Essay on editing Wikipedia
| This page in a nutshell:
It is well within the scope of the
disruptive editing
guidelines to discipline editors for behavior indicative of queerphobia. This essay lays out common queerphobic beliefs and how to handle users who consistently express and advance them.
|
Many people are drawn to edit Wikipedia in order to promote anti-LGBT views, mistakenly believing that their beliefs are protected by the
WP:NPOV
policy. Expressions of
homophobia
,
lesbophobia
,
biphobia
,
transphobia
,
arophobia
,
acephobia
, or general
queerphobia
are not welcome here. They
disrupt
the encyclopedia by promoting
WP:FRINGE
viewpoints and drive away productive LGBT editors.
The essay
WP:HATEISDISRUPTIVE
lays out why denigrating minorities is not allowed on Wikipedia and results in blocking and banning; others such as
Wikipedia:No racists
,
Wikipedia:No Nazis
, and
Wikipedia:No Confederates
lay out more specific guidelines for those forms of bigotry; this essay specifically serves to outline common anti-LGBT beliefs, disruptive manifestations of them, and the systems of recourse on English Wikipedia.
Discussions have raged on for decades about how Wikipedia should write about LGBT people and topics. Gender and sexuality (
WP:GENSEX
) are currently considered a
contentious topic
(formerly "discretionary sanctions"), meaning that editors contributing to articles and discussions about these topics must strictly follow Wikipedia's behavioral and editorial guidelines.
MOS:GENDERID
and the supplementary essay
MOS:GIDINFO
contain the most up-to-date guidelines for writing about transgender people on Wikipedia.
Anti-LGBT editors frequently disrupt Wikipedia by promoting misinformation or pushing fringe viewpoints (particularly dangerous in medical articles), and create an unwelcoming environment for other editors. Editors who are unable to set aside their beliefs about the LGBT community when editing or who seek to promote
WP:FRINGE
viewpoints may be
restricted
from editing.
This essay outlines common queerphobic beliefs, popular misinformation about the LGBT community, and groups known to spread and support it, so that administrators and editors may recognize them, address them, and show queerphobes the door.
Arbitration remedy history
[
edit
]
Timeline of Arbitration Committee decisions regarding gender and sexuality disputes.
|
- In 2013 in the
Sexology case (WP:ARBSEX)
the arbitration committee authorized
discretionary sanctions
for all articles dealing with transgender issues and paraphilia classification (e.g., hebephilia).
In 2014 this was updated to
all pages
dealing with said topics
- In 2013 ArbCom had the
Manning naming dispute case (WP:ARBMND)
which found
The standard discretionary sanctions adopted in Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Sexology or (among other things) "all articles dealing with transgender issues" remain in force. For the avoidance of doubt, these discretionary sanctions apply to any dispute regarding the proper article title, pronoun usage, or other manner of referring to any individual known to be or self-identifying as transgender
- In 2015, the
Gamergate case (WP:ARBGG)
authorized discretionary sanctions stating
Any editor subject to a topic-ban in this decision is indefinitely prohibited from making any edit about, and from editing any page relating to, (a) Gamergate, (b) any gender-related dispute or controversy, (c) people associated with (a) or (b), all broadly construed. These restrictions may be appealed to the Committee only after 12 months have elapsed from the closing of this case.
This superseded ARBSEX and
WP:ARBMND
was updated accordingly.
- In 2021, arbcom created the
Gender and sexuality case (WP:GENSEX)
as a shell for authorizing discretionary sanctions for
all edits about, and all pages related to, any gender-related dispute or controversy and associated people.
, including
WP:GAMERGATE
and
WP:ARBMND
. In 2022,
WP:GENSEX
was amended to
Gender-related disputes or controversies and associated people are designated as a contentious topic.
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This essay and sister essays such as
WP:NORACISTS
,
WP:NOCONFED
, and
WP:NONAZIS
face a common criticism: "we should sanction editors for their behaviors, not their beliefs".
This is not an unfair argument so it bears exploration. The essay
Wikipedia:Hate is disruptive
addresses the issue like this (emphasis added):
“
|
So bigots can edit here?
Sure, if they edit without engaging in any hate speech or hateful conduct (which includes self-identification with hate movements). While this will be impossible for many bigots, presumably some number do manage this, people who write articles about botany without letting on that they think the Holocaust was a hoax, or fix lots of typos and never mention that they think it was a mistake to let women vote.
Wikipedia policy does not concern itself with people's private views. The disruption caused by hateful conduct lies in the expression, not the belief.
The flip side of this is true too: If someone uses a bunch of racial slurs because they think it's funny, or posts an edgy statement about gay people on their userpage as a "social experiment", they are engaged in disruptive editing, even if they don't personally harbor hateful views.
|
”
|
This essay is based on that underlying principle, put succinctly as "your right to swing your fist stops where my nose begins". If you believe LGBT people are amoral deviants who need conversion therapy, but practice
civility
, never bring it up, and solely contribute to articles about entomology and highways, you have nothing to worry about and your contributions to Wikipedia are welcomed. This essay isn't about you. If you try to change the first sentence of
LGBT
to
All LGBT people are amoral deviants who need conversion therapy...
?or insist on talk pages that this is the case and Wikipedia needs to take your POV seriously?that
is
a behavioral issue and the focus of this essay.
| This is an essay, not a content or behavioural guideline.
This section provides a working definition of
queerphobia
by way of editing behaviors and POVs widely considered disruptive, hateful, insulting, or
FRINGE
. Their inclusion here alone is not necessarily an accusation of bigotry, a restriction on editing, or a consensus-backed judgement on
due weight
.
|
Queerphobia
is the fear, hatred, or dislike of
lesbian
,
gay
,
bisexual
,
transgender
, and otherwise
queer
people. Queerphobes commonly believe that LGBT people and identities are deviant, and should be denied rights and protections.
Frequent anti-LGBT narratives include:
- That being LGBT is a conscious choice or
unnatural
.
- That LGBT people are inherently
fetishistic
, predatory, pedophilic, or otherwise dangerous.
- That LGBT people, particularly youth, are straight people being turned LGBT through media exposure, peer pressure, or
social contagion
.
- That the LGBT community or a subset of it are
indoctrinating or grooming
youth into being LGBT.
- That LGBT people overall have greater societal power than
cisgender
/
heterosexual
people.
- That
marriage
,
adoption
, or
parenting
should be restricted to heterosexual couples.
- That recognizing same-sex marriage is a slippery slope towards legalizing
bestiality
or other strange or disfavored sexual practices.
- That the open or subtextual presence of LGBT people or acknowledgment of them is inappropriately sexual or political and should be kept from the public square, media, or education.
- That public spaces such as offices or schools should not protect LGBT people from bullying, deadnaming, and misgendering.
- That LGBT (and intersex people's) rights are not
human rights
, but "just politics".
[1]
Overlapping with the narratives and beliefs above are more medically-related pseudoscientific/unevidenced proposals and typologies. The guideline
WP:FRINGE
addresses how to handle these in articles (we don't include them in articles on the broader topic, but if notable we can discuss them in their own articles while making clear they're fringe).
- That LGBT identities and/or gender dysphoria are the result of mental illness.
[2]
- That LGBT identities should be cured, treated, or suppressed
[3]
- commonly referred to as
conversion therapy
, advocates often use terms such as
reparative therapy
or
gender exploratory therapy
and may justify it in scientific or religious terms.
- That LGBT people should be forced to undergo medical or psychological treatments, procedures, or testing on the basis of their identity.
[3]
- That transgender people should be unable to change their legal gender, should be invariably excluded from gendered spaces, or should be legally denied
medical transition
or have it otherwise made inaccessible.
[2]
[3]
- The belief that when somebody talks about transgender youth, this means that they are medically transitioning below the age of 16 and are thus too young to decide to medically transition.
Queerphobic editors on Wikipedia frequently think:
These beliefs may manifest in various ways that damage the encyclopedia. Below is a non-exhaustive list of possible ones.
Casting aspersions
of queerphobia (as well as
-ist
or
-phobe
aspersions) should not be used as a trump card in disputes over content or a
coup de grace
on a noticeboard. They have the potential to permanently damage reputation, especially when the accused's account is publicly tied to a real-world identity. As such, unsubstantiated aspersions are a form of
personal attack
which may lead to the accuser
being blocked
.
Aspersions make the normal
dispute resolution
process difficult to go through and may create a
chilling effect
. Editors are encouraged to work through the normal dispute-resolution process when it comes to legitimate content disputes, such as disagreements on the interpretation or quality of sources.
You should always
assume good faith
and exercise
civility
. However,
our social policies are not a suicide pact
; we don't have to treat every harmful edit as the result of non-malicious ignorance.
For a new editor, understand that they are likely ignorant of Wikipedia systems and standards. Point them toward relevant guidelines and policies. If they are editing material related to gender identification, make them aware of the
GENSEX
topic restrictions via the
{{
Contentious topics/alert/first
|gg}}
or
{{
Contentious topics/alert
|gg}}
templates. If they are arguing against the guidelines, make it clear that you can't change the guidelines in an article discussion and direct them toward where such discussions can take place.
If an editor consistently and chronically disrupts the encyclopedia by promoting queerphobic opinions/viewpoints, you should collect relevant diffs and report them. If an editor was already made aware of the GENSEX topic restrictions, then you can request enforcement at
WP:AE
. Otherwise, request administrator attention at
WP:ANI
.
Editors brazenly vandalizing articles or using slurs may be immediately blocked. Wikipedia has
zero tolerance
for such behavior. If an edit is grossly insulting, degrading, or offensive, it may be subject to
revision deletion
. If an edit breaches someone's privacy, you should request
Oversight
.
It can be very tempting, especially in article talk pages, to debate or rebut anti-LGBT talking points on their own merits. However, remember that
Wikipedia is not a forum
. Stick to source-based and policy-based discussions which serve to improve articles. If a conversation is blatantly
unconstructive or off-topic
, then consider collapsing, refactoring, or moving it so that you and other editors don't waste others' time.
Sister essays
[
edit
]
Sociological context
[
edit
]
- ^
"About LGBTI people and human rights"
.
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
. Retrieved
18 May
2024
.
- ^
a
b
"APA Policy Statement on Affirming Evidence-Based Inclusive Care for Transgender, Gender Diverse, and Nonbinary Individuals, Addressing Misinformation, and the Role of Psychological Practice and Science"
(PDF)
.
- ^
a
b
c
o'Connor, Aoife M.; Seunik, Maximillian; Radi, Blas; Matthyse, Liberty; Gable, Lance; Huffstetler, Hanna E.; Meier, Benjamin Mason (2022). "Transcending the Gender Binary under International Law: Advancing Health-Related Human Rights for Trans* Populations".
Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics
.
50
(3): 409?424.
doi
:
10.1017/jme.2022.84
.
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- Adminitis
- Akin's Laws of Article Writing
- Alternatives to edit warring
- ANI flu
- Anti-Wikipedian
- Anti-Wikipedianism
- Articlecountitis
- Asshole John rule
- Assume bad faith
- Assume faith
- Assume good wraith
- Assume stupidity
- Assume that everyone's assuming good faith, assuming that you are assuming good faith
- Avoid using preview button
- Avoid using wikilinks
- Bad Jokes and Other Deleted Nonsense
- Barnstaritis
- Before they were notable
- BOLD, revert, revert, revert
- Boston Tea Party
- Butterfly effect
- CaPiTaLiZaTiOn MuCh?
- Complete bollocks
- Counting forks
- Counting juntas
- Crap
- Don't stuff beans up your nose
- Don't-give-a-fuckism
- Don't abbreviate "Wikipedia" as "Wiki"!
- Don't delete the main page
- Editcountitis
- Edits Per Day
- Editsummarisis
- Editing Under the Influence
- Embrace Stop Signs
- Emerson
- Fart
- Five Fs of Wikipedia
- Seven Ages of Editor, by Will E. Spear-Shake
- Go ahead, vandalize
- How many Wikipedians does it take to change a lightbulb?
- How to get away with UPE
- How to put up a straight pole by pushing it at an angle
- How to vandalize correctly
- How to win a citation war
- Ignore all essays
- Ignore every single rule
- Is that even an essay?
- Mess with the templates
- My local pond
- Newcomers are delicious, so go ahead and bite them
- Legal vandalism
- List of jokes about Wikipedia
- LTTAUTMAOK
- No climbing the Reichstag dressed as Spider-Man
- No one cares about your garage band
- No one really cares
- No, really
- No sorcery threats
- Notability is not eternal
- Oops Defense
- Play the game
- Please be a giant dick, so we can ban you
- Please bite the newbies
- Please do not murder the newcomers
- Pledge of Tranquility
- R-e-s-p-e-c-t
- Requests for medication
- Requirements for adminship
- Rouge admin
- Rouge editor
- Sarcasm is really helpful
- Sausages for tasting
- The Night Before Wikimas
- The first rule of Wikipedia
- The Five Pillars of Untruth
- Things that should not be surprising
- The WikiBible
- Watchlistitis
- Wikipedia is an MMORPG
- WTF? OMG! TMD TLA. ARG!
- What Wikipedia is not/Outtakes
- Why not create an account?
- Yes legal threats
- You don't have to be mad to work here, but
- You should not write meaningless lists
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