June 7, 2023
Algorithms, Inclusion, and Search Engine Equity
In honor of Pride Month, our project and business manager Keiron Bone Dormegnie penned his thoughts on June and LGBTQIA+ inclusion.
We all seek witnesses to our lives – from friends, families, and strangers. When other people direct attention onto our creations, misadventures, and even our hidden quiet parts we receive the gift of counting, of being included.
Welcome to June. She’s a month for many things, including LGBTQIA+ Pride, the time designated for the celebration of queer awareness, queer rights, and the full spectrum of romantic, sexual, and gender identities. I’m making the month female because it simultaneously makes me think of two female Junes: June Jordan (1936-2002) the Jamaican American poet, activist, writer, teacher, and prominent figure in the civil rights, feminist, antiwar, and LGBTQ movements and June Cleaver, the mom character in “Leave It to Beaver.”
Each year for me has been easier telling my story as a gay Caribbean man because I both listen to the stories of others and practice telling my own. This summer, I celebrate 9 years of marriage to a wonderful man (another 9-year anniversary in the Asana Consulting family). I revel in the acceptance of our relationship by our families, the laws of the United States of America, and diverse Maryland communities.
Each part of the LGBTQIA+ rainbow contains real women, men, and non-binary people. We are an ensemble of multiple identities and special needs, and one that offers us a shared strength and the inspiration to be more than just one thing.
However, when I consider my solidarity with trans men and women, I recognize I have some work to do. I need to apply more good listening skills, do critical research, and simply celebrate trans lives in these trying times for gender questioning adolescents in Florida and a dozen other states.
One’s research might start with a Google search for “Asian, trans man.” This would lead you to information and stories about the wonderful artist and actor Chella Man. His work has most of the top search results on Google. Oddly, however, his personal story sits there alone on the search engine results page. It makes one wonder why, among the 8 billion human stories, other stories of the lives of trans Asian men aren’t readily available through a Google search.
And that makes me wonder, whose stories are included in the results that come from the algorithms and search engines that map so much of our lives today?
Whose studies are taken out of the results? Why aren’t we talking about search engine equity (SEE) when we’re working with clients on search engine optimization (SEO)? Who do we “see” in today’s searches for information, content, and stories?
Researcher Dr. Safiya Noble of UCLA’s Center for Critical Internet Inquiry (C2i2) has spent over a decade uncovering the potential roots of racism, misogyny, and bigotry that permeate the information in our search engines and social media. Noble reminds us that search engines are advertising marketplaces with a pay-for-play algorithm. When we seek coffee spots, we can find Starbucks in the results because they are paid partners. Check out Dr. Noble’s book Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism (2018, NYU Press).
When we seek more information about the trans experience or any part of the LGBTQIA+ experience, we cannot allow a single source or corporate algorithms to dictate and limit the information we can access. Our personal research needs to include multiple stories, personal interactions, as well as data on the challenges of unemployment, mental health struggles, and discriminatory policies designed to deny trans people the full rights of full citizens with full humanity.
This Pride Month, Asana Consulting celebrates all the hues of human expression through lesbian and gay+ awareness, and uplifts and considers the stories of people who are too often “othered” and deemed unworthy of love and protection. We invite you to listen and learn from others across the full and beautiful spectrum of queer life and identity in the US and beyond.
Keiron is a project management professional fluent in planning, analysis, and team management. He joined us following his work with Welcoming America (Atlanta), CNET (San Francisco) and others. He loves meeting new people, world-class modern dance, and trying out new restaurants.
