In 2025, Know Your North Star

In the new World order, queer liberation can be a guiding "North Star".

I have not opened my computer for the past two weeks or so. As we traveled in places with spotty connectivity, the news stream from a world in transition dwindled, and being constantly concerned suddenly felt like a self-indulgent habit. I was almost at peace with my children in the beautiful sites we visited. Yet, at dinner, when family members or local guides inevitably asked me how I read shifts in the U.S., I told them we are entering a new world order.

This newsletter is about LGBTQ+ people. It is intended to gauge how well we pursue our North Star: complete liberation for all LGBTQ+ people everywhere. For most queer people – even in tolerant places - life remains “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.” We have only scratched the surface of equality. Yet, when queer liberation remains a fantastic and ambitious goal, it can also feel myopic in the current context.

It is “ubuesque” when our civilization faces collapse, extinction, or both.

If I allude to subjugation and mass extinction in the second paragraph, my 2025 wishes are not going well. Yet these risks do feel greater in 2025.

A new elite is succeeding in a more benevolent and idealistic one—an elite confident that things have become too complex due to overpopulation, inequalities, and technological advancement and require a new authoritarian order. I interpret the debate “du jour” during my hiatus, birthright citizenship, as readying Americans for dwindling resources and security. Our new leaders believe that mass suffering and greater inequalities are in the cards and that pollyannish democracies will not allow us to weather it. They envision a future where a small group takes it all. Therefore, a new system with less freedom, agency, and empathy is needed. And people have been readied to trade those for security. It is a massive shift from the world order humankind had in mind after 1945.

What surprised me most about the past few years is how quickly the unimaginable becomes normal. This is a challenge for now but also gives me reason for optimism.

That is why having a North Star matters.

After the elections, I told my worried children that the way I managed to live in a world that dissatisfied me was always to do something to change what I could: join an organization or a club, volunteer, donate, alleviate suffering on the smallest of scales…

Queer liberation is a perfect North Star to focus on. It transcends nationality and socio-economic status and creates a solidarity network among us. It connects us to our past and the evolution of mankind. It reminds us that our hard-won dignity and economic opportunity only matter if we use it in our lifetime to make it less elusive for others.

Even more than that, envisioning a world in which LGBTQ+ people can be free is envisioning a world where everything is possible. Being queer is opening the door to possibilities and change. I mean endless possibilities, from how we treat our environment and govern ourselves to defining borders and allocating resources.

What is a more universal and timely message than that?

What is more revolutionary?

I also believe in the “magical gay.” When queer people are free to reach their true potential and when they finally access positions of power, they will inevitably bring a different lens to decision-making.

Finally, it is an area in which we can still make progress despite the newfound elite distaste for the old “LGBTQ+ agenda.” While some freedoms are in immediate danger, most LGBTQ+ rights are not on the chopping block yet. They don't have to be. I have written in the newsletter that it is about adapting our messaging and strategies, choosing our battles, and the right leadership.

Expect to be shocked in the next few months. The new elite‘s strategy is to shock us into subjugation to make the transition smoother. Knowing our North Star will be key to staying optimistic and effective. This is my wish for you in 2025.

Happy New Year, I am glad to be back and in touch with you again.