Queer Data for Sociologists of Sexualities: Introducing SOGIESC Measurement and Methods During Political Suppression

Quantitatively capturing gender and sexuality using social surveys can be a controversial, political exercise—increasingly so in an age of political turmoil. Still, there is profound utility in quantitative metrics, particularly related to sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, and sex characteristics (SOGIESC). Indeed, scholars, under the banner of queer demography, leverage social scientific surveys to measure gender and sexuality at the scale of populations to make important inferences about LGBTQ+ lives. Therefore, this essay tracks the history, challenges, and potential opportunities for capturing survey-based, SOGIESC data. Specifically, we detail measurement developments related to sex and sex characteristics; sexual behavior; sexual orientation and identity; sexual attraction and desire; and gender identity and expression. Moreover, we showcase the challenges to capturing SOGIESC data amidst political turmoil. Though data purges have become a tactic of the second Trump administration, SOGIESC data have always been subject to state suppression—explaining the poor data environment and longstanding construct-to-operationalization mismatches. Paradoxically, the field of queer demography and survey-based measurement is simultaneously one of rapid innovation requiring emergency preservation. We ultimately call on sexuality scholars to help shape measurement practices, protect existing data, and ensure that knowledge about SOGIESC populations is not erased, while we still can.