Shon Faye talks to Symeon Brown

Shon Faye grew up quietly obsessed with the feeling that love – romantic and otherwise – was not for her. Her experience of the world as a trans woman, who grew up visibly queer, exacerbated her fears, and saw her pursue addictions and short-lived romances as a counterfeit to the real love she craved.

Faye opens up about how she confronted her damaging ideas about love and lovelessness and came to realise that it was part of a much larger problem in our culture, where collective ideals of love have developed in a highly politicised and capitalist society.

In her book Love in Exile, Faye shows love is much greater than the narrow ideals we have been taught to crave so desperately. Faye is also author of the acclaimed The Transgender Issue. She writes an advice column, Dear Shon, for Vogue.com.