Building and sustaining the Homosaurus, an inclusive LGBTQ+ linked data vocabulary
Keywords:
linked data, subject analysis, LGBTQ+, HomosaurusAbstract
This article describes the Homosaurus, a LGBTQ+ community-driven linked data vocabulary. Authored by members of the Homosaurus Collective, it details the project’s origins, governance history, and transformation from an institutional thesaurus into an international linked data vocabulary.
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Copyright (c) 2026 D St Amour, Keahi Adolpho, Marika Cifor, Michael Radmacher, B.M. Watson, Crystal Yragui, Travis Wagner

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.