Honouring Dean Eastmond this Pride Month

This Pride month, and as we mark our 125th anniversary, we celebrate the rich history of our University and the remarkable individuals who have shaped it – including Dean Eastmond, a University of Birmingham student and LGBTQ+ advocate whose life and legacy continue to have an enduring impact.

His partner, Adam Packer, now a Research Fellow here in the School of Engineering, first connected with Dean online – ‘back when it was Twitter and not X’ – after a compliment sparked a conversation.

When Dean was diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma, a rare and aggressive form of bone and soft tissue cancer, in 2016 while studying English Language here at Birmingham, the University community rallied around him.

After his passing in 2017, the department established a fund in his name to support students facing extenuating circumstances. The University also invited Dean’s family to attend a graduation ceremony in his honour, allowing them to celebrate his achievements even though he did not get to complete his degree.

“That meant so much to his family,” says Adam. “It was a beautiful gesture.”

Dean took great pride in being part of the University of Birmingham community. He wore his mauve University jumper often and loved sharing his time with Adam on campus, including at the Starbucks in Muirhead Tower and the Old Library.

“He loved being a University of Birmingham student, and he was very proud of going to the University,” Adam says. “We used to walk the campus together, just talking and enjoying the space, and it became a place of comfort, especially during Dean’s treatment.”

With Dean being treated on the Teenage Cancer Trust’s Young Person’s Unit at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, the campus was conveniently not far from both the hospital and Dean’s student accommodation in Selly Oak. 

Adam adds: “The campus was definitely a safe space for me, knowing that I could get across there quickly and easily and also have time to process everything that was going on, because the whole cancer journey was really intense, and I wasn’t the one experiencing treatment.”

An ambitious writer growing up, Dean often shared poetry and snippets of writing on his social media accounts, mainly Tumblr and Twitter, where he gained a considerable audience. Whilst studying, he wrote for the University’s student newspaper Redbrick, later contributing to Huffington Post, The Guardian, BuzzFeed, and interning at Gay Times.

Dean’s impact extended beyond the University. During treatment, he co-founded ‘HISKIND’, an LGBTQ+ lifestyle magazine. Using his platform to challenge stereotypes and amplify LGBTQ+ voices, he wrote candidly about the effects of cancer on masculinity and identity, inspiring thousands. The magazine’s launch event drew celebrities, including indie band The 1975, and Dean’s voice quickly became a powerful force for equality and justice.

Whilst receiving proton beam therapy in Florida, a type of targeted radiation therapy unavailable on the NHS at the time, Dean encountered a Ku Klux Klan demonstration during the 2016 US Presidential election. Rather than stay silent, Dean confronted one of the demonstrators about his beliefs, a testament to Dean’s courageous and ambitious nature. The story ended up making it into the first edition of HISKIND.

“For someone who was very outwardly gay, it was a big thing to have done,” Adam says. 

Dean also challenged discriminatory advice he received about sperm donation access for same-sex partners. Whilst providing a sperm sample to be stored, due to the likelihood of the cancer treatment resulting in him becoming infertile, Dean was told that in the event of his passing, his partner would not be able to access this due to them being in a same sex relationship. 

He challenged this with the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, leading to a formal apology and a policy clarification. 

Dean’s tireless advocacy earned him a Pride award from Attitude, one of the UK’s leading LGBTQ+ publications, and posthumously, a British LGBT award, and his story was covered in major media outlets including Attitude, BuzzFeed, the Independent and BBC News. 

In 2017, a tribute concert was organised by the co-founder of HISKIND, Josh Fletcher, in East London, headlined by Years & Years, celebrating his life and advocacy. Adam appeared on the Victoria Derbyshire Show, alongside Dean’s brother, Drew, and business partner, Josh, to speak about Dean’s achievements and the importance of the NHS, which Dean passionately supported. Adam also ran the London Marathon in 2019, raising £4,537 for Sarcoma UK. 

As a Research Fellow, Adam works on projects exploring how local authorities engage with emerging technologies like drones.

“I’ve been incredibly lucky to land in such a supportive, interdisciplinary team,” he says. “My managers have been incredibly understanding, especially as I continue to navigate grief.”

After completing his PhD at Oxford in 2023, returning to Birmingham was not an easy decision. “I was hesitant - it held so many memories,” he admits.

“But it’s been healing. I get the bus from the same stop outside Dean’s old flat. I walk past the Domino’s we used to get pizzas from, and I laugh. It's all come full circle.”

Adam continues to protect Dean’s digital legacy, including successfully advocating against the deletion of inactive Twitter accounts, a platform that was central to Dean’s voice and their relationship.

“I wanted to preserve his legacy, because so much of Dean's impact was by what he did on social media. It was also how our relationship was built, we had so many messages and funny tweets that we’d shared, so it was very important to me.”

Dean’s story is also a powerful reminder of the importance of early diagnosis.

“Dean had a golf ball-sized lump in his ribs but delayed getting it checked out,” Adam says. “If something feels wrong, go and get tested.”

Despite his loss, Adam remembers the joy and love that defined their time together.

“Cancer wasn’t the end of everything. We had so many happy times during treatment. What we experienced in two years was what many couples experience over a lifetime.”