We are excited to be heading to New York City next week for the Queer Women who Tech Summit. The summit is the “only event focused on increasing visibility and tech participation in two historically underrepresented communities: women and LGBTQ.” The first Lesbians who Tech Summit in San Francisco brought together 800 queer women who had a great time listening to inspiring talks and networking with women from all over the world. At the NYC summit, speakers from some of the leading tech companies will be talking about how they use tech to make a change. The LGBT Technology Institute will be presenting the importance of broadband technologies in the lives of queer women and emphasize the need for additional research. Here are some highlights from our presentation:
Our most recent research paper A Vision for Inclusion: An LGBT Broadband Futurefinds that LGBT people are “core users” of the Internet and other broadband technologies. For instance, Pew Research finds that 80% of LGBT people have a profile on a social networking site (as compared to 58% of the general public). While there is increasingly scholarly interest in the role of Internet and broadband technologies for LGBT people, not enough attention is given to the unique technology needs of queer women.
The Internet plays a vital role for the identity negotiation and community building of queer women. According to Pew Research, 47% of lesbians and 49% of bisexual women have found friends online. Research also shows that Internet and broadband technologies shape many other aspects in the lives of queer women. For instance, the Internet allows women to find health information and emotional support. Given queer women’s fear of discrimination by medical providers, mobile technologies are playing an increasingly critical role in finding and accessing welcoming services. In their job search, queer women turn to online services to find accepting workplaces and to organize for policy protection.
Interested in hearing more about the importance of broadband technologies in the lives of queer women? We would love to see you at the Queer Women who Tech Summit, June 19-21 at the Tishman Theater in New York City. There’s still time to register so don’t forget to buy your tickets! Our presentation at the Queer Women who Tech summit is part of our newest research project, A Vision for Inclusion: An LGBT Broadband Future, prepared by Jessie Daniels, PhD and Mary L. Gray, PhD, for the LGBT Technology Partnership & Institute. To find out more about how Internet technologies shape the daily lives of LGBT people, please join us at our release event on Thursday, June 26 on Capitol Hill, Rayburn House Office Building, B-339. Register here.