2021/01/04 by Kevin Guyan · 2 citations
Psychology · Social Sciences · #LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy #Sex work and related issues #Foucault, Power, and Ethics
paper · doi:10.1080/09589236.2020.1866513
openalex publication_date 2021/01/04 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/02
For the first time, Scotland’s 2022 census will ask a question about sexual orientation. Correspondence between National Records of Scotland, the Scottish Parliament’s Culture, Tourism, Europe and External Affairs Committee and campaign groups present insights into decisions made, the uneasy relationship between queer identities and state data collection practices, and the question of who is counted when we count LGBTQ people. Building on Foucault’s critique of projects that construct population knowledge, the census is framed primarily as a tool to facilitate the state’s capacity to govern. My engagement in the design process enabled me to critically examine decisions made about the exclusion of non-binary identities and the use of predictive text technology. These decisions demonstrate how the design process constructed a queer population that ‘made sense’ to the heteronormative majority and ‘designed-out’ queer lives that the state did not wish to bring into being.