When Scotland voted to add questions about sexuality and transgender status to its census, and clarified the definition of “sex,” it was so controversial it led to a court case.

It got so heated that the director of Fair Play for Women, a gender-critical organization, argued: “Extreme gender ideology is deeply embedded within the Scottish Government, and promoted at the highest levels including the First Minister.”

Data, like the census, “is often presented as being objective, being quantitative, being something that’s above politics,” says Kevin Guyan, author of “Queer Data.”

Listening to the deliberations in parliament breaks that illusion entirely. “There’s a lot of political power at play here,” says Guyan, “It’s very much shaped by who’s in the room making these decisions.”

Great Britain has been a ‘hotspot’ for the gender-critical movement. “You just really revealed the politics of what was happening at the time, particularly in association with an expanded anti-trans movement,” explains Guyan.

Ultimately, the LGBTQ community was counted in Scotland, which was heralded as a historic win.

This makes sense, says Amelia Dogan, a research affiliate in the Data plus Feminism Lab at MIT. “People want to prove that we exist.” 

Plus, there are practical reasons. “To convince people with power, especially resource allocation power, you need to have data,” says Catherine D’Ignazio, MIT professor and co-author of the book “Data Feminism.” 

When data isn’t collected, problems can be ignored. In short, D’Ignazio says, “What’s counted counts.” But, being counted is neither neutral nor a silver bullet. “Even when we do prove we exist, we don’t get the resources that we need,” says Dogan.

“There are a lot of reasons for not wanting to be counted. Counting is not always a good thing” they say. D’Ignazio points to how data has repeatedly been weaponized. “The U.S. literally used census data to intern Japanese people in the 1940s.” 

Nell Gaither, president of the Trans Pride Initiative, faces that paradox each day as she gathers and shares data about incarcerated LGBTQ people in Texas. 

“Data can be harmful in some ways or used in a harmful way,” she says, “they can use [the data] against us too.” She points to those using numbers of incarcerated transgender people to stoke fears around the danger of trans women, even though it’s trans women who face disproportionate risk in prison.

This is one of the many wrinkles the LGBTQ community and other minority communities face when working with or being represented by data.

There is a belief by some data scientists that limited knowledge of the subject is OK. D’Ignazio describes this as the “hubris of data science” where researchers believe they can make conclusions solely off a data set, regardless of background knowledge or previous bodies of knowledge. 

“In order to be able to read the output of a data analysis process, you need background knowledge,” D’Ignazio emphasizes. 

Community members, on the other hand, are often primed to interpret data about their communities. “That proximity gives us a shared vocabulary,” explains Nikki Stephens, a postdoctoral researcher in D’Ignazio’s Data plus Feminism lab. 

It can also make more rich data. When Stephens was interviewing other members of the transgender community about Transgender Day of Remembrance, they realized we “think more complicated and more meaningful thoughts, because we’re in community around it.” 

Community members are also primed to know what to even begin to look for.

A community may know about a widely known problem or need in their community, but they are invisible to institutions. “It’s like unknown to them because they haven’t cared to look,” says D’Ignazio.

That is how Gaither got involved in tracking data about incarcerated LGBTQ people in Texas in the first place.

Gaither received her first letter from an incarcerated person in 2013. As president of the Trans Pride Initiative, Gaither had predominately focused on housing and healthcare for trans people. The pivot to supporting the LGBTQ incarcerated community came out of need—trans prisoners were not given access to constitutionally mandated healthcare. 

Gaither sought a legal organization to help, but no one stepped in—they didn’t have expertise. So, Gaither figured it out herself.

As TPI continued to support incarcerated, queer Texans, the letters kept rolling in. Gaither quickly realized her correspondences told a story: definable instances of assault, misconduct, or abuse. 

With permission from those she corresponded with and help from volunteers, Gaither started tracking it. “We’re hearing from people reporting violence to us,” says Gaither, “we ought to log these.” TPI also tracks demographic information alongside instances of abuse and violence, all of which are publicly accessible. 

“It started off as just a spreadsheet, and then it eventually grew over the years into a database,” says Gaither, who constructed the MySQL database for the project. 

Gaither’s work especially focuses on the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA), which ostensibly includes specific protections for transgender people. 

To be compliant with PREA, prisons must be audited once every three years. Numerous investigations have shown that these audits are often not effective. TPI has filed numerous complaints with the PREA Resource Center, demonstrating inaccuracies or bias, in addition to tracking thousands of PREA-related incidents. 

“We are trying to use our data to show the audits are ineffective,” says Gaither.

Gaither has been thinking about data since she was a teenager. She describes using a computer for the first time in the 1970s and being bored with everything except for dBASE, one of the first database management systems. 

“Ever since then, I’ve been fascinated with how you can use data and databases to understand what your work with data,” Gaither says. She went on to get a master’s in Library and Information Sciences and built Resource Center Dallas’s client database for transgender health.

But gathering, let alone analyzing, and disseminating data about queer people imprisoned in Texas has proven a challenge.

Some participants fear retaliation for sharing their experiences, while others face health problems that make pinpointing exact dates or times of assaults difficult.

And, despite being cited by The National PREA Resource Center and Human Rights Clinic at the University of Texas School of Law, Gaither still faces those who think her data “doesn’t seem to have as much legitimacy.” 

Stephens lauds Gaither’s data collection methods. “TPI collect their data totally consensually. They write to them first and then turn that data into data legible to the state and in the service of community care.” 

This is a stark contrast to the current status quo of data collection, says Dogan, “people, and all of our data, regardless of who you are, is getting scraped.” Data scraping refers to when information is imported from websites – like personal social media pages – and used as data.

AI has accelerated this, says D’Ignazio, “it’s like a massive vacuum cleaning of data across the entire internet. It’s this whole new level and scale of non-consensual technology.” 

Gaither’s method of building relationships and direct correspondence is a far cry from data scraping. Volunteers read, respond to, and input information from every letter. 

Gaither has become close to some of the people with whom she’s corresponded. Referring to a letter she received in 2013, Gaither says: “I still write to her. We’ve known each other for a long time. I consider her to be my friend.”

Her data is queer not simply in its content, but in how she chooses to keep the queer community centered in the process. “I feel very close to her so that makes the data more meaningful. It has a human component behind it,” says Gaither.

Guyan says that data can be seen as a “currency” since it has power. But he emphasizes that “people’s lives are messy, they’re complicated, they’re nuanced, they’re caveated, and a data exercise that relies on only ones and zeros can’t necessarily capture the full complexity and diversity of these lives.” 

While Gaither tallies and sorts the incidents of violence, so it is legible as this “currency,” she also grapples with the nuance of the situations behind the scenes. “It’s my family that I’m working with. I think it makes it more significant from a personal level,” says Gaither.

Guyan explains that queer data is not just about the content, but the methods. “You can adopt a queer lens in terms of thinking critically about the method you use when collecting, analyzing, and presenting all types of data.” 

(This story is part of the Digital Equity Local Voices Fellowship lab through News is Out. The lab initiative is made possible with support from Comcast NBCUniversal.)

The Comings & Goings column is about sharing the professional successes of our community. We want to recognize those landing new jobs, new clients for their business, joining boards of organizations and other achievements. Please share your successes with us at [email protected]. 

Congratulations to Joe Kapp named Chair of the Advisory Council of the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. The Center is a research and educational unit of the Smithsonian that promotes greater understanding and sustainability of cultural heritage across the United States and around the world through research, education, and community engagement. It produces the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, exhibitions, symposia, publications, and educational materials. It also maintains the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections and manages cultural heritage initiatives around the world. 

Center Director Chris Murphy said, “Joe will be a great leader for the Center as we grow our resources and expand our engagement with cultural heritage communities and the public. His expertise has already been valuable to the direction of the council in recent years. I know he will do an exceptional job.” 

Upon being named to the position, Kapp said, “I am so grateful for this unique opportunity to continue fostering the preservation and celebration of diverse cultural expressions, ensuring that the rich traditions, vibrant arts and voices of all communities around the world are recognized and cherished for generations to come. I look forward to working with the incredible team at the Center to amplify the cultural vitality that defines our shared human experience.” 

Kapp is president and cofounder of the National Center for Resource Development, a national nonprofit that helps foundations, nonprofits, higher education, and other institutions achieve greater impact by developing resources to execute their missions more effectively. He has presented to communities around the world, including at the United Nations General Assembly Science Summit. He has also taught entrepreneurship principles to organizations and institutions globally, with experience in Europe, Armenia, Colombia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, and beyond. 

He is a co-founder of LGBT Tech, a nonprofit that develops programs and resources that support LGBTQ communities and educates organizations and policy makers on the unique needs LGBTQ individuals face when it comes to technology. He contributed a chapter to the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank’s book called Investing in Rural Prosperity. 

A queer Nigerian streaming TV channel has initiated a global signature collection drive that demands YouTube restore its platform that was suspended this week under unclear circumstances.

Omeleme TV, which airs gay love movies in Nigeria, faulted YouTube’s action on Sept. 8 as “not only surprising but disappointing” to the LGBTQ community.  

The channel, established a year ago, launched its first short film “Nearly All Men” on Oct. 22, 2023, featuring notable Nigerian actors as leads. “Pieces of Love” went viral after its release on June 21.

The channel boasted more than 5,000 subscribers and YouTube monetized it.      

“We have never involved ourselves in any aspect that goes against YouTube policies and have always complied with their rules and regulations accordingly,” reads the petition. “So deleting our YouTube page is basically shutting the voice of the queer folks in the region.”  

The TV channel notes homophobia around consensual same-sex love is often shrouded in taboo in society and that Omeleme has been the only primary YouTube platform to debunk such discriminatory beliefs.

“Omeleme TV plays a crucial role in normalizing these relationships, providing visibility and affirmation for LGBTQ+ individuals, both young and old. And the only platform through which their voice can be heard and seen is YouTube,” reads the petition.

The channel’s spokesperson told the Washington Blade that YouTube did not indicate “the main issue” for terminating the platform and confirmed that initially there was a copyright claim on a song they received from an artist but the concern was settled.

“We immediately requested a review and informed the artist of the copyright. He immediately informed his distributors and after back and forth, the distributors based in Sweden approved that we got permission,” the spokesperson, who sought anonymity, stated.

The spokesperson also disclosed that while settling the copyright issue, they realized that “Nearly All Men” had not been monetized despite having the certificate. Concerned about YouTube’s delay in giving feedback when contacted, the channel pulled the film, recorded an original song, and uploaded the movie.    

“They (YouTube) flagged it also on Aug. 18,” the spokesperson said. “This time they claimed it is not ad friendly but it does not affect the channel and that we can only earn and be viewed by premium subscribers.”  

Although the channel complied by subscribing to Premium and received approval on Sept. 3, they were not comfortable with the condition since the film was only limited to some subscribers against their streaming expectation targeting everyone.  

“In all of these, YouTube never for once issued a strike on our channel, rather they kept assuring us that it does not warrant a strike if we request for reviews since we had copyrights and all,” the spokesperson noted.

YouTube under its user policies boasts a safer platform that allows viewers and creators around the world to express their ideas and opinions freely with an assurance that such “a broad range of perspectives ultimately makes us a stronger and more informed society, even if we disagree with some of those views.”

Under the copyright rules, the streaming platform provides that “creators should only upload videos that they have made or that they are authorized to use.”  

“So if this back and forth is what warranted the deleting of our channel, it remains masked as they did not in any way specify the actual violation or spam,” the Omeleme spokesperson said.    

The spokesperson noted many Omeleme viewers around the world who were happy watching the films feel disappointed by the suspension by YouTube and that the channel has also suffered online mentions and subscriptions.    

“It was a labor of love and YouTube remains our major source for distribution of these films to queer folks all over the world,” the spokesperson said, while asking the platform not to silence the voice of young indie queer filmmakers behind the movies. “We believe it could have been a mistaken scam identity and YouTube being a safe space for filmmakers all over the world will do the right thing by restoring our channel for their esteemed viewers.”

Reverend Jide Macaulay, a gay minister of Nigerian descent who was born in London and founded House of Rainbow, an LGBTQ-affirming fellowship, criticized YouTube’s move to suspend Omeleme, which he applauds for promoting a positive queer narrative.   

“Omeleme TV has been a critical platform for increasing awareness and visibility of same-sex relationships, particularly in regions like Nigeria where LGBTQ+ individuals face pervasive homophobia and discriminatory laws,” said Macaulay.

He reiterated the channel has been the only beacon of hope for the queer community to see their stories represented and heard in a hostile homophobic environment.

“By blocking Omeleme TV, YouTube is silencing an essential voice in the fight for equality and understanding, especially in countries like Nigeria where safe spaces for queer individuals are scarce,” Macaulay stated.

He called on YouTube to support queer people’s right to be seen and heard by reinstating the channel so it can continue streaming films to empower marginalized voices. Macaulay also appealed for global support in signing the petition to have the channel restored in defending freedom of expression and the right to share diverse experiences.