When it comes to systematic, rigorously researched, empirical data, queer people in India are essentially invisible.

There is plenty of data showing how Indians interact with healthcare, education, crime, employment, and law enforcement. But this data has historically obscured the unique ways in which LGBTQIA+ people navigate these systems. That’s because the process of data collection was never designed with queer people in mind.

In recent years, the Indian government has started collecting limited data on transgender people, but this data is not always easy to access or interpret. Queer people of every other stripe—and there are many, many stripes—continue to remain, invisible citizens.

As long as people are rendered invisible, solutions to the challenges they face will remain elusive.

The absence of data on LGBTQIA+ Indians prevents civil society, academia, lawmakers, and service providers from understanding the nature and extent of their problems. Without this understanding, interventions to improve the lives of queer communities in India will remain ineffective.

Queer Data Lab aims to plug this gap.

Queer Data Lab serves as a resource that brings accuracy, nuance, and intersectionality to our understanding of LGBTQIA+ people in India. We compile existing data in clear, easy-to-understand formats, as well as collect new data.

Our goal is to identify patterns in the data that could become stories for journalists, research questions for academics, and points of intervention for governments and NGOs.

We are rethinking the process of data collection from a queer lens.

Finding, gathering, and interpreting data on LGBTQIA+ people is an exercise fraught with challenges. When seeking solutions, we adhere to global standards and best practices, turn to experts and NGOs, and, above all, listen to the communities we seek to serve.

In Phase 1, the Lab will focus on compiling and clearly presenting existing government and academic data on transgender persons. We will then analyse the data to see what insights and patterns it reveals.

Actionable data is one of the most powerful drivers of change. If you’d like to be involved in this effort as an institutional or financial partner, please write to us at
ankur.paliwal@queerbeat.org or akshichawla@gmail.com

When it comes to systematic, rigorously researched, empirical data, queer people in India are essentially invisible.

There is plenty of data showing how Indians interact with healthcare, education, crime, employment, and law enforcement. But this data has historically obscured the unique ways in which LGBTQIA+ people navigate these systems. That’s because the process of data collection was never designed with queer people in mind.

In recent years, the Indian government has started collecting limited data on transgender people, but this data is not always easy to access or interpret. Queer people of every other stripe—and there are many, many stripes—continue to remain, invisible citizens.

As long as people are rendered invisible, solutions to the challenges they face will remain elusive.

The absence of data on LGBTQIA+ Indians prevents civil society, academia, lawmakers, and service providers from understanding the nature and extent of their problems. Without this understanding, interventions to improve the lives of queer communities in India will remain ineffective.

Queer Data Lab aims to plug this gap.

Queer Data Lab, developed with the help of Asian Dispatch, serves as a resource that brings accuracy, nuance, and intersectionality to our understanding of LGBTQIA+ people in India. We compile existing data in clear, easy-to-understand formats, as well as collect new data.

Our goal is to identify patterns in the data that could become stories for journalists, research questions for academics, and points of intervention for governments and NGOs.

We are rethinking the process of data collection from a queer lens.

Finding, gathering, and interpreting data on LGBTQIA+ people is an exercise fraught with challenges. When seeking solutions, we adhere to global standards and best practices, turn to experts and NGOs, and, above all, listen to the communities we seek to serve.

In Phase 1, the Lab will focus on compiling and clearly presenting existing government and academic data on transgender persons. We will then analyse the data to see what insights and patterns it reveals.

Actionable data is one of the most powerful drivers of change. If you’d like to be involved in this effort as an institutional or financial partner, please write to us at
ankur.paliwal@queerbeat.org or akshichawla@gmail.com