Roses for Hedone

On Queer Hedonism and World-Making Through Pleasure

When a society marginalises a people, their humanity is revolutionary - in all its hunger and joy. Although long demonised, hedonism in all its forms has played a central role in how queer people sought to organise as a symbiotic system. In fact, when viewed through a queer lens, hedonism undergoes a process of transformation and embodies the "power for change", as described by Audre Lorde in The Uses of the Erotic.

Today, when the queer community worldwide faces rampant transphobia, rising hate crime, and unequal access to support services - all in the context of humanitarian crises, a climate crisis, and a destabilised political landscape - such hedonism is no less necessary or, indeed, present.

As we face ongoing and new challenges to creating a more fair world, let us borrow from the Ancient Greeks' understanding of love's multiplicity to explore queer hedonism not as a momentary phenomenon, but rather a transformational route through which we can learn from our past, connect in the present, and look towards the future with hope - together.