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Rainbow Trap – London Launch

10 July 2025, 6:15 pm–8:15 pm

Book cover of 'Rainbow Trap' by Kevin Guyan

Join author Kevin Guyan to explore ideas from his hot new book 'Rainbow Trap: Queer Lives, Categories and the Dangers of Inclusion'

Event Information

Open to

All

Availability

Yes

Organiser

qUCL

Location

IAS Common Ground
G11, ground floor, South Wing
UCL, Gower St, London
WC1E 6BT
United Kingdom

Rainbow Trap reveals how the fight for LGBTQ equalities is shaped – and constrained – by the classifications we encounter every day.

The book examines queer encounters with six different systems – stretching from hate crime reporting to dating apps – and highlights how the promise of inclusion requires LGBTQ people to locate themselves in an ever-growing list of classifications, categories and labels.

This requirement to be classified catches LGBTQ communities in a rainbow trap. Because when we look beyond the welcoming veneer of inclusive interventions, we uncover sorting processes that determine what LGBTQ lives are valued and what queer futures are possible.

Chaired by Harry Nicholas, author of A Trans Man Walks in a Gay BarSupported by qUCL and The Common Press.

Please register to attend: https://qucl-rainbow-trap.eventbrite.co.uk

 

About the Speakers

Dr Kevin Guyan

Dr Kevin Guyan is a writer and researcher whose work explores the intersection of data and identity.

He is the author of Rainbow Trap: Queer Lives, Classifications and the Dangers of Inclusion (Bloomsbury Academic, 2025) and Queer Data: Using Gender, Sex and Sexuality Data for Action (Bloomsbury Academic, 2022).

Kevin is a Chancellor’s Fellow at the University of Edinburgh and Director of the Gender + Sexuality Data Lab.

More about Dr Kevin Guyan

Harry Nicholas

Harry Nicholas is a writer, campaigner and gay trans man living in London. He has contributed to articles in The Huffington Post, Forbes, BBC Newsbeat, BBC3's 'Things not to say to a trans person' and Pink News.

A Trans Man Walks in a Gay Bar is his first book.