The Chicago Tribune recently launched an interactive map [1] showcasing all same-sex partners in the state of Illinois, aggregated from the 2010 census. The number has gone up 40 percent since the year 2000.
[2]
This type of interactive mapping has been around for a while ? the most common form people see it in is Google maps. But showcasing such personal data seems, for me, more powerful. Mapping out the vote of an income tax policy might be interesting, but those dots aren?t people to me. They?re votes.
The Tribune?s map and others visual displays of data hold strength to me. Perhaps it?s my attachment to the GLBT community, but each dot on that map is a couple ? a gay couple ? living in the heart of the Midwest. As a born and raise Wisconsinite, I feel a connection to these dots ? these households. I almost want to stop by for a tea and thank them for sticking it out in their small town and making it a better place for their fellow gays and lesbians.
I feel it?s this type of data display that can help to change minds. Someone living in tiny Palatine Village probably doesn?t know that more than 100 same-sex couples share that space with them. What?s more, it shows everyone who oppose gay rights ? from the small churches and state representatives to some presidential candidates ? that gay people are absolutely everywhere and entirely unavoidable.
They can also be telling about political measures. The divisive Proposition 8 led the L.A. Times to create a data set map [3] showing where votes opposed gay rights and where supporters were. This data mapping is nothing new, but it?s relatively recent in the last decade or two for gay rights to get this type of treatment.
On a national perspective, maps [4] of our country highlighting gay marriage paint an interesting portrait of the progress the U.S. is making.
A map from the L.A. Times shows, literally, the spectrum of policy surrounding our rights. The key varies from a deep red to bright green, providing an instinctive showcase of who welcomes us most (with full state-sponsored gay marriage) and who doesn?t (with a constitutional ban on gay marriage or anything resembling it).
While all of these forms of information entice me and are helping the movement for equality, I can?t wait until they are no longer necessary to win rights for us.
Then, of course, there?s the most telling chart around [5], with an answer perhaps more accurate than any data could provide.
[6]
[1] http://media.apps.chicagotribune.com/chicago-census/index.html
[2] http://media.apps.chicagotribune.com/chicago-census/index.html
[3] http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-2008election-prop8prop22,0,333635.htmlstory
[4] http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-gmtimeline-fl,0,5345296.htmlstory
[5] http://www.prosebeforehos.com/political-ironing/04/11/what-will-happen-if-gay-marriage-is-legalized/
[6] http://www.365gay.com/wp-content/uploads/what-will-happen-gay-marriage-legalized.jpg
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