LOVE IN A FUCKED UP WORLD: Dean Spade on relationships & raising hell

Wed Oct 01 2025 at 07:00 pm to 08:00 pm UTC+01:00

The Great Hall | Edinburgh

Lighthouse - Edinburgh's Radical Bookshop
Publisher/HostLighthouse - Edinburgh's Radical Bookshop
LOVE IN A FUCKED UP WORLD: Dean Spade on relationships & raising hell
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Lifelong activist and educator Dean Spade on relationships & raising hell with Nat Raha & Wu Tsang
About this Event


is a resounding call to action and a practical manifesto for how to combat cultural scripts and take our relationships into our own hands, preparing us for the work of changing the world.*Please note masks are required at all indoor events run by Lighthouse.


Lifelong activist and educator Dean Spade dares us to decide that our interpersonal actions are not separate from our politics of liberation and resistance - we are thrilled to collaborate with Queer.ed and IASH to host an Edinburgh launch with Dean, unpacking all the above with Wu Tsang and Nat Raha!

We all know it takes guts to fight injustice and inequality. But how often do we bring those same values into our most intimate relationships? In this inspiring handbook, luminary trans activist and author of Dean Spade challenges us to be the change we want to see--both in the world, and at home.

Around the globe, people are faced with a spiraling succession of crises, from the pandemic and climate change-induced disasters to the ongoing horrors of mass incarceration, racist policing, endemic gender violence, and severe wealth inequality. Many of us feel mobilized to organize and collectively combat these issues on both a personal and political level, often dedicating our lives to the forwarding of progressive ideas and the daunting goal of trying to bend the world toward justice. But even those of us who long for change seem to have trouble when it comes to interpersonal relationships. Too often we think of our political values as outward-facing positions again dominant systems of power. Rarely, if ever, do we pursue the same kind of justice close to home, in our personal connections.

Many activist projects and resistance groups fall apart because people treat each other poorly, trying desperately to live out the cultural myths about dating and relationships that we are fed from an early age.

How do we divest from the idea that one romantic partner will be the solution to all our problems? How do we separate our expectations of love from the troubling dynamics left to us by our parents? How do we bring our best thinking about freedom and justice into step with our desires for healing and connection?

About our collaborators:

is one of the world's premier Institutes for Advanced Study, supporting innovative research and public engagement activities across the arts, humanities and social sciences through a range of interdisciplinary and international projects and programmes.

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Event Venue & Nearby Stays

The Great Hall, 25 Nicolson Square, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Tickets

GBP 0.00 to GBP 6.13

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