The power of being counted

A year of covering data gaps

Last year I worked on a microbeat all about data gaps — the places where a lack of data collection negatively impacts women and LGBTQ+ people. Nearly all of the stories touched on how a lack of data hinders access to resources. When applying for grants or making the case for new services, investors want to see numbers: how many people will be affected, what equitable distribution looks like, how quantifiable an impact will be. Numbers promise measurable outcomes, and if a community hasn’t been counted before, there is a strong piece of evidence missing. 

Because if someone is not counted, do they exist? Unequivocally yes. Quantitative information is not superior to the qualitative, but it does a unique ability to capture the attention of people in power. As I’ve written before, numbers can offer solace. As one researcher I interviewed said, personhood is often tied to data collection.

At its core, data collection is about what — and who — is seen as valuable. As worthy of study, of documenting, of preserving for the future. Whose needs are considered when planning for the future. Time and again, marginalized genders and sexualities are not included because their existence is an afterthought or they are deliberately sidelined.

“Woodrow” — Deborah Butterfield, 1989. Photo by me.

Here are the data gaps I wrote about at The 19th last year alongside some behind-the-scenes commentary.

Why accurate data on abortions matters — and why it’s so hard to collect
As soon as I joined The 19th, it became clear that I would be working with abortion data. It’s a narrow landscape, and this article explored some of the unique barriers to data collection including legal challenges and having conversations about a stigmatized experience. I was interviewed for the radio about this!

‘The world’s largest Black group chat’: Behind the mission to preserve Black Twitter
Key to this piece was how archives, specifically those about (instead of by or for) Black people, have been abused throughout history and how important the role of consent is in modern archival projects. As someone who was never a part of Black Twitter, I spent a lot of time asking sources what previous reporting had gotten wrong and what misconceptions non-Black reporters had already built into the story of Black Twitter. I think being a reporter means working to minimize harm as much as possible, admitting when you are out of your depth and acknowledging when you get something wrong.

‘Systematically erased’: Middle Eastern and North African women and LGBTQ+ Americans don’t see themselves in U.S. data
I really loved being able to speak with GALAS LGBTQ+ Armenian Society, a local-to-me nonprofit. I started in local news, and transitioning to national coverage was difficult. I’m grateful for opportunities to connect with Angelenos and share their stories. (Though GALAS is an international organization, they are headquartered in LA.)

Paid less for being trans, a woman and a trans woman
This was a collaboration with my incredible colleague Chabeli Carrazana (you should follow her on Instagram for all sorts of insights into economics and equity) with a headline that sums up the levels of discrimination trans women face in the workplace. The man-woman pay gap is extremely well documented, but the LGBTQ+ wage gap is less studied. There’s really only one study comparing wages across a broader spectrum of gender identities and this article goes deep to explain all the reasons why trans women are paid so much less.

Many LGBTQ+ people are religious. Why don’t we have more data about them?
Click to learn about why people assume religion and queerness are incompatible; read to the end to learn about how it benefits white Christian nationalists. I personally wasn’t anticipating that twist.

Quick Hits

1. I’m going to try to write this newsletter weekly for the next quarter

2. I read 106 books last year and I want to read less this year

3. Errin Haines cut straight to the heart of what happened to Claudine Gay: misogynoir

4. I have been doing a lot of thinking about anger these past few months and after initially repeating conversations I’ve already had I am now thinking about the emotion differently

5. I am amazed how cyclical life is

6. Casey Newton on how Substack used to be like Cloudflare but now is more like social media (yes, this is about Nazis)

7. The LA Times banned the reporters who signed an open letter calling for more balanced coverage of Palestine from writing said balanced coverage; Phoenix Tso at LA Public Press detailed how this punishment broke from editorial tradition

8. My first book of the year was Yours For The Taking by Gabrielle Korn and I have many thoughts and no idea where to put them

9. Yes it is actually relatively very cold in LA right now

10. I am setting myself up for success whenever possible which is why I did not purchase Baldur’s Gate III during the Steam Sale

11. I was very sad one day but then I made myself hot chocolate and listened to the entire Flyana Boss discography and that genuinely helped

Thank you all so much for being here. If you are craving a new start, may this beginning of the calendar year be it. Tell me if you’ve read anything good. 

Until next week,

💜 Jasmine