Lord, Help Us
When Trump’s President (again), Musk’s the Messiah, and the Pope’s gone full Trad Cath – it’s no wonder queer people are anxious.
I’m not religious, but if I were, I’d be lighting a candle, clutching some beads, and screaming into the abyss. Because if you’ve checked the headlines lately — and I wouldn’t blame you if you haven’t — the global power pyramid is looking a little… apocalyptic.
At the top of this new holy trinity we have:
Donald J. Trump, potential President (again) and spiritual leader of rage-fuelled mediocrity
Elon Musk, world’s richest man, self-declared free speech saviour, and patron saint of overcompensation
Robert Prevost, the newly-appointed conservative gatekeeper of the Vatican, quietly sharpening the edges of Catholic “compassion”
Lord, help us.
Because when politics, tech, and religion all swing hard to the right — and all in sync — it’s not just a coincidence. It’s a cautionary tale. One that queer people are already reading in real time.
Trump: The Resurrection We Didn’t Ask For
Remember that brief window of peace post-2020 when the news cycle didn’t feel like psychological warfare? It’s gone. Trump is back, and with him comes his greatest hits: the anti-trans rhetoric, the court-stacking, the bans on diversity education, the “family values” dog whistles. Same circus, new stakes.
For LGBTQIA+ people — especially in the U.S. — this isn’t just about red hats and bad tweets. It’s about safety. It’s about health. It’s about rights we were told were “settled” being ripped up like yesterday’s headlines.
And yet, here we are. Watching the media cover his every movement like it's a Royal Wedding. (I’ve personally had to unsubscribe from every U.S. news outlet because I simply cannot take another headline about how many Diet Cokes he drinks, or what laws he is going to casually ignore.)
Elon Musk: Dogefather of Dysfunction
Then there’s Elon — a man who believes democracy can be crowd-sourced, space is for billionaires, and content moderation is tyranny. His tenure at X (formerly Twitter, formerly useful) has turned what was once a powerful tool for queer organising into a glitchy megaphone for trolls, transphobes, and tech bros with podcast microphones and mother issues.
Under Musk’s “free speech absolutism,” LGBTQIA+ content is shadow-banned, disinformation spreads like wildfire, and verified accounts are now just credit card holders with rage problems. And let’s not forget his subtle digs at “woke culture,” pronoun jokes, and partnerships with personalities who think rainbow lanyards are an existential threat.
Call it what it is: the world’s richest man isn’t just indifferent to queer rights — he’s actively undermining the digital spaces where we’ve found each other for the past two decades.
Pope Francis’s New Right Hand? Not So Friendly
You may not have heard of Robert Prevost, but you will. As the Vatican’s new “Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops” (yes, it sounds made up), he’s now one of the most powerful people in the Catholic Church. A conservative cleric from the U.S., Prevost has a long track record of traditionalist leanings — and his appointment signals a shift away from the “who am I to judge” tone Francis occasionally dabbled in.
Let’s be clear: the Catholic Church hasn’t exactly been a beacon of queer inclusion. But the hope was that it might at least soften its rhetoric. Prevost’s rise tells us otherwise. He’s expected to shape the next generation of bishops worldwide. Spoiler: they won’t be performing any same-sex blessings.
It’s a quiet consolidation of power, with outsized consequences for LGBTQIA+ people in countries where religion still dictates public policy and personal safety. And no, we can’t just “ignore religion” — because religion doesn’t ignore us.
When Culture, Capital, and Conservatism Collide
Here’s the real danger: these aren’t just three powerful men — they are three pillars of global influence, aligned in tone and trajectory. And when tech, politics, and theology all turn hostile to queer existence, it sends a chilling message: “Your rights are up for negotiation.”
The backlash is real. In the past five years, we’ve seen:
So while some might see Trump as a political clown, Musk as an eccentric genius, and Prevost as just another priest in a robe — the rest of us see a very different picture: a trifecta of entitlement, patriarchy, and unchecked power. And we’re supposed to be optimistic?
Queer Fatigue Is Real — and Valid
I say this with love, but also with total exhaustion: I’m tired. Tired of performing gratitude for crumbs. Tired of being told “we’re lucky” in Australia while watching our rights debated overseas like it’s sport. Tired of starting every meeting with a land acknowledgement and ending it with a silent prayer that someone doesn’t mention “both sides” when it comes to my existence.
It’s no wonder so many queer people are burnt out. The fight for our rights is constant. The headlines are heavy. The backlash is gaining speed. And sometimes, the most radical thing we can do is log off, find joy, and re-centre ourselves in community.
That’s part of why I launched Get Out — to create connection before crisis. To build something that wasn’t just about surviving bad news, but about thriving in spite of it. Because while Musk takes away our platforms, Trump threatens our rights, and Prevost prays the gay away — we still have each other.
Resistance Isn’t Always Loud — But It’s Relentless
So what do we do with all this? We keep building. We protect our spaces. We vote. We support queer media. We check in on our trans mates. We celebrate our elders. We fund queer-led initiatives. We show up — and not just during Pride Month.
And we name things for what they are. Trump is not entertainment. Musk is not misunderstood. Prevost is not benign. These men — and the institutions that enable them — are part of a system that sees queer liberation as optional. That’s not neutrality. That’s violence.
Final Thoughts
So no, I don’t believe in a higher power. But I do believe in queer people. And that, I reckon, is more divine than anything coming out of Mar-a-Lago, the Vatican, or Elon’s next brain chip.
If you’re feeling anxious, you’re not alone. If you’re feeling cynical, join the club. But if you’re also feeling ready to create something better — even in small ways — then guess what? You’re already part of the solution.
We’ve survived worse. We’re brilliant, weird, adaptable creatures. And when the world tells us to shrink, we expand.
Amen to that. (Well, sort of.)