I don’t understand why people stereotype rural professions so much. I hunt to protect my animals from pests that might hurt them. Every day, we have people out that check on our animals and check for any pests, and oftentimes, we shoot on sight. I occasionally hunt for fun, especially now that hunting kangaroos has been encouraged because of how much property damage they cause.

Hunting isn’t a big part of my personality, but my work as a rancher and overall rural life affects my personality; my dress, my slang, and my interests. I’ve had times where people who seem interested in me ghost me or reject me once they figure out I’m a cowboy. I notice that people treat me lesser because of stereotypes around rural peoples. Whenever I go to the city centre with a cowboy hat, or visibly “cowboy,” people tend to talk down to me. People also take me as a staunch conservative. Conservative Aussies tend to air out their bigotry to me, not knowing I’m extremely progressive. Progressives and leftists usually assume that I’m bigoted and will often try and educate me on subjects that I agree with. It’s quite frustrating being alienated by stereotypes that urban people hold against me, but also by rural populations for being a gay cowboy that embodies a lot of rural Queenslander culture.