Rainbow Trap reveals how the fight for LGBTQ equalities in the UK is shaped - and constrained -
by the classifications we encounter every day. Looking across six systems - the police and
the recording of hate crimes dating apps and digital desire outness in the film and
television industry borders and LGBTQ asylum seekers health and fitness activities and DEI
initiatives in the workplace - Rainbow Trap documents how inclusive interventions - such as new
legislation revamped diversity policies and tech fixes - have attempted to bring historically
marginalized communities out of the shadows. Yet as part of the bargain LGBTQ people need to
locate themselves in an ever-growing list of classifications categories and labels to 'make
sense' to the very systems they are seeking to access. 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.
