Using Data on Sexuality
As researchers, scholars and community members we seek data for a better understanding of the experiences of black LGBTQ+ migrants in the global south. Currently, data can be drawn from community surveys, interviews and existing research which rely on large national surveys such as the census. But there are a lot of challenges with working with data to understand communities. There are gaps in data that we are often asked to make sense of.
For example,
the U.S. Census has not typically asked about sexual identity. As a result, we are missing information about adults who don’t identify as heterosexual. In 2020, a sub survey called the Household Pulse Survey began collecting data on sexual identity. This is a very important moment in data collection and we look forward to sharing information from this survey.
At the same time, controversy around the collection of the 2020 U.S Census during the pandemic also reminds us of how difficult it is to get accurate information about the U.S. population.
What the Data Doesn’t Tell Us.
There isn’t enough information out there about people who are in the sexual minority, people often referred to as LGBTQ+, who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, question, pansexual and more (and terminology continues to evolve).
There has been a steady increase over time in the number of LGBT-identifying people in the United States.
In the few years that that Gallup collected data on gender and sexual identity from 2012-2017, the number of people who identified as “LGBT” (the term used at the time) grew substantially:
8.3 million people identified as LGBT in 2012 while over 11 million people identified as LGBT by 2017 (Newport 2018)
This is a jump of a full percentage point: 3.5% to 4.5% of the U.S. population.
In their most recent update, Gallup data shows that this percentage rose even higher in 2020 with about 5.6% of the U.S population identifying as LGBT.
We have even less information about people who identify with more minority status. People who are both racial/ethnic minorities and sexual minorities get hidden in the data.
We already know that the LGBTQ+ population in the US is racially diverse…
Just over half identify as non-Hispanic white, about 1 in 5 identify as Latino, and 12% identify as black (Gallup Tracking Survey 2015 - 2017).
Paying attention to differences (including things such as region, race, class, gender etc.) across LGBTQ+ groups and among individuals allows us to:
Advocate for social policy that better responds to the needs of the most marginalized
Prevent the erasure of the concerns of different sexual identity groups (for example the concerns of gay white men in the US are extremely different from those of Black LGBTQ+ migrants).
Detroit Red by Jasmine Zelaya at Rice University. Photo Credit Nash Baker
Language Matters.
For many reasons, the language used in surveys impacts what the data can tell us about sexual minority populations. Language can exclude those who identify in more non-traditional ways (such as queer, same gender loving and pansexual) and miss important information.
Variation in sexual identification is often overlooked by studies that do not use inclusive language and only consider certain types of non-heterosexual identity categories (e.g. gay, lesbian and bisexual).
There is an increase in the number of individuals who self identify in a sexual identity other than gay, lesbian or bisexual such as pansexual or queer (Horner 2007; Savin-Williams 2009). This makes it important to be more inclusive of different types of sexual identities.
Sexual minorities of color may identify their sexual identity differently than mainstream society or in culturally specific ways (in the early 2000s this language included terms such as “same gender loving,” “in the life” or “pasiva” (Rodriguez 2003). Not including these types of identities erases their experiences.
What We’d Like to Know.
Information on Black LGBTQ+ migrants is almost non-existent. Few scholars and studies have focused on the needs and concerns of this multiply marginalized group. This is starting to change. Communities are gathering their own data in order to better serve sexual minorities.
There’s more we can do to better understand.
Jakayla Toney
Include the experiences and health profiles of non-heterosexual identities (beyond gay, lesbian bisexual) is a more inclusive approach to gathering data.
Ask questions about race, sexual identity and place of birth helps us to consider how these things relate to one another and reflects a more accurate description of the lived experiences of Black LGBTQ+ migrants.
Focus on the Gulf Coast Region can fill in the gaps for a geographic region that has long been neglected.
Practice language justice in our research and in our community engagement is challenging and also essential for painting a full picture.
Sharing What We Do Know
For anyone conducting qualitative or quantitative work on Black LGBTQ+ migrants-especially in the Gulf Coast Region, in Texas or in Houston specifically, we’d love to hear from you!
Let’s work together
To fill in the gaps on existing data about migrants who are sexual minorities of color.
To ask better research questions on our surveys and in our interviews.
To share the data we gather.
To present data to the public in innovate ways including mapping and data visualization.
And least of all, to connect black LGBTQ+ migrants in the Gulf Coast Region to information and resources that meet their needs.