Data Source and Structure
We have begun construction of the data base by consulting local experts in various localities, collaborating with colleagues elsewhere who have worked with similar data (a shoutout to our friends at mappingthegayguides.org!), and extracting data from LGBTQ+ travel guides published from the 1960s through the mid-2010s. We recognize that the accuracy of this sort of information, from these sorts of sources, will always be both uncertain and contested. For this reason we try to "ground truth" as much of the data as possible (using a variety of methods) and have included an indication for each piece of data as to how accurate we believe it to be. Your contributions to this process will help immensely with that process!
In keeping with the principles of open and accessible scholarship, we are making our compiled data available to everyone. To ensure compliance with our terms and policy, please take a moment to read and accept them before downloading the data.
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For reference, the data associated with the table is explained below:
| Attribute Name | Description | Example Data |
|---|---|---|
| vsid | Unique identifier for a venue at a specific year | 1234 |
| vid | Unique identifier for a venue that stays consistent over time | 123 |
| observedvenuename | Name for the specific venue | R Place |
| category | The type of venue(bar, gym, bookstores, etc) | Bars |
| codedescriptorlist1 | Notation used in Damron Guides for the venue, if applicable | NH |
| address | Street address, intersection, or major institution name (e.g., Shopping Mall, School, Park, etc.) | 619 E Pine St. |
| placenotes | Any additional information about the venue, provided by the data source | 1p-2am |
| locality | Secondary geographical level, can be city, county or area | Seattle |
| city | The city where the venue is located | Seattle |
| state | The state where the venue is located | Washington |
| zip | The zip code where the venue is located, if applicable | 98122 |
| confidence | The confidence level we have in the geocoded address | Completely confident |
| formaladdress | Full postal address, as returned by the geocoder | 619 E Pine St, Seattle, WA 98122, USA |
| ggl_measurementtype2 | The type of measurement Google used to find the geocoded address | ROOFTOP |
| latitude | The latitude of the venue's physical address, computed using geocoder | 47.6150594 |
| longitude | The longitude of the venue's physical address, computed using geocoder | -122.3236654 |
| year | The year which this data applies to | 1992 |
| comments | Additional comments from our research team, if applicable | 2 stories |
| source | The primary data source of the information | Damron M |
| dateadded | The date when this entry was added to the table | 2022-09-02 |
| lastmodified | The date when this entry was last modified | 2023-01-03 |
| ggl_placetype2 | The place type of the current day location, provided by google | premise |
| descriptorlist1 | Any descriptors used by the platform to identify and classify venues | Bar/Nightclub |
| newcodelist1 | New descriptors to be added, as suggested by users | null |
1 The reason there are two systems of classification is that historically the LGBTQ+ community has faced countless discrimination using obscure or coded language to communicate was a way of combating social stigma. Our data sources too made use of coded language for their listings. However, as the meanings of some of these symbols and codes changed over time, they can be very inconsistent from year to year, this is especially true since earlier publications sometimes contained degoratory/discriminatory phrasings by today's standards. We have developed a modern classification system using some of those code words as the basis, which better reflects our values. However the old codes are kept as part of the dataset for those who may have use for it.
2 For more information on how to interpret results returned from the geocoder, please refer to the official documentation for the Google Maps Platform API.
