Image: Photos: Pexels (Composite)
If June is Pride Month, then July is Sloth Month. That’s the law now, sorry—I don’t make the rules (except this is my opinion piece, so I guess right here and now, I kinda do).
We’ve paraded. We’ve protested. We’ve been glittered and glam, and grief-stricken in equal measure. We’ve mourned and memorialised and made joy look easy when it never really is. And now? We’re allowed to be horizontal, tbh.
Because underneath the rainbow flags and carefully curated outfits lies a very tired community.
Let me be clear: June was not just a month of fabulous celebration. It was a reminder—loud, bright, brave—that we still exist, still resist, still love each other in spite of it all.
But it’s the “in spite of it all” that weighs heavy.
In the United States, President Donald Trump is on the warpath, using the queer community as a political chew toy. He’s rolled out rhetoric promising to erase trans rights, end gender-affirming care, and has floated various ideas for expanding anti-LGBTQIA+ laws that dehumanise our community.
The US just celebrated the 10-year anniversary of marriage equality, and despite repealing marriage equality never being a high-profile part of MAGA campaign platforms, since the the federal election, Republican state legislators in various states have already called for a repeal of Obergefell v. Hodges (the landmark 2015 legal case where the US Supreme Court ruled that state bans on same-sex marriage were unconstitutional).
And here at home, things are hardly a queer utopia. In Queensland, access to gender-affirming care for new trans and gender-diverse patients under 18 is being stripped away — vital, lifesaving care made harder to access by politicians, most of whom have never sat across from a trans kid and listened to their lived experience. Our community and allies rose up to rally and speak up and fight back, but the Crisafulli government appears determined to stay on their anti-trans path.
In the past few months alone, we’ve also seen (this list isn’t everything, there’s plenty more):
– Political grandstanding against drag story time for kids, and violent protests outside these events both overseas and in Australia. There’s too many incidents and stories to link, sadly — but here’s one, and one more.
– A surge in violent attacks on gay and bisexual men linked to queer dating apps like Grindr. Same as above; heartbreakingly, there’s too many stories to link: here’s one, two and three.
– Widespread anti-trans hate. Trans Justice reports that nearly half of trans Australians reported experiencing online abuse, harassment, or vilification in the past year, and 47.9% faced anti-trans hate, including abuse and violence, in real life.
– A study by Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety found that 77% of young LGBTQIA+ Australians have experienced sexual harassment in the workplace.
– Northern Territory’s proposed rollback of Anti-Discrimination protections, including for the LGBTQIA+ community.
– A rise in transphobic disinformation on social media, amplified by major public figures across Australia, and globally.
– And heartbreakingly, much, much more.
It’s enough to make even the fiercest activist need a weighted blanket and a nap.
So: Sloth Month. We are in the icy depths of winter, too, so it’s time for relaxing on the couch, watching reruns of your favourite noughties sitcom, or all 372 seasons of your guilty pleasure procedural crime show. It’s a time for trackpants and hearty comfort food. For saying “no” to plans and “yes” to naps. For ugly crying to sapphic ballads in your bedroom, and not apologising for it. For sitting in a lovely hot bath like a depressed little Victorian ghost. It’s time for staying hydrated and moisturised, and getting a minimum of eight hours a sleep per night. For disconnecting.
Because — and I say this defiantly, as a proud disabled queer — rest IS resistance. Rest is punk as fuck. And for queer people — especially trans and gender-diverse folks, especially Black and Blak queers, especially disabled queers, especially queers with other intersections of marginalised identity — rest is a radical act of self-preservation.
Rest is NECESSARY — the fight is always within us and before us, but if life were a video game, we cannot continue fighting if our little health bar is at 0%. We need our cups to be full, and we cannot fight to our best ability without rest.
So, take your Sloth Month seriously. Recharge. Curl up with your chosen family. Turn off the news if you need to. Refill your cup. Eat some Sitrus berries, or a bowl of special soup from the Druids to get your health bar back up to fighting shape, however you can.
Because the fight isn’t over. And we’ll need you strong — queerly soft-hearted and empathetic, but full of fire; not gay as in happy, but queer as in ‘fuck you’ — for what comes next.
Happy Sloth Month, beautiful queers. Choose resistance, and rest up. We’ll be back on the frontlines soon.
