LGBT and Wikipedia

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Participants at a Wiki Loves Pride event to improve LGBT-related content on Wikipedia, in Serbia (2019) Viki voli prajd uredjivachki maraton 2019, 02.jpg
Participants at a Wiki Loves Pride event to improve LGBT-related content on Wikipedia, in Serbia (2019)

There are various intersections of the LGBT community [lower-alpha 1] and Wikipedia. LGBT people who edit the online encyclopedia often face cyberbullying and other types of harassment. Wikipedia content about LGBT individuals is often vandalized, but various Wikipedia user groups, WikiProjects, and the Wikimedia Foundation endorse campaigns to promote inclusion on Wikipedia. Availability of Wikipedia's LGBT content, in countries that otherwise suppress information about LGBT issues, has been praised.

Contents

LGBT coverage

In 2011, the Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) made it a strategic goal to recruit more women, people of color, and other underrepresented individuals as editors, including LGBT people. [1]

In 2019, Rachel Wexelbaum, an associate professor at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota, United States, wrote, "For LGBTIQ+ people and those searching for LGBTIQ+ information, Wikipedia has proven invaluable in countries where LGBTIQ+ publications, media, or visibility may be criminalized or cut short due to AIDS NGOs leaving those countries." [2] It can also be valuable for those in communities where this information is socially marginalized; [3] : 91  a notable example is the experience of transgender author and activist Abby Stein, who discovered the idea of being transgender on the Hebrew Wikipedia. [4] Wikipedia is often consulted by LGBT youth seeking information on sexual health, as Wikipedia's coverage of health-related topics is backed by numerous medical journals. [3] : 91  Some Wikipedia editors, however, have reported struggles with encouraging LGBT health organizations to participate in contributing LGBT-specific health information to Wikipedia. [1]

In some cases, particular language editions of Wikipedia have slanted toward anti-LGBT content. The Croatian Wikipedia has been criticized for advancing anti-LGBT propaganda and for other reasons. In addition, the only active administrator of Amharic Wikipedia, at one point, enforced the Ethiopian government's anti-LGBT laws on the wiki. [5] According to Business Insider , an anonymous editor using an IP address coming from the United States House of Representatives, who claimed to be a Capitol Hill staffer, made a series of edits about the transgender community, including some that were critical of transgender individuals. [6]

Names and pronouns

The English Wikipedia's style guidelines on identity state editors should describe transgender and non-binary subjects using their preferred name and pronouns corresponding to their most recently stated gender identity. However, such articles are frequently targeted with vandalism, misgendering or deadnaming their subjects. [7] In August 2008, the article about Ina Fried, a transgender journalist for CNET , was caught in an edit war over which pronouns to use for her. She stated that Wikipedia did not have a stylebook on gender, unlike the Associated Press Stylebook, and said that while she found it "somewhat confusing" to see the gender changes on her page, she "found the debate interesting." She later added that it was a "reasonable compromise" to remove all pronouns in her biography entry. [8]

Chelsea Manning 2022.jpg
Caitlyn Jenner Web Summit 2017 (cropped).jpg
Editors debated the titles and pronouns used in Wikipedia's entries for Chelsea Manning (left) and Caitlyn Jenner (right) after both transitioned.

After Chelsea Manning came out in August 2013, editors debated the title of the article about her. At the time, Slate praised actions by Wikipedia editors, saying that Manning's article was rewritten quickly and with "remarkably little controversy". [9] However, in October 2013, The Guardian noted that the English Wikipedia's Arbitration Committee had "banned a number of editors from working on articles related to transgender topics or individuals," noting that while some were banned for "making transphobic comments about Manning", others received the same punishment "for pointing out the bigotry". Two of the restricted editors had insisted on referring to Manning as a man, while another editor who alleged the existence of "a 'consensus' of virulently transphobic" Wikipedia editors was sanctioned for a "battleground approach" by the committee. [10]

Following Caitlyn Jenner's gender transition in 2015, Kat George of Bustle wrote, "We can start learning about the proper use of gender pronouns, with Caitlyn Jenner's Wikipedia article as a perfect example of the correct before and after language we should be employing." [11] The name and pronouns to use for Gloria Hemingway were a matter of discussion for over 15 years. In February 2022, after a week of debate, votes were evenly split between using Gloria and "she/her" pronouns, or continuing to use her birth name. An editor closed the discussion in favor of renaming; the decision was appealed but upheld by an administrator. [12]

Harassment

Wikipedia editors experience harassment, and in one case, a transgender editor was publicly deadnamed. The WMF has expressed concern over situations where transgender editors could be repelled from Wikipedia due to online abuse. [7] BBC News said in 2020, "Many, particularly women and members of the LGBTQ community, have complained of abuse and harassment from other editors." [13] Editors can report harassment to administrators via email or notice boards, which can cause harassers to be barred from editing. [7]

Editors in anti-LGBT areas experience more virulent harassment. LGBT editors from countries where being LGBT is criminalized often use aliases and edit from various IP addresses so their work is not traced back to them. [1] In one instance, an editor was blocked by a Wikipedia administrator since their username suggested they may be gay. The administrator was eventually blocked for those actions when WMF's Trust and Safety Team got involved. Amir Sarabadani, an editor, stated that in 12 years of editing Persian Wikipedia, users were often hostile to articles related to homosexuality. He said that his work as an administrator there helped make abuse less tolerable and that homophobic content that was previously acceptable now resulted in blocks. [7]

In October 2022, a group of 40 French public figures, including director Céline Sciamma, writer Virginie Despentes, writer and graphic novel illustrator Jul Maroh, writer and philosopher Paul B. Preciado, and journalist and filmmaker Rokhaya Diallo, in conjunction with the National Transgender Association of France, signed an open letter, published in L'Obs magazine, to Wikipedia, denouncing "stigmatizing behaviors" against transgender, non-binary, and intersex people on Wikipedia including misgendering, deadnaming, the use of pre-transition pictures, and harassment of openly trans editors. [14] [15]

Wikimedia movement

Wikimedia LGBT+ representation at EuroPride in Stockholm, 2018 LGBT user group at Europride parade.png
Wikimedia LGBT+ representation at EuroPride in Stockholm, 2018

The Wikimedia movement has seen campaigns and hosted edit-a-thons [16] to improve coverage of LGBT topics. [17] [18] [3] : 91–92  Wikipedia Loves Libraries, one of these initiatives, saw the Tom of Finland Foundation become the first LGBT cultural heritage institution to participate, hosting "Queering Wikipedia" edit-a-thons. [1] Wiki Loves Pride is a campaign from June to October to create and improve LGBT-related content across Wikimedia projects. [19] Wiki Loves Pride has promoted coverage of notable LGBT people. [20] Art+Feminism has been described as "a campaign to improve the site's representation of women and nonbinary individuals". [7] WikiProject LGBT studies, [lower-alpha 2] which works to create and enhance articles on LGBT topics, is present on 28 Wikipedias, as of 2023. [3] : 92  An LGBT portal for organization has been overseen since 2006. [1]

Wikimedia LGBT is a user group affiliate of WMF, [3] : 92  established in August 2012. [1] In 2022, WMF joined human rights and LGBT organizations in opposing the Kids Online Safety Act introduced in the United States Senate. The groups argued that "over-moderation" would "cut off members of marginalized younger groups who rely on online services to learn about sex education or access LGBTQ+ resources". [21] [22] In 2023, organizers of Wikimania requested a unisex public toilet for the duration of the conference at the Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre. One was temporarily converted from an existing restroom usually designated for women, prompting "some hostile reactions" online, according to Today . [23] [24]

British physicist and Wikipedia editor Jess Wade has worked to improve coverage of LGBT topics on the site. Every day in 2018, Wade wrote at least one Wikipedia article about a woman, person of color, or LGBT figure in science to expand the diversity of Wikipedia's coverage. [25]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leslie Feinberg</span> American transgender activist and author (1949–2014)

Leslie Feinberg was an American butch lesbian, transgender activist, communist, and author. Feinberg authored Stone Butch Blues in 1993. Her writing, notably Stone Butch Blues and her pioneering non-fiction book Transgender Warriors (1996), laid the groundwork for much of the terminology and awareness around gender studies and was instrumental in bringing these issues to a more mainstream audience.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wookieepedia</span> Online Star Wars encyclopedia

Wookieepedia: The Star Wars Wiki is an online encyclopedia for information about the Star Wars universe—including information on all the films, the books, as well as Clone Wars, The Clone Wars and its introductory film, Rebels, the Star Wars Expanded Universe, and any upcoming Star Wars material. It is a wiki focused on the Star Wars universe with some articles reaching up to 60,000 words, and is written almost entirely from an in-universe perspective. The name is a portmanteau of Wookiee and encyclopedia, a pun on the name of Wikipedia. The logo, too, is a visual pun showing the incomplete second Death Star as opposed to Wikipedia's incomplete "jigsaw logo".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wikimedia movement</span> Group of global contributors to Wikimedia projects

The Wikimedia movement is the global community of contributors to the Wikimedia projects, including Wikipedia. This community directly builds and administers these projects with the commitment of achieving this using open standards and software.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">OutRight Action International</span> LGBTIQ human rights organization

OutRight International (OutRight) is an LGBTIQ human rights non-governmental organization that addresses human rights violations and abuses against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people. OutRight International documents human rights discrimination and abuses based on their sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics in partnership with activists, advocates, media, NGOs and allies on a local, regional, national and international level. OutRight International holds consultative status with ECOSOC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wikivoyage</span> Free travel guide that anyone can edit

Wikivoyage is a free web-based travel guide for travel destinations and travel topics written by volunteer authors. It is a sister project of Wikipedia and supported and hosted by the same non-profit Wikimedia Foundation (WMF). Wikivoyage has been called the "Wikipedia of travel guides".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wikimedia UK</span> UK charity and chapter of the Wikimedia movement

Wikimedia UK (WMUK), also known as Wikimedia United Kingdom, is a registered charity established to support volunteers in the United Kingdom who work on Wikimedia projects such as Wikipedia. As such, it is a Wikimedia chapter approved by the Wikimedia Foundation (WMF), which owns and hosts those projects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uzbek Wikipedia</span> Uzbek language edition of Wikipedia

The Uzbek Wikipedia is the Uzbek-language edition of the free online encyclopedia Wikipedia. It was founded in December 2003. Articles in the Uzbek-language edition are written in the Latin script. In August 2012, a Latin-to-Cyrillic converter was added to allow users to view Uzbek Wikipedia's pages in both the Latin and Cyrillic scripts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wikipedia community</span> Volunteers who create and maintain Wikipedia

The Wikipedia community, collectively and individually known as Wikipedians, is an online community of volunteers who create and maintain Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia. Since August 2012, the word "Wikipedian" has been an Oxford Dictionary entry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edit-a-thon</span> Editing collaboration on a specific topic

An edit-a-thon is an event where some editors of online communities such as Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, and LocalWiki edit and improve a specific topic or type of content. The events typically include basic editing training for new editors and may be combined with a more general social meetup. The word is a portmanteau of "edit" and "marathon". An edit-a-thon can either be "in-person" or online or a blended version of both. If it is not in-person, it is usually called a "virtual edit-a-thon" or "online edit-a-thon".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gender bias on Wikipedia</span> Gender gap problem in Wikipedia and Wikimedia projects

Gender bias on Wikipedia is a term used to describe various sex-related facts about Wikipedia: its volunteer contributors are mostly male, although almost 400,000 encyclopedic biographies about women exist on Wikipedia, men have many more, and topics primarily of interest to women are less well-covered.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Racial bias on Wikipedia</span> Bias on Wikipedia

The English Wikipedia has been criticized for having a systemic racial bias in its coverage. This bias partially stems from an under-representation of people of color within its volunteer editor base. In "Can History Be Open Source? Wikipedia and the Future of the Past," it is noted that article completeness and coverage is dependent on the interests of Wikipedians, not necessarily on the subject matter itself. The past president of Wikimedia D.C., James Hare, asserted that "a lot of [Black American history] is left out" of Wikipedia, due to articles predominately being written by white editors. Articles about African topics that do exist are, according to some, largely edited by editors from Europe and North America and thus, they only reflect their knowledge and their consumption of media, which "tend to perpetuate a negative image" of Africa. Maira Liriano of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture has argued that the lack of information regarding Black history on Wikipedia "makes it seem like it's not important."

Deadnaming is the act of referring to a transgender or non-binary person by a name they used prior to transitioning, such as their birth name. Deadnaming may be unintentional, or a deliberate attempt to deny, mock, or invalidate a person's gender identity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Art+Feminism</span> Annual worldwide Wikipedia edit-a-thon

Art and Feminism is an annual worldwide edit-a-thon to add content to Wikipedia about women artists, which started in 2014. The project has been described as "a massive multinational effort to correct a persistent bias in Wikipedia, which is disproportionately written by and about men".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Women in Red</span> WikiProject to address the systemic gender bias in Wikipedia

Women in Red is a WikiProject addressing the current gender bias in Wikipedia content. The project focuses on creating content regarding women's biographies, women's works, and women's issues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Preferred gender pronoun</span> Third person individual gender pronouns

Gender pronouns or personal gender pronouns are the set of pronouns that an individual uses to reflect that person's own gender identity. In English, when declaring one's chosen pronouns, a person will often state the subject and object pronouns, although sometimes, the possessive pronouns are also stated. The pronouns chosen may include neopronouns such as "ze" and "zir".

Wiki Loves Pride is a campaign to improve LGBT-related content on Wikipedia and other projects in the Wikimedia movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miles McKenna</span> American actor and vlogger (born 1995)

Miles McKenna is an American vlogger, actor, and LGBTQIA+ advocate. McKenna is a trans man and is among YouTube's most prominent trans creators with over one million subscribers. His videos incorporate comedic skits and often include commentary on gender identity and other LGBTQ issues. Through his videos, McKenna documented his coming out and his transition, including the effects of hormone replacement therapy and top surgery.

Neopronouns are neologistic English third-person personal pronouns beyond "he", "she", and "they". Neopronouns are preferred by some non-binary individuals who feel that they provide options to reflect their gender identity more accurately than conventional pronouns.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WikiStipendiya</span> WikiProject on the Uzbek Wikipedia

WikiStipendiya is a WikiProject aimed at improving content on the Uzbek Wikipedia. The project is organized by the Youth Affairs the Republic of Administration of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Council of Young Artists, and the Wikimedians of the Uzbek Language User Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jason Moore (Wikipedia editor)</span> American Wikipedia editor (born 1984/1985)

Jason Moore is an American Wikipedia editor among the English Wikipedia's most active contributors by edit count. Editing since 2007 as "Another Believer", he has specialized in current events, with coverage including the COVID-19 pandemic, George Floyd protests, and the culture of Portland, Oregon, where he is based. On Wikipedia, Moore has created and developed editor affinity groups for joint work on these topics. As an organizer in the Wikimedia movement, Moore has hosted meet-ups and edit-a-thons to train new editors.

References

Notes

  1. ↑ There are multiple acronyms for the LGBT community (see LGBT § Variants for more details). Wikipedia's policy states that articles should use "LGBT", though quotes may use other acronyms.
  2. ↑ WikiProjects are spaces where editors can list articles for creation, work to enhance the quality of existing articles, and review the status of articles under their jurisdiction. [3] : 92 

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Wexelbaum, Rachel; Herzog, Katie; Rasberry, Lane (2015). "Queering Wikipedia". In Wexelbaum, Rachel (ed.). Queers online: LGBT digital practices in libraries, archives, and museums. Gender and sexuality in information studies. Sacramento, CA: Litwin Books. pp. 61–70. ISBN   978-1-936117-79-6.
  2. ↑ Wexelbaum, Rachel (June 20, 2019). "Edit Loud, Edit Proud: LGBTIQ+ Wikimedians and Global Information Activism". Wikipedia @ 20 . Archived from the original on November 15, 2022. Retrieved January 20, 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Miquel-Ribé, Marc; Kaltenbrunner, Andreas; Keefer, Jeffrey M. (December 21, 2021). "Bridging LGBT+ Content Gaps Across Wikipedia Language Editions". The International Journal of Information, Diversity, & Inclusion. 5 (4): 90–131. doi:10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37270. hdl: 10230/52360 . ISSN   2574-3430. JSTOR   48641981 . S2CID   245573982. Archived from the original on January 13, 2022. Retrieved January 18, 2022.
  4. ↑ Aviles, Gwen (November 19, 2019). "From ultra-Orthodox rabbi to openly transgender: Abby Stein shares her story". NBC News. Archived from the original on December 19, 2019. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
  5. ↑ Song, Victoria (August 26, 2020). "A Teen Threw Scots Wiki Into Chaos and It Highlights a Massive Problem With Wikipedia". Gizmodo . G/O Media. Archived from the original on January 24, 2023. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
  6. ↑ Campbell, Colin. "Someone On Capitol Hill Seems Obsessed With Editing Wikipedia Articles On Transgender Topics". Business Insider. Retrieved October 15, 2023.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Jacobs, Julia (April 8, 2019). "Wikipedia Isn't Officially a Social Network. But the Harassment Can Get Ugly". The New York Times . ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on January 12, 2023. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
  8. ↑ Fried, Ina (August 22, 2008). "Wikipedia changes my gender more than I do". CNET . Red Ventures. Archived from the original on November 5, 2012. Retrieved January 25, 2023.
  9. ↑ Stern, Mark Joseph (August 22, 2013). "Wikipedia Beats Major News Organizations, Perfectly Reflects Chelsea Manning's New Gender". Slate . The Slate Group. OCLC   728292344. Archived from the original on January 5, 2022. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
  10. ↑ Hern, Alex (October 24, 2013). "Chelsea Manning name row: Wikipedia editors banned from trans pages". The Guardian . OCLC   60623878. Archived from the original on January 17, 2023. Retrieved January 23, 2023.
  11. ↑ George, Kat (June 1, 2015). "Bruce Jenner Wikipedia Page Now Uses The Name Caitlyn and Female Pronouns, and the Before and After Illustrates Language You Should Use". Bustle . Archived from the original on June 25, 2022. Retrieved January 23, 2023.
  12. ↑ Cohen, Noam (January 22, 2023). "The Culture Wars Look Different on Wikipedia". The Atlantic . Emerson Collective. OCLC   936540106. Archived from the original on January 26, 2023. Retrieved January 26, 2023.
  13. ↑ "Wikipedia sets new rule to combat "toxic behaviour"". BBC News. May 23, 2020. Archived from the original on June 5, 2020. Retrieved January 31, 2023.
  14. ↑ Sierra, Laura Valentina Cortés; Constantino, Sophia; Hauger, Bertrand. "LGBTQ+ International: Chile's Non-Binary ID, Slovakia In Mourning, Mr Gay World — And The Week's Other Top News". Worldcrunch . Archived from the original on January 24, 2023. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
  15. ↑ "Nous dénonçons le traitement que réserve Wikipédia aux personnes trans, non binaires et intersexes" [We denounce Wikipedia's treatment of trans, non-binary and intersex people]. L'Obs . October 13, 2022. ISSN   0029-4713. Archived from the original on January 21, 2023. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
  16. ↑ McMillen, Andrew (February 6, 2017). "One Woman's Brilliant 'Fuck You' to Wikipedia Trolls". Wired . ISSN   1059-1028. Archived from the original on July 11, 2019. Retrieved January 31, 2023.
  17. ↑ Milliken, Alice (July 7, 2014). "Wikipedia holds Pride 'edit-a-thons' to improve LGBT-related content". PinkNews . Archived from the original on January 20, 2023. Retrieved January 20, 2023.
  18. ↑ Wexelbaum, Rachel (May 1, 2019). "Coming Out of the Closet: Librarian Advocacy to Advance LGBTQ+ Wikipedia Engagement". In Mehra, Bharat (ed.). LGBTQ+ Librarianship in the 21st Century: Emerging Directions of Advocacy and Community Engagement in Diverse Information Environments. Emerald Group Publishing. pp. 115–142. doi:10.1108/S0065-283020190000045011. ISBN   978-1-78756-475-6. S2CID   150552977. Archived from the original on August 28, 2023. Retrieved January 20, 2023.
  19. ↑ Phadnis, Renuka (July 6, 2014). "Wikipedia edit-a-thons to add content on LGBTs". The Hindu . The Hindu Group. ISSN   0971-751X. OCLC   13119119. Archived from the original on May 7, 2021. Retrieved January 20, 2023.
  20. ↑ Lapowsky, Issie (March 2015). "Meet the Editors Fighting Racism and Sexism on Wikipedia". Wired. ISSN   1059-1028. Archived from the original on November 14, 2015. Retrieved January 23, 2023.
  21. ↑ Gold, Ashley (November 28, 2022). "Human rights, LGBTQ+ organizations oppose Kids Online Safety Act". Axios . Cox Enterprises. Archived from the original on January 1, 2023. Retrieved January 31, 2023.
  22. ↑ Feiner, Lauren (November 28, 2022). "Kids Online Safety Act may harm minors, civil society groups warn lawmakers". CNBC. Archived from the original on January 2, 2023. Retrieved January 31, 2023.
  23. ↑ Lam, Nicole (August 18, 2023). "Temporary designation of Suntec toilets as 'gender-neutral' sparks hostile online reaction; others see move as positive". Today. Archived from the original on August 19, 2023. Retrieved September 7, 2023.
  24. ↑ Lim, Kewei (August 18, 2023). "'So do I sit or stand?' Netizens divided by gender-neutral toilet at Suntec City". AsiaOne. Archived from the original on August 19, 2023. Retrieved September 7, 2023.
  25. ↑ Zane, Zachary (January 2, 2019). "This Scientist Is Updating Wikipedia with Women, POC, & LGBTQ+ History". Pride.com. Here Media. Archived from the original on August 20, 2020. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
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