Protecting the Rights of LGBTQ Individuals

University at Albany University at Albany Research Headlines


UAlbany partners with START-UP NY company Nowigence, Inc. to launch global data tracker mapping important events concerning the LGBTQ+ population






















The UAlbany LGBTQ+ News Activity Tracker will track positive and negative events on a global scale. (Photo by Thomas Hawk, Flickr used by permission)



ALBANY, N.Y. (April 12, 2017) -- For LGBTQ+ individuals living in the United States, gaining equal rights under the law has been a long, sometimes violent path. It wasn’t until 2015 that the Supreme Court of the United States struck down laws banning same-sex marriage as violations of the 14th Amendment guaranteeing due process and equal protection.

UAlbany’s own alum Harvey Milk, one of the first openly gay elected officials in the U.S., also stands as one of the first martyrs in the fight for equal rights following his 1978 assassination. But for LGBTQ+ individuals all over the world, the threat of torture or death for living ‘openly’ are as real today as it was for Milk nearly 40 years ago.

Now the University at Albany and a START-UP NY company are hoping to do something about the plight of LGBTQ+ persons on a global scale.


Developed via a partnership between UAlbany and Nowigence, Inc., one the of the University’s START-UP NY companies, the newly launched UAlbany LGBTQ+ Activity Tracker gathers data globally and over time to map a pattern of positive and negative events concerning the LGBTQ+ population.

The UAlbany LGBTQ+ News Activity Tracker (powered by Nowigence) was developed to track events (such as protests, violence, and efforts at legislation and protection) related to the LGBTQ community in various newspaper articles and media outlets worldwide. The tracker gathers data globally and over time to map a pattern of positive and negative activity trends concerning the LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning and others aligned with their cause) population.















Project director and UAlbany Associate Professor ...

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