Big Data, State Surveillance, and Securitization : Problematizing the LGBT Data Inclusion Act

Abstract

This paper concerns the 2017 LGBT Data Inclusion Act, a proposed piece of legislation that would mandate the collection of sexual orientation and gender identity data on all federal surveys which collect other demographic information. Although proponents of the bill argue that increased data collection is necessary to achieve social and political gains for LGBT individuals, I complicate this claim by contextualizing the LGBT Data Inclusion Act within the contemporary big data landscape. Within this context, I explore some of the possible material and discursive effects of this proposed legislation, emphasizing the entwinement of big data, state surveillance, and the production and maintenance of gendered and sexualized populations.