.”
Dreger returned to school, earning a bachelor’s degree from SUNY Old Westbury in 1990. Dreger then attended Indiana University, earning a master’s degree in 1993 and a doctorate in 1995.
On June 10, 1995, Dreger married Aron Conrad Sousa (born January 2, 1969), a physician and academic administrator who also attended Indiana University. Their child Kepler Domurat-Sousa (born June 2000) is a medical imaging researcher. They wisely did not saddle their child with the surname Dreger.
In 2022 Dreger founded Michigoose Productions LLC in Michigan. Dreger produced six episodes of a podcast titled Just Answer the Question. Guests included anti-trans activists Dan Savage and Paul Vasey, as well as sibling Chris Dreger and child Kepler Domurat-Sousa.
References
Obituary (June 29, 2022). Frank Dreger October 24, 1929 — June 29, 2022. https://www.harpethhills.com/obituaries/frank-dreger
Kammerer, Ann (May 21, 2020). Little Local Joys: Modern Meets Medieval in Basement Build. East Lansing Info https://eastlansinginfo.news/pipeorgan/
- Dreger did not disclose the editor’s connection to the subject, an obvious conflict of interest and ethical lapse.
Dreger, Alice (2022). Curriculum vitae. https://alicedreger.michigoose.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Alice-Dreger-cv-resume-April-2022.pdf
Resources
Michigoose Productions, LLC (michigoose.com)
Just Answer the Question (jatqpod.com)
SupportingCast (supportingcast.fm)
- Just Answer the Question
- jatq.supportingcast.fm (Tangent Tier subscription)
Ghost (ghost.io)
- In Search of Open Water / Letters from Alice Dreger
- https://alice-dregers-newsletter-in-search-of-open-water.ghost.io/
See also
Alice Dreger vs. transgender people