Amir H. Payberah - 2026-06-02

Queer Data by Kevin Guyan is the next book we will read in our Co-Liberative Computing reading circle. The book explores the relationship between data, identity, and power, particularly in relation to LGBTQ communities. The book uses the term “queer data” both to refer to data about LGBTQ people and to examine the systems, categories, and assumptions behind data collection itself.

A central argument of the book is that the ways data is collected, categorized, and analyzed shape how people are understood, included, or excluded in society. In particular, it shows that collecting data on LGBTQ communities can help make inequalities visible, improve services, and support political recognition and social change. At the same time, being counted can also create new forms of harm by increasing control over marginalized groups or forcing LGBTQ people into predefined categories that oversimplify identities and exclude experiences that do not neatly fit existing classifications. In this sense, systems that appear inclusive may still reproduce inequalities.

The book includes three parts: (1) The first part explores the history of collecting data about LGBTQ people through surveys, interviews, and censuses; (2) The second part focuses on how data analysis, algorithms, and rigid classifications can erase or distort LGBTQ experiences; and (3) The third part turns to questions of power, asking whose voices matter in discussions about data and how data can be used for activism and social change.