The Comfort of Queer Country Rebellion
Priya Sridhar has some words of advice and a playlist of courage for getting through tough times
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2025 has been… quite a year. We didn’t even reach the end of January before the chaos started. I’ve been alternating between comforting queer and straight friends while using therapy and cognitive strategies to avoid spiraling excessively. And for the record, I’m not buying a gun. But I am bringing on the salt when pointing out to people that trying to explain or justify Trump supporters’ votes makes them look callous or stupid. And I am bringing out the pep for friends who are scared, while also confiding in friends who have been able to create distance with the current state of affairs.
Being queer right now is scary. Not for myself, but for my trans and nonbinary friends; I’m doing what I can on my end to serve as emotional and physical support. Tumblr recounted what happened to Magnus Hirschfeld’s research in Germany, and the Internet fortunately shares information on how to avoid a repeat. That means preserving trans media and as many lives as possible. It’s the time for the heavy-duty hard drives.
The problem is that being scared doesn’t help. When we’re frozen in fear, we can’t think clearly. Yet the fear in this case is rational, not a monster under the bed. So we have to find reasons to be brave, process our fear in a healthy fashion, and get angry. The monsters need to fear us.
Is country music the answer? The artists putting their tracks on Bandcamp and on demos are just as scared and angry as we are. And country music has traditionally been the music of the underdog.
Against the Law
Bandcamp introduced me to Riggings, a country music star whose lyrics brim with a communal rage. “Shot off the Horse” has minor keys and bass, reminding me of the spiraling anger at those in charge of our country, at the safeguards that failed when we needed them most, and about the casualties that will emerge. Screaming strings reflect my own rage at the fact about how many idiots want us dead or simply don’t care.
But we have to live. Even if we’re deemed the metaphorical fugitive. If the gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgender cowpokes are going to become outlaws, we may as well be cool ones that have the chance to live. Riding horses means getting sweaty, and picking flowers means wiping dirt and grit off our palms.
It’s for the same reason I was drawn to “A New Kind of Outlaw.” D’orjay speaks to how the Wild West was called that because manifest destiny and colonialism brought out the best and worst in people seeking opportunity. And maybe reaching to find our best in the middle of our worst is a good idea, to remember why people rustled cattle and shot rabbits in the grass.
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