ctrl+alt+lgbt: New National Data on LGBTQ+ Digital Life Underscores Urgency for Action
- Shae Gardner
- 4 days ago
- 2 min read
In today’s digital world, the internet is more than just a tool - it is an essential part of daily life, and for LGBTQ+ people, often a lifeline. In moments like now, of increasing political hostility and shrinking public space for LGBTQ+ communities, digital access has become not only central to opportunity, but also survival.
That’s why LGBT Tech is proud to release the second year of our national research initiative, ctrl+alt+lgbt, a landmark survey examining how LGBTQ+ adults in the United States access, navigate, and experience digital life. Conducted in partnership with Data for Progress, this year’s survey captures responses from 1,286 LGBTQ+ adults and offers one of the most comprehensive shots of how identity, technology, and equity converge in the digital landscape.
Why This Data Matters Now
This research arrives at a critical time. In 2025 alone, hundreds of bills have been introduced that target LGBTQ+ youth, restrict online expression, and increase government surveillance - often under the guise of protecting children or restoring order to digital spaces. At the same time, public institutions like libraries and community centers, which operate as vital digital lifelines for LGBTQ+ communities, are facing funding cuts and censorship campaigns.
In this volatile environment, ctrl+alt+lgbt offers some clarity. Our findings make clear that LGBTQ+ people are not just passive users of digital tools - they are shaping, surviving, and thriving through them. At the same time, structural barriers such as affordability, safety, and platform-level discrimination continue to limit access and compromise safety.
Key Findings
Below are just a few of the insights revealed in this year’s ctrl+alt+lgbt report.
You can explore these and other findings in our full 2025 report:
Looking Ahead
LGBTQ+ people have long been leaders in building community online and pushing for more equitable tech policies. This research makes one thing clear: we cannot do it alone. Policymakers, platforms, funders, and advocates must take these findings seriously and invest in inclusive design, infrastructure, and protections that reflect our lived experiences.
Technology should and must be a tool of community liberation - not another space where our rights are negotiated away.
