Please note: Unless you ask otherwise, I will respond to your comments here. If you want a response on your talk page, please ask, in which case I'll respond there and include a copy here, so that conversations are coherent.
We hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian! Please sign your name on talk pages using four tildes (~~~~); this will automatically produce your name and the date. If you need help, check out Wikipedia:Questions or place {{helpme|your question here}} on this page, and someone will be around to help. Again, welcome! --AccReqBot (talk) 02:45, 17 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
No problem! I have the page watchlisted, so I always know when there's new requests. :) jj137♠ 02:58, 17 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
We are a growing community of Wikipedia editors dedicated to identifying, categorizing, and improving articles of interest to the LGBT community. Some points that may be helpful:
Our main aim is to help improve LGBT-related articles, so if someone asks for help with an article, please try your hardest to help them if you are able.
Jumpaclass has been cleared and is ready for use in 2008. You might want to prod me so I remember to grade your work in a timely manner, though, I have an increasingly bad memory. But congratulations on wanting to enter, and here's hoping you win! Dev920 (Have a nice day!) 15:25, 19 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Ms Julie is .. unavailable .. this month, so Isaac and Gopher have stepped in to put this newsletter thing together. We may not be as funny as you're used to, but if you'd like a free drink, come see me at the bar. That might help. Maybe. And no, there aren't any flashing lights or fancy pictures this month - I'm still recovering from a whopping hangover. Julie's recovering too, but that's a story I'll let her tell.
Two New Featured Articles (and...)
Emma Goldman was promoted to Featured status on 2007December 27. If you don't know Ms. Goldman, she was a Lithuanian anarchist. Aren't many of those around, really, so having one of our very own is special. She'll be dancing the Cha-Cha on the Promenade deck later tonight.
Ann Bannon was promoted to Featured status on 2007December 3. Faithful readers may remember Moni moaning that we didn't mention this promotion in the last newsletter. Happy now?
The marathon efforts of Dev920 against her astonishing abilities of procrastination continued this month, and she managed to update the Portal's main articles. Whether she will finally beat her procrastination pixies in submission and update the biographies remains to be seen, but Jeffpw has leapt to the rescue and taken it upon himself to do all our lovely news. Friends, lend us your goodwill and your eyeballs, and mosey on over to see all Jeff's hard work.
Also, back in October 2007, Allstarecho and Benjiboi worked diligently on the "WP:LGBT Random Quote" and "WP:LGBT Random Picture" sections of the portal. They added many new quotes and pictures but, and yes here's the cat's meow friends... you can now use these on your own user pages! To add the "WP:LGBT Random Quote" to your own userpage, use: {{Portal:LGBT/Quotes}} And to add the "WP:LGBT Random Picture" to your own userpage, use: {{Portal:LGBT/Pics}} If you'd like to see it in action, check out Allstarecho's userpage for both in action and Benjiboi's talk page for the Quotes in action!
The long, slow race toward FP status continues...
Bisexual Awareness Month
Folks in Utah are celebrating Bisexual Awareness Month. For our own wikicelebration, Alison suggests we try to bring Bisexuality at least up to good article status. Working on the Utah article would be encouraged, but do it stealthily - they don't like us to be *too* open.
A cunning plan
In a move sure to bring her fame and fortune at last, Dev920 (talk·contribs) has proposed that an FA buddying system be set up, to help nudge frightened tikes who also happen to write killer ass articles over that initial first FAC hurdle. Anyone interested in shepherding duties, or anyone interested in being made to lie beside still waters (handcuffs are optional), do drop Dev an RSVP so she can start battering those darned pixies...
Zigzig20s has mentioned a desire to work on .. desire. Specifically literature by and about LGBT desire. To facilitate "LGBT Literature" taskforce, there will be shuffleboard and lesbian fiction on the foredeck later in the afternoon. Signup if you're interested.
To stop receiving this newsletter, or to receive it in a different format, please let us know here. If you have any news or any announcements to be broadcast, do let Your Cruise Director know.
Delivered sometime in January 2008 (UTC).
SatyrBot (talk) 23:34, 19 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
NOTE: Reconstruction of discussion held on this talk page and on Avruch's.
Avruch, I feel that I should inform you that I have added a comment to the WP:AN discussion about the departure of William Coleman. I want you to know that I do not intend it as an attack, but that I do feel it is important for me to understand what has led him to accept your explanations. I have looked at the comments posted on his talk page, and in other places, and whilst I believe that you did not expect the controversy your nomination provoked, I am concerned about aspects of your response since then. I don't want to move on from this with a negative impression of you, and so I'd appreciate it if you could give some thought to what I have written. Of course you have the right to choose not to respond, and I am not saying that you owe me an explanation, but I would appreciate you choosing to expand on what has happened so that I (and possibly others) don't form an opinion without flagging concerns to you and providing an opportunity for a response. I recognise that you were likely upset by some of William's comments, and I also recognise that some of my comments may be overly harsh - I can't be entirely rational on a topic like this, and so I ask that you accept that my comments are meant as an appeal for information, rather than a direct criticism. Jay*Jay (talk) 02:06, 24 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I've responded to your comments on WP:AN with my own. Best, Avruchtalk 02:38, 24 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for your response, Avruch. I have, in turn, responded. For the record, I am pleased to find that the impression that I had formed is inaccurate, and I hope we can work well together into the future. No hard feelings? Best, Jay*Jay (talk) 03:44, 24 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
No problem, and no hard feelings. Hopefully the thread on AN will safely be archived in 7 days ;-) Avruchtalk 03:45, 24 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Following on, I don't know if you are still following this discussion or not, but you might want to have a look. Cheers Jay*Jay (talk) 00:45, 25 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Avruch, I have started a thread at WP:AN about your closing and marking as 'resolved' the above discussion. Here's a link. I want to make it clear that I am not asking for any sanction of you, and I completely understand your desire to have the thread archived. However, I am not sure that the action that you have taken is a good idea, as it removes the context from the part of the discussion which you separated. I'm also not sure whether it is considered acceptable, which is why I have asked. You may want to monitor any response and / or make a comment. Best, Jay*Jay (talk) 13:42, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I've responded to your post on WP:AN about my putting Coleman's thread in a collapse box. Avruchtalk 22:23, 29 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Avruch, I am not surprised that you added a comment to the WP:AN thread - that was why I left you a note to advise that I had asked the question. I have added a link and explanatory note, to the earlier discussion, and marked the present discussion as resolved. Feel free to add if you think this is an inaccurate summary of the outcome. Best, Jay*Jay (talk) 10:19, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Response to your comment on the Queer Wikipedians DRV[edit]
Hello, Jay
I agree with you wholeheartedly that there is a much bigger issue regarding user categories -- and I'll put it into specifics: that the idea of "categories must explicitly foster collaboration" and WP:NOT#SOCIAL have become distorted into euphemisms for "I don't like it" and "it's just not encyclopaedic" and similar unworthy arguments; their interpretation in UCfD is so broad that nearly any user category can be construed to fall under one or the other. (Which, incidentally, has the unpleasant side effect of providing an excellent Wikipedia-policy cloak for bias.) Personally, if this problem cannot be solved in some way, I think it would be best to either eliminate user categories altogether or make them dramatically more difficult to create (for example, by requiring a call-for-creation discussion) and/or delete (for example, by requiring two or three nominators rather than just one). If there is bias against LGBT people in the deletion process, I think it is very likely to be on the part of nominators; the more general bias in UCfD appears to be against any "Wikipedians" category at all that is nominated.
Incidentally, I want to make clear that I am actually on the side of restoring the LGBT user categories; but our side's current efforts in that direction seem calculated to make more enemies than friends and to take arguments rooted outside Wikipedia and march directly into the buzzsaw of arguments rooted in Wikipedia. As long as that is true, and opposition rests its case on WIkipedia policies and guidelines while we rest ours on nebulous and emotional arguments, success is doubtful at best. Until the issue of UCfD's bias toward deletion of "Wikipedian" categories is resolved, any victory of this nature is certain to be a bitter and expensive one, and difficult to hold. I'm not so much interested merely in the restoration of the LGBT categories, but restoring them in such a way that they establish a difficult-to-challenge precedent rooted solidly in Wikipedia procedures; nothing short of that is a complete victory. I would like to see our side hold fire on the complaints of bias and homophobia; that is a heavy thing to say and requires good solid evidence -- and accusing someone of being a homophobe is a powerful way of making her one. --7Kim (talk) 17:08, 24 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Hi 7Kim, I recognise that we are working for the same goals, and that emotive arguments are not the way to influence those who are neutral and willing to be swayed by the quality of the argument. I hope you will see my latest contribution to the DRV discussion is policy and process-focused. Ultimately, we need to get the meta-level discussion going, but I haven't figured out where best to do so. If we were to lose there but the outcome where to restructure the categories so that category:Christian Wikipedians and category:American Wikipedians and the like were also eliminated, I could live with that. However, if the hypocritical double standard were endorsed, I would certainly make some noise and move more into the homophobia that would consequently be clearly on display. My guess is that Jimbo Wales isn't keen on "Wikipedia endorses homophobia" type headlines, but I doubt it will come to something like that.
For the record, I don't think I've actually accused any individual of homophobia on the DRV - and if I have, please indicate where, as I agree with you that such accusations should be evidence-based and not made lightly. As a general rule, I would prefer to assume ignorance rather than malice in most cases (such as Steel's comment on DRV) - although some comments do clearly indicate underlying stereotyping and homophobia (such as the one on WP:AN). Thanks for stopping by! Jay*Jay (talk) 02:37, 25 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Sorry if you felt I was "playing the man not the ball". I didn't intend to be critical of you and was just making the point that policy has to be understood in context of convention otherwise it could be taken to mean anything. Oh btw WP:SOAP has been applied to userboxes (but I quite like yours). --BozMotalk 19:52, 9 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
BozMo, I think that you were playing the man and not the ball. Look at your post here, which I reproduce below, and ask yourself how much is about either the MfD, or the content to which the MfD-initiator objected, or the policy comments I made about that content:
I am sure that the closing admin doesn't need your advice on policy. As they know, and you will learn, there is a very strong case history in Wikipedia for the community giving considerable latitude to the content of user pages. You might equally argue that pro-gay userboxes such as the one you display amount to WP:SOAP. That is after all advancing a position (as well as a posterior). But I would oppose the removal of that too. If users cannot in any way reflect their views on their userpages it makes it much harder to monitor COI and POV. And what Aminz has done is not exactly in your face. --BozMo talk 16:19, 8 February 2008 (UTC)
The comment about not needing advice on policy is patronising, especially when followed by the oblique reference to me being a new user. It has the tone of a parent speaking to a child, and an appeal to authority through experience - implicitly, it reads as "we know what we're doing, you don't, go do as you're told". An adult-to-adult approach would have been better. After all, I made a policy-based comment. As for my appended note to the closing admin, my (admittedly limited) experience of deletion matters has included two reviews closed against consensus where the admin simply expressed their own view. One of these (relating to the category:Queer Wikipedians) was closed despite other admins noting the failure to correctly apply policy. As such, I believed then and still believe that flagging that there was a policy issue that needed consideration was desirable. It's also useful if you need to ask about what you believe to be a bad decision.
I was also disappointed that no one else seemed willing to admit that the section in question was a blatant violation of WP:SOAP. You comment on my userboxes, and I agree they are not subtle. But, they are not advocating a position, but rather providing information (and pointing to an area of interest and knowledge - useful for potential collaboration). They are not comparable to an unrefenced section that is entirely one-sided, unsupported by the relevant research, and makes outlandish claims. I would have no particular objection to someon displaying an anti-porn userbox, but I have a strong objection to material I know to be untrue presented in isolation, and I don't caren where on WP I see it. If it violates WP:SOAP and there is no chance it can be fixed to be policy-compliant, then it is simple: it can't stay. If responses had been "MfD is not the place for this, because convention dictates that established user pages aren't removed this way. However, the content is problematic, and I call on Aminz to re-read WP:SOAP and do something about it." then I probably wouldn't have said anything. The question for me was not the process - whether MfD was the correct approach - but rather the principle of complying with the intent of the policy. As can be seen from what happened, it didn't take much for Aminz to decide to act.
As for your comments about understanding policy operates within conventions, that was precisely the reason that I only commented on the MfD. I was unsure how the conventions of MfD interacted with the issue of the policy violation relating only to a section of a page (and a user page, rather than one in main space as well). However, the wording of WP:SOAP is inconsistent with any 'convention' over non-compliance on user pages. A convention in how to handle such things, sure - hence I didn't act. But you can't say that convention allows the meaning of a clearly stated policy to be reversed. Jay*Jay (talk) 16:16, 11 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Ah. All these points seem fair (and not what I was expecting). I thought my comment was no more patronising that you pointing this obviousness to the closing Admin but if we have failed to do the right thing in your experience I can only apologise. I have consistently defended user pages though. I think with the exception of Spam people laying their cards on the table generally helps you to deal with them. Also the community doesn't always follow its own policies: particularly on user pages. Thanks for the thoughtful and unpolemic explanation (I won't say it does you credit in case thats patronising again. However I guess you would agree with userboxes that some people may regard a statement about you as advocacy in itself :) ) --BozMotalk 18:52, 11 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Sorry to have disappointed you! :) Actually, I hadn't really thought about how my note might be seen by others, and that's something I'll have to ponder. Its intent was to flag what I thought was relevant and it wasn't meant to be patronising; nonetheless, I can see that it could be seen that way. In my wiki-time (both editing and lurking), I have seen an astonishing range of admin actions, and have been stunned at a few cases of dreadful judgement (not necessarily relating to deletions). As such, it is also possible that my view of some actions is leading me to an unbalanced approach to situations requiring judgement.
Regarding deletion issues in general, perhaps the origin for some of the controversies lies in the procedures themselves. Take the QW category DRv, for example. I expressed what I thought was a policy-based response, and noted that my view concurred with some others. The closing admin went the other way, and what I thought were legitimate issues went unaddressed. Now, my interpretation may have been incorrect, but I don't learn if I have misunderstood policy if no comment is made; instead, I felt ignored. The closing admins talk page comment that my views were disregarded didn't help, and the closure has simply added to the ill-will around the issue. Of course, in non-routine matters where views have been strongly expressed on both sides, policy-based judgement is needed, but I think the current procedures are failing to address some editors' concerns and leading to resentment. Some closing admins also have poor people skills - like the one whose response on being asked to explain amounted to "I've been doing this for ages, I'm right". Regardless of whether the decisions themselves are correct, the process is creating problems. I don't have a solution to offer that wouldn't add to the work involved, unfortunately, but an approach that seems to leave resnetment in its wake seems to me to be bad for WP.
As for my non-polemical response, I believe that consensus is a fundamentally good thing. As a well educated person (I have a PhD), I believe in reasoned and evidence-based discussions, and am quite willing to be called on actions that are poor. I also try to engage in discussion in "adult-mode", as this implicitly asks for a response in the same mode. Using "parent-mode" implicitly expects a contrite response in "child-mode"; when used inappropriately, it oftens elicits anger and a more strident response also in "parent-mode". Shortly afterwards, an argument typically takes off. FYI, there is a whole bunch of communications research on this stuff, and I am over-simplifying, but you get the idea. I find it a useful approach for my dealing with people, and it is part of the reason that I indicated my intention to follow up in a different location and later. The MfD wasn't the place to address my objection, and the time prevented my responding in a way that might have been less conducive to an adult-to-adult discussion. Hopefully you will find I'm not hard to get on with, and try to be fair. For example, I explained my motivation and thanked Aminz for his actions on his talk page. Similarly, I gave Avruch a barnstar in recognition of his actions after we had clashed.
As for the line between "information" and "advocacy" in userboxes, my inclination would be for a very wide amount of latitude - but there are limits. I would object to an userbox that said "This user believes that watching pornography leads to committing rape" as unsubstiated and inaccurate advocacy, but I wouldn't have a problem with "This user believes pornography is unacceptable" as an example of free speech providing potentially useful information about an editor who might work on pornography-related pages. Best, Jay*Jay (talk) 04:42, 12 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Just to say I read the above and don't really have much to add (except that I look forward to coming across you again). The category thing people spend a lot of time on but I have never really found them an exciting idea either in articles (where there is too much anarchy for the structure to be effective) and for users (I think on Meta this is still allowed, but with some sort of right to non-categorisation). Personally I think I might have objected to the word "queer" (ambiguous where I live and sometimes still with homophobic overtones) but would support a category of "gay" or similar. But then I have never been even tempted to put "category Christian" or "category "supporter of Rowan Williams" on my user page.... --BozMotalk 07:21, 12 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for asking questions at my RfA. I had readied myself to answer questions, but then this RfA has gone surprisingly smoothly without anybody hitting me with anything difficult. I'll answer the questions as you worded them and as they relate to what would most immediately be my own potential administrative duties, which probably won't address some of your underling concerns but please don't think that means I'm blowing any of them off. While I'll answer over there as is appropriate for RfA, I'm perfectly open to discussing other aspects of it outside the RfA via regular talk pages. Anyway, I expect to answer those later tonight. Doczilla (talk) 23:42, 11 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I was about to answer your first question when I saw a problem. It's the opening sentence: "You recently took part in this MfD discussion about the this version of the user page of Aminz."
In an RfA that is read by so many people, talking about a specific user by name after he/she already voluntarily removed the material could seem uncivil to some readers. It could look to them like we're attacking that individual in such a public setting without having invited him/her to participate (which shouldn't be done either -- RfA is not a forum for that argument). The material in question absolutely violated WP:SOAP and I'll be glad to discuss it, but for the RfA we need to make sure we focus on the issues and not on individuals who didn't agree to subject themselves to my RfA. It's your question, so it's completely up to you, of course, but if you could reword it (something like "You recently took part in an MfD discussion about a userpage where someone listed objections to pornography"), I'll be glad to answer. Anybody who needs to know exactly what we're talking about in order to evaluate my response can still follow the edit history or just ask either one of us.
And please don't interpret this as any kind of admonishment. You've asked a fair question that does indeed relate to the exertion of administrative authority, and you yourself said you're still learning how these things work. Seriously, thanks for asking. Yours, Doczilla (talk) 01:51, 12 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Doczilla, I see your point, and have no problem with feedback on my actions. However, I would also like the material in question to be easily accessible for evaluation of your responses and reasoning. As such, I'm wondering whether a reasonable compromise would be to note that the MfD was closed as "speedy keep" after Aminz acted unilaterally to resolve the question raised. Perhaps a formulation like:
6. You recently took part in this MfD discussion about the this version of a certain user page. At issue was the now-removed "Why Pornography is bad" section of that page. The MfD was closed as "speefy keep" after the involved user acted unilaterally to resolve the issue by removing the material, and the MfD-initator withdrew the objection. This question is not intended in any way to reflect on the user whose page was being discussed; in fact, I believe that user's decision reflects well on his judgement and I said so here. Whilst I understand the position you took in that MfD, I'd like to explore whether you might have acted differently as an admin, and also explore a related hypothetical.
BTW, the reason I used the hypothetical for (b) and (c) was because I wanted to divert attention from the specific case to the general issue, but still included (a) because I wanted to check your judgement and reasoning on the specific example. I will now strike question 6 until we have a form that is acceptable from Aminz's perspective, after which I will restore it. If he objects, I will find another approach, because I agree that he isn't up for RfA so doesn't deserve adverse scrutiny, and his participation in a discussion on the RfA page would be a totally inappropriate diversion from the purpose of the page. I will invite him here to comment. Best, Jay*Jay (talk) 04:58, 12 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Well, as long as Aminz is discussing it here, I suppose that can work. As long as A. doesn't carry the conversation over to the RfA, because you could wind up getting accused of hijacking the RfA to get on your own soapbox. Doczilla (talk) 05:30, 12 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I have no intention of doing anything on the RfA page until an acceptable resolution is reached. If Aminz says here that he wants the question blanked for the moment, I will respect that request. As such, the RfA process should be able to continue undisturbed. In the meantime, would you consider answering the other question (unless you have similar concerns), and I'll await yours and Aminz's thoughts on the modified formulation proposed above. Best, Jay*Jay (talk) 05:37, 12 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Actually, I already answered the other question. Doczilla (talk) 05:47, 12 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I note in this diff that Aminz has responded on his own talk page. I take his response to indicate that he would prefer the entire question for Doczilla's RfA be de-identified. That being the case, I will take note of the response above and reconstruct the question, and will notify Doczilla once it is done. Jay*Jay (talk) 12:10, 13 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Say, what's your PhD in? Mine's in experimental social psychology. (I'd completely understand if you prefer not to answer that in this kind of forum.) Doczilla (talk) 07:52, 12 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
My PhD is in Science, but I'd rather not go into details on-wiki. Best, Jay*Jay (talk) 12:26, 13 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
btw assume you know meta:Queer_Wikimedians exists? Not to argue the principle but perhaps to offer an alternative...--BozMotalk 19:30, 15 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I wasn't aware of QW, actually, but am already in the unbelievably collaborative LGBT Wikipedians category (the one Avruch created - for which I gave him my first ever (and so far only) barnstar - after his nomination wiped out Queer Wikipedians category). I also maintain membership in the ever-so-slightly pointy Queerass Wikipedians category. I appreciate your suggestion, but this is primarily about principle for me, and also about homophobic bias. I am not saying that this is the motivaiton for all who oppose the category, but it sure is for some - and prejudice like that is something up with which I will not put. :) Best, Jay*Jay (talk) 11:50, 16 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you for !voting in my RfA which resulted in the collapse of civilization with 92 (94?) support, 1 oppose, and 1 neutral. Blame jc37 and Hiding for nominating me, everyone who had questions or comments, everyone who !voted, everyone who tallied the numbers correctly, and WJBScribe who closed without shouting, "No mop for you!"
Seriously, your response has overwhelmed me. I am deeply grateful.
ArcayneThank you for casting the 90th yea vote and for the really special words of support. That meant a lot to me.
"The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot." - Michael Althsuler
Just thought you might like something sweet. I hope the conversation on the LGBT discussion page didn't leave a bad impression of me. Maybe I should have avoided the mentioning of the 7 year sentence thing...I didn't realize it would create such a stir. I'm glad you said you like to debate and didn't take it the wrong way. Cheers. AgnosticPreachersKid (talk) 08:38, 25 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I'm going to owe APK if he keeps coming by to tidy up droppings. Jay*Jay (talk) 17:20, 9 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
You can pay me in cartons of Ben & Jerry's. I like Cinnamon Bun, Strawberry Cheesecake and my new favorite, Cheesecake Brownie. :-] AgnosticPreachersKid (talk) 17:30, 9 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I'd be happy to, when next I can get to DC - but since it's about 19 h travelling by plane, that might be a little while. :) Jay*Jay (talk) 17:36, 9 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I'll be commenting there shortly, but I wanted to thank you for your perceptive and thorough work on the AN/I page. I am very thankful you weighed in. --Eleemosynary (talk) 15:54, 28 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Eleemosynary, I'm glad to be able to help out. I came across it because of the spraying of abuse by Matt - as you can see above, I had a visit as well - and the more I looked, the more I became concerned. For the record, I think that you did technically breach 3RR, but so did SatyrTN - and the edit summaries show that a conversation was going on, just not in an appropriate place. However, I also think that you should have been more cautious in acting - and you need to remember that WP:CIVIL is more important than any other policy in the minds of many admins, so I'd tone it down if I were you. However, I am ultimately more concerned by SwatJester's actions, which I see as yet another case of an admin with questionable judgement. I have serious doubts about remaining at WP... Jay*Jay (talk) 16:15, 28 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Project member Moni3 has been working on the article for Barbara Gittings and noted that the Lambda Literary Foundation used the lead paragraph from Wikipedia, skillfully and lovingly written by Moni3, verbatim in the Lambda Literary Pioneers calendar. Moni3 contacted the Lambda Literary Foundation to let them know, and to ask if we could get a little write-up in the next Lambda Book Report. There is a preliminary text you can find here. Feel free to add to it. It should be no longer than 1,000 words, and it needs to be submitted by March 15.
Place yourself in a user category so you can collaborate with other LGBT/Allied Wikipedians!
Mostly for allies of LGBT people; To place yourself in Category:Wikipedians interested in LGBT issues, just add [[Category:Wikipedians interested in LGBT issues|?]] to your userpage and change the question mark to your username OR add this userbox by placing {{User:UBX/LGBTinterest}} on your userpage.
Mostly for people who identify as either Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Transgender; To place yourself in Category:LGBT Wikipedians, just add [[Category:LGBT Wikipedians|?]] to your userpage and change the question mark to your username OR add a userbox found at User:Xaosflux/UBX/Sexuality#Sexual orientation.
To stop receiving this newsletter, or to receive it in a different format, please let us know here. If you have any news or any announcements to be broadcast, do let us know.
Delivered by SatyrBot around 17:14, 3 March 2008 (UTC)
SatyrBot (talk) 17:38, 3 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for the action. I would have gone to AIV or maybe AN/I if I had done the reversions, but since action had already been taken and a warning issued, I thought asking you was a better way to go. Best, Jay*Jay (talk) 05:38, 11 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
You might want to clarify whether you intended "slanging matches" [1] or "slinging matches". Admittedly, either meaning can fit the situation. -- SEWilco (talk) 16:57, 11 March 2008 (UTC)
[reply]
I meant slanging matches - as in situations where discussions degenerate into throwing abuse at each other [2]. I have never before encountered the term "slinging match". Perhaps I am using an expression which is peculiar to some parts of the English-speaking world? Thanks for the suggestion, and I'll add the link as a clarification. :) Jay*Jay (talk) 17:06, 11 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I thought you meant to use a variant of "slinging insults" which has similar meanings, although "slang" implies one style of phrasing in the insults. -- SEWilco (talk) 18:29, 11 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Any edits made in defiance of a ban may be reverted to enforce the ban, regardless of the merits of the edits themselves. As the banned user is not authorized to make those edits, there is no need to discuss them prior to reversion. It says it plainly. REGARDLESS of the merits of the edits. There are somethings to watch out for, (especially BLP), but it can't be plainer, that what I said IS explicitly policy. SirFozzie (talk) 17:16, 11 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
The confusion here seems to be whether edits being reverted are prior to the ban (which is what it looks like NYB was talking about) or edits made after the ban. The standard for reversion is understandably different, and in this particular case it is the latter that is at issue. From what I've read, the two of you haven't actually disagreed with each other directly - you are talking about different situations. Avruch T 17:19, 11 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Sorry, Avruch, but you are wrong. NYB is not talking about edits made prior to the ban - look at the context within which his comments were made, in a thread on his talk page today following posts from both BrownHairedGirl and Giano. SirFozzie is also wrong, as the quote he provides demonstrates - and as NYB has pointed out - the key word is that the edits MAY be reverted, not that they should be reverted as he claimed. NYB is correct that the situation calls for common sense. If the WP:BAN policy is insufficiently clear, it should be ammended to clarify this point. The policy does not mandate the reversion of useful edits, and when it comes to reversions that would introduce errors (whether minor typos or more important factual errors), the idea that policy requires such a reversion is ludicrous. Such an interpretation is manifestly a case where any editor should exercise their judgment and common sense, invoke WP:IAR, and decline to introduce errors to encyclopedic content on the spurious grounds of discouraging a banned editor from returing as a sock. Jay*Jay (talk) 17:31, 11 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Ah, I see that you are right, my mistake. NYB's reading of the policy would seem to contradict with the policy quote above from SirFozzie, though. To expand my comment, though... Since NYB's comment below that said he was refraining from commenting on the specific issue at hand, I mistakenly extended that backwards - but I see that his comments about reverting edits did include "sockpuppet of a banned user." Also, I don't know that reverting edits from a banned user in order to discourage a return of that editor as a sock is grounds I'd call spurious - there seems to be some logic in not allowing edits from a banned user, even if they are superficially constructive. Anyway, as I said on the AE thread... Discussions even tangentially related to Giano/Troubles get heated, and actual substantive debate typically gets thrown off the rails pretty quickly. The issue of reverting these edits ought to be fairly straightforward to resolve, and the level of drama and heat exchange about it is pretty strange. Avruch T 17:38, 11 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
considering reverting a banned user is one of the very few things that gets through the electric fence of 3RR, I think that Jay and I have different viewpoints on this. I guess Jay and I will have to agree to disagree. *shrugs* SirFozzie (talk) 17:40, 11 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for the comment. I suppose if there's nothing you can do, then to some degree I don't see the need to rage about it. I agree with your concerns, but I think the truth is that things have actually improved some recently, along with attention to problematic use of checkuser. This has I think been in the direction of more rather than less checking, but that's still probably a good thing in my view. In any case, I appreciate your comments and the issues you raised. Mackan79 (talk) 19:43, 14 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you for your support in my RFA. The passed with a final count of (73/3/1), so I am now an administrator. Please let me know if at any stage you need help, or if you have comments on how I am doing as an admin. Have a nice day! :) AletaSing 18:22, 22 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Hello, members and friends of WP:LGBT! I'm not one to be writing newsletters, but I miss our cruise director, Miss Julie, and our project is drifting along with a few leaking plugs in the bottom of the boat. Hey, it happens. Every group we join goes through changes. If Wikipedia weren't so interesting it wouldn't also be so frustrating sometimes. And vice versa. More than one Wikiproject has tumbleweeds blowing through it, but this is one that can't afford to let that happen. Even if you pop in to the talk page of the project, you can let us know you're still around.
It wouldn't be a proper gay community without a li'l bit o' drama! That's right. If we aren't arguing about something, then we should be asking if we're still queer. Maybe that's for the best, since we know we're still kicking. Our most recent topic is how far the role of our project should go in dipping our toes into HIV/AIDS articles. The main AIDS article was delisted as a Featured Article last month, sadly. (Sending a swift kick to WP:Medicine.) A spirited discussion is available for your entertainment on the WP:LGBT talk page about just how much of HIV and AIDS should we take on. As ever, we'll take your opinions under advisement. We're going to have to, because it doesn't seem to have been settled.
We have a pretty cool sidebar that identifies core LGBT articles. Its symbol is the iconic gay pride flag, much like other Wikiprojects have iconic symbols denoting the topic is a core subject in a series of articles. However, a question recently arose asking if the symbol itself is not neutral. Should a pride flag show up at the top of the article on Conversion therapy? How else would anyone know the article is about queer issues? Is there another symbol that is as widely recognized and that includes all our many splintered facets? At what point do we stop asking ourselves all these questions and just go have a mint julep on the verandah and stop caring?
For the love of all that is holy, no Kool Aid jokes. However, an editor involved in pioneering San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk's article has included a section about the late supervisor's support of Jim Jones and the People's Temple. While it may be accurate, there is a Request for Comment regarding how much emphasis the section places on Milk's support in light of his overall political influence on the city, and indeed the rest of the United States. Milk's article is a sad one in more ways than one. It lacks the detail and heart that honors its subject. Anyone want to do a barter with me? I'll bring Harvey Milk to featured status (give me a month or two so I can read stuff), if you do something of equal value to WP:LGBT?? Make me an offer...
The established branch of study known as Queer studies was brought up as an category for deletion because an editor was offended by the use of "queer" in the title. It was overwhelmingly rejected mostly by the usernames I see here on our Wikiproject page. (A clue that I know you are out there, hiding...biding your time...) So, I wish I could congratulate you, but now I'm all confused by my sympathy for the editor who was offended. So, if you're reading this, Moni has a short memory and can't remember your username. Don't be put off by our demonstrative pushiness. Join us. We can always use involved editors.
What can you do to help the project out? Be a wiki-fairy, on many levels. There are all kinds of articles that need help. Why, just this morning I removed those ugly wikify and cleanup tags from four articles at random. If you can put [[ ]] around stuff, you can clean up articles. There's a list of articles that need attention at the top of the WP:LGBT talk page. Or you can start with the Lambda Literary Awards, where the goddess of my altar received a pioneering award, and was "reduced to rubble" by Katherine V. Forrest's wonderful speech. The 20th ceremony of the Lambda Literary Awards, which celebrates LGBT literature, took place in West Hollywood on May 29th [3]. The page needs to be updated with the new winners, to be found on the official website [4].
Why on earth would someone want to delete material about homosexuality? 'Tis truly a mystery. But these embattled articles have some random evil gnomes removing information that places these folks under our queer umbrella. Help us keep an eye out for the deletions. Take a peek at the articles, familiarize yourselves with the info, and be handy with the undo function in the article history. If tempers flare, take it to the Hall monitors and let them sort it out. Best solution is to make sure your sources are immaculate.
This is what I get for opening my big fat mouth and suggesting the newsletter should be revived. Here I am writing it. So, to pat self on back (*cough*) Mulholland Dr. became a featured article in May. This is A Good Thing since it is my personal declaration that there is no such thing as lesbian porn. I don't care what Benjiboi says about the video collection at goodvibes. Instead, we have hot women who connect on a deep, personal, soul-touching level, so this film should qualify as some of the skankiest porn available for lesbians. Plus, it's completely confusing and surreal! D'you think Laura Harring would care that the article is featured? I don't think so either... (Call me, Laura!)
Once I saw a harrowing episode of Animal Planet's Animal Cops where this guy had, like, 250 cats in his house and it freaked me right out. I'm drawing a parallel between 250 cats and, well...three, really, templates in articles involving LGBT issues. Can we stick to one, maybe? In the aforementioned Harvey Milk's article there's a core LGBT template, a link to the LGBT portal, and a sidebar for LGBT rights. Jiminy! You'd think we weren't the folk to set industrial grey carpeting and track lighting in vogue. An LGBT footer was designed to link to articles of interest that aren't the aforementioned core articles. What do you think, can we have either an LGBT template for core articles, a footer for LGBT articles that are high profile but not core, or an LGBT rights template? As ever, anything's up for discussion on the WP:LGBT talk page.
It's June, Pride month. Wear sunscreen, stay hydrated, get a designated driver, then go half-dressed in the streets find a girlfriend or boyfriend, or some homo who's standing there looking lonely and kiss 'em up real good. Remember, it all started 39 years ago when a bunch of drag queens just got fed the f*ck up by the cops raiding the bar and dragging them all out to the pokey again. Rock on, queens! Enjoy your celebrations. My town's is in October, and 200 people attend. I miss Denver.
It looks like we've picked up a lot of talent lately. We have no doubt you'll be making your indelible mark on LGBT knowledge as we know it, here at Wikipedia.
In the immortal words of Miss Julie, "May all your Wiki days be bright, and may your Love Boat never turn into a Poseidon."
We miss you, Miss Julie, as well as all the others who have graced our project and are on wiki-breaks or just got fed up with all the nuttiness and went to live their lives. Get your stupid houses built and hurry up and come back. --Moni3 (talk) 16:52, 9 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
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This newsletter was delivered by §hepBot around 16:02, 11 June 2008 (UTC). ShepBot (talk) 16:17, 11 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
An unfortunate effect of a group less active than in the past is that our articles lose integrity. This one is at Good Article Review for that reason. The talk page is quite active as a result. You have the opportunity to help. This is the corest of our core articles, and it needs some attention because it gets a lot of controversial input from many sides. If you can spare any time to edit the article, please do what you can.
Soon after we were informed that Homosexuality is being scrutinized, we heard the same for one of our few Featured Articles. As a participant of the Featured Article process, I think this is actually a good thing. The standards for Featured Articles are getting higher with time. But as a member of this project, that means that a few of ours may be de-listed unless someone can swoop in and save them. This one has to do with the designation of homosexuality as a crime in Germany. Most of this article's sources are in German. If anyone has any particular skill in this area, please lend a hand!
I know you folks think I have much experience in a gay bathhouse, and I hate to disappoint you, but I actually do not. I seem like the sort of person who likes to stroll about in a towel. Shocking, no? It appears that Ashleyvh is single-handedly addressing all the problems with this article at its GA Review. While that's pretty impressive, it's also no doubt exhausting. Can anyone help out there?
In what I hope will counter the jolt of re-evaluating three Good or Featured Articles, José Sarria and Janet Jackson as gay icon passed as Good Articles, and Black Cat Bar (famous San Francisco oft-raided gay bar) is nominated, all by Otto4711. Rock on, man. You're a machine. Good luck with your nominations. What is it about women that make them gay icons? And are there lesbian icons that aren't lesbians? How about bisexual icons? Am I the only lesbian who reacts with soul-trembling fear at the sight of Angelina Jolie?
New WP:LGBT studies member Pinkkeith has done this cool thing. If you click on that link, you'll see all the articles, categories, templates, and miscellany up for deletion. They're usually there because they're not considered to be not notable. That can be a relative concept, and sometimes it has to be argued that topics pertaining to gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender issues are notable.
It seems a recurring issue which articles to tag, and what to say about a topic that's tagged. Certainly, because an article falls under our scope doesn't necessarily make the person gay. Florida Governor Charlie Crist has been rumored to be gay in some newspaper accounts. Although we all know Fred Phelps is supergay, he won't admit it so instead he does the absolutely awfulest anti-gay things on the planet to deflect suspicion. NAMBLA, the red headed stepchild of the LGBT world, is tagged with an explanation we have yet to decide if we'll keep.
In the lurking I do around and about on Wiki, I've long been astounded at the forbearance Benjiboi has for the utterly insane. Perhaps not so much, since the message on Benji's talk page notes frequent absences due to homophobia and transphobia. But it takes some kind of ... something that I don't have to face the constant anti-gay POV Benji does.
Benjiboi is a a bit of a WikiFaerie, a WikiGnome and also a member of the Article Rescue Squadron in addition to being a LGBT project member. A few of Benjiboi's favorite links for making the wikiverse more fab are:
Becksguy didn’t start actively editing until May 2007. His most frequent tasks on Wiki include reverting vandalism to LGBT articles and creating new project-related articles. He comes from New York state, and to prove not all of us are teenagers (ha! I am so totally 15!) he's in his 60s and retired.
Becksguy considers his biggest triumph on Wikipedia so far was a DYK in December 2007 for the first-ever newspaper report on what became AIDS, in the New York Native. He's also helped save several project-related articles from deletion. His lowest moment here was getting involved in the discussion on a particular terrorism related article, thinking he could help calm the roiled waters on an extremely contentious subject with multiple edit wars and passionate editors.
Here at WP:LGBT, he creates and improves articles that present notable LGBT related subjects in a fair and balanced way, and tries to include more of the significant alternative sexuality related subjects without being an activist, and works to better source project-related articles.
On Wikipedia as a whole, he says, "I think we need to learn better what processes work for a massive collaborative project. Some of what worked well for a more informal small project doesn’t scale up well. Process is not as important when the participants know each other. We need to get more of the current members to be more active. If more members were energized, the project would be able to accomplish more. We should be, in effect, the smaller and included Wikipedia for LGBT related subjects. Overall, I wish we could focus more on content creation and improvement, and less on vandal fighting."
"A Supreme Court decision in 1958 reversed a 1956 ruling by a federal district court that U.S. postal authorities were correct in prohibiting the mailing of the Mattachine Society's ONE magazine. The lower court had ruled that ONE was not protected by the First Amendment because the magazine's contents 'may be vulgar, offensive, and indecent even though not regarded as such by a particular group ... because their own social or moral standards are far below those of the general community ... Social standards are fixed by and for the great majority and not by and for a hardened or weakened minority.'" - Michael Bronski in Pulp Friction, 2003
Thanks for being weak and having lowered standards with me. --Moni3 (talk) 00:10, 24 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]
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Newsletter delivery by xenobot 13:04, 30 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Wake up WP:LGBT! It's time to kick in gear and get some things done!
Project News
Wake up!
I say this to myself as much as I say it to all of us. I work a lot by myself or with individual editors who spend time at Featured Article Candidates. It seems on November 5 a fog was lifted off my brain that helped me realize that we have massive potential in this project to get things done. Take this allegory, for instance: On Wednesday, Nov. 5, 1980, my 10th-grade American history teacher started class by unfurling The New York Times. She pointed to its triple banner headline: “Reagan Easily Beats Carter; Republicans Gain in Congress; D’Amato and Dodd are Victors.” “Save this paper,” she told us. “This is the start of a whole new era.”Judith Warner from The New York Times
It definitely seems a start to a whole new era now. If planets align correctly to remind us that whatever advances we may have made in electing what appears to be an extraordinary president in the US, the moons that revolve around those planets also serve to illustrate it's not that simple. Florida, Arizona, and California all appear to have banned same sex marriage. As someone who was married in California and lives in Florida, this is particularly poignant. We seem to be at the juncture of two converging paths. If we maximize our efforts and take the right ones, we might just be able to affect some change for ourselves.
Though what we do is an interesting hobby for some, we have the power to make a difference. California's ballot initiative to ban gay marriage was a fierce fight. It's being challenged right now, but just look at how Wikipedia played a role in that: in October 2008, 360,238 people read its article. On November 5, an astounding 467,000 people read it. I commend the editors who work on that article—both those who support and oppose it. A look at the talk page shows a concerted effort to keep it civil and accurate.
What can we do?
How do you fight ignorance? With information. That's what Wikipedia is for. This project is overwhelming with 8,576 articles in its scope. We can continue to work piecemeal as we have in the past, or we can focus on goals. These are examples of areas we can concentrate on.
Current political events
LGBT Media and Literature
LGBT History
Sex and sexuality
Articles about political issues in the US and around the world that have been especially relevant within the past 5 years
Depictions of LGBT people and issues on television, film, newspapers, magazines
Topics about gay rights activism and the opposition to it
There are more than 8,000 articles to work on. Can we build a list of priorities? Can we build enough enthusiasm to work on these? What if we had editors who oversaw progress in these areas and reported to the talk page or in the newsletter? Surely someone here wants to report on the progress of sex articles.
Tony Perkins (irony) from the conservative Family Research Councilwas heartened by the recent passages of gay marriage bans. The Republican Party is without direction. What's going to take the place of a moderate voice will not be pleasant to our ears. Watching and improving articles of subjects that have opposed gay rights in the past will be of vital importance very soon, I predict.
But WP:LGBT is not a very active project
All we can do is start somewhere. The first step is answering this newsletter on the project talk page. Join in the discussion.
More things we can do
Give out more barnstars, and let each other know that what they're doing is valued.
Create a guide to stave off burnout, because editors in this project get burned out faster than others. There are many hills to climb.
Bring back the monthly collaboration project.
Participate in LGBT Peer reviews.
Get familiar with the characteristics of Good Articles and get our top priority articles to WP:GA.
Use the Newsletter, Moni3! You can suggest what to send out in the newsletter, too!
Offer research materials, copy editing, ideas, and support to your fellow editors.
Keep the project talk page informed of problems and discussions we should know about.
Proposal: Put Importance Levels on articles
If this was decided long before I was a member, maybe it's time to revisit it. Other WikiProjects, such as WP:Novels determine that some subjects have an importance category: Top, High, Mid, Low, or None (undetermined). If we decide that our most core articles, it might help to organize which articles to address first. Top importance, for example, would be Gay, Homosexual, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Sappho, Oscar Wilde, Stonewall riots, for example. High importance would be Homosexuality and psychology, Harvey Milk, Mattachine Society, Harry Hay, or Daughters of Bilitis, and so on. This can be a matter of discussion, or perhaps we could have someone in charge of determining these levels for all the articles we have tagged.
These are the editors I've seen working (and I know I'm forgetting a few). There's more of you out there I haven't seen. Some of you are new. We need all of you. Please help.
Miami, January 18, 1977 after the gay rights ordinance was passed: While Bryant and the others were creating the beginnings of the repeal effort, (gay activists) Basker, Campbell, Kunst, and the other (gay rights) ordinance supporters congratulated themselves on their success and then quickly disbanded... There was no organized recognition or celebration of the victory. As one activist remembered, "We just went home." They had little idea of the battle that was before them. - Fred Fejes in Gay Rights and Moral Panic, 2008
Don't go home yet, please. --Moni3 (talk) 00:10, 24 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]
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This newsletter was sent by §hepBot (Disable) at 21:11, 12 November 2008 (UTC) by the request of Moni3 (talk)[reply]
How do you change the world? You can start by writing an incredible article for the world's encyclopedia. Moni3 kicks it old school again with Stonewall riots - a series of spontaneous, violent demonstrations against a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969 at the Stonewall Inn. [...] [T]hey have become the defining event that marked the start of the gay rights movement in the United States and around the world. It's a featured article hitting the mainpage this Sunday to mark the 40th anniversary of the events. So first off, wow! Clever and cool. Moni3 has been recently named hottest delegate to Obama's bookclub but that may not be official yet. (Shhh!)
Otto4711 mentioned that gee we really should swamp the DYK section with LGBT-related articles for use on the 28th as well. We have eight or so in the holding area and if you push yourself to get an article together you might be able to get in on the fun. Do this now!
The official rules for DYKs can be found here. Once you have expanded an article 5-fold or created an article with at least 1,500 characters of prose, place your DYK thread here. Use this handy tool to count your 1,500 characters. As a suggestion, when you add your potential hook, include the character count and a link to the source(s) that confirm the hook. These will be confirmed anyway but may help.
The layout for the individual quotes is here (just copy/paste into one of the red links on Portal:Transgender/Random quote). Then this counter has to be upped to match the new # of total quotes (not counting quote zero).
Obama proclamation
On June 1, President Barack Obama declared June 2009 Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month, citing the riots as a reason to "commit to achieving equal justice under law for LGBT Americans". Excerpts at the bottom.
F*ck me I'm famous
I was interviewed by Wikipedia Signpost, the weekly in-house newsletter, for the WikiProject report. The Signpost has nearly 1,000 Wikipedian subscribers and arguably many of those folks actually read it. It came about rather quickly and my worst fears - that it was an elaborate hoax by a troll - were apparently unfounded. I hope y'all feel I did fine by the project, I did my best to avoid the phrase "man-humping, cock-sucking, doggy-style loving queer" but otherwise did ok.
Free image appeal
A friendly reminder to consider taking photos while you're out and about at various Dyke marches and Pride parades. Consider donating them to the world at Wikicommons. I'm sooo totally over having to deal with lovely images being deleted and argued about. If they are just free they are then also freely usable worldwide. And no, they don't need photos of your cha-cha or hoo-hoo-dilly.
Sonny and Cher's daughter was a famous lesbian and now he's a famous transman, possibly the most famous in the world. This also serves as a friendly reminder that we recently updated Wikipedia:WikiProject LGBT studies/Guidelines - it's not perfect but should help inform on those gnip-gnop battles that do seem to drag on, and not in the good way.
As part of the redecorating at our talkpage, the article alerts and keyword search alerts are handily located at the top of the page. Always fascinating to see what's up. All help appreciated on those.
Glambert
Adam Lambert is soooo gay - surprised? Neither is anyone else. Nuff said. David Ogden Stiers was outed but apparently he wasn't terribly in either.
The LGBT studies project does have its own free Internet Relay Chat channel, #wikipedia-en-lgbtconnect, for coordination, collaboration and socializing. This channel is hosted on Freenode and can be accessed in one of two ways: If you already have an IRC client, click the link to the left. If you do not have an IRC client, you'll need to get one installed on your computer first. Once you've done this, then click on the link to the left.
For more general information on IRC and a listing of other useful Wikipedia-related channels, see Wikipedia:IRC channels.
The project had at one point another channel at #LGBTprojectconnect but as the original people associated with the setting up and administration of that channel have seemed to have disappeared, this new channel has been set up. Plus the new channel is inline with required naming conventions for Wikipedia related IRC channels. So, feel free to use this channel. Such a channel gives opportunity to discuss the latest happening on articles, the LGBT project itself, latest happening in your life with "wiki-friends" here, etc.. You can say things on there you normally wouldn't here on Wikipedia (keeping it civil of course) like talk about the latest hot guy/girl or tell a joke.. you get the point. Anyway, see you there - eventually!
LGBT to-do list (held over from last edition)
Give out more barnstars, and let each other know that what they're doing is valued.
Create a guide to stave off burnout, because editors in this project get burned out faster than others. There are many hills to climb.
Bring back the monthly collaboration project.
Participate in LGBT Peer reviews.
Get familiar with the characteristics of Good Articles and get our top priority articles to WP:GA.
Use the Newsletter, Moni3! You can suggest what to send out in the newsletter, too!
Offer research materials, copy editing, ideas, and support to your fellow editors.
Keep the project talk page informed of problems and discussions we should know about.
“
There are many well-respected LGBT leaders in all professional fields, including the arts and business communities. [I]n both the White House and the Federal agencies -- openly LGBT employees are doing their jobs with distinction and professionalism. [...] LGBT youth should feel safe to learn without the fear of harassment, and LGBT families and seniors should be allowed to live their lives with dignity and respect. At the international level, I have joined efforts at the United Nations to decriminalize homosexuality around the world. Here at home, I continue to support measures to bring the full spectrum of equal rights to LGBT Americans. These measures include enhancing hate crimes laws, supporting civil unions and Federal rights for LGBT couples, outlawing discrimination in the workplace, ensuring adoption rights, and ending the existing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy in a way that strengthens our Armed Forces and our national security. [...] As long as the promise of equality for all remains unfulfilled, all Americans are affected. If we can work together to advance the principles upon which our Nation was founded, every American will benefit. During LGBT Pride Month, I call upon the LGBT community, the Congress, and the American people to work together to promote equal rights for all, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. [...] I call upon the people of the United States to turn back discrimination and prejudice everywhere it exists. - Barack Obama, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month, 2009, The White House (June 1, 2009).
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Newsletter delivery by xenobot 17:28, 24 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]
I hope you don't mind I removed that nonexisting category from your userpage. Feel free to revert me if you want to, it is not very important, so put it back if it makes you happy. I am trying to make this list a little bit shorter. Arcandam (talk) 16:45, 26 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Congratulations, Jay*Jay! You're receiving The Tireless Contributor Barnstar because you reviewed 101 articles during the recent AFC Backlog elimination drive! Thank you for you contributions to Wikipedia at-large and helping to keep the backlog down. We hope you continue reviewing submissions and stay in touch at the talk page. Thank you and keep up the good work! Mdann52 (talk) 13:18, 19 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
What?Wiki Loves Pride, a campaign to document and photograph LGBT culture and history, including pride events
When?June 2015
How can you help?
1.) Create or improve LGBT-related articles and showcase the results of your work here
2.) Upload photographs or other media related to LGBT culture and history, including pride events, and add images to relevant Wikipedia articles; feel free to create a subpage with a gallery of your images (see examples from last year)
Or, view or update the current list of Tasks. This campaign is supported by the Wikimedia LGBT+ User Group, an officially recognized affiliate of the Wikimedia Foundation. Visit the group's page at Meta-Wiki for more information, or follow Wikimedia LGBT+ on Facebook. Remember, Wiki Loves Pride is about creating and improving LGBT-related content at Wikimedia projects, and content should have a neutral point of view. One does not need to identify as LGBT or any other gender or sexual minority to participate. This campaign is about adding accurate, reliable information to Wikipedia, plain and simple, and all are welcome!
As a participant of WikiProject LGBT studies, you are invited to participate in the third annual Wiki Loves Pride campaign, which runs through the month of June. The purpose of the campaign is to create and improve content related to LGBT culture and history. How can you help?
Create or improve LGBT-related Wikipedia pages and showcase the results of your work here
Document local LGBT culture and history by taking pictures at pride events and uploading your images to Wikimedia Commons
Looking for topics? The Tasks page, which you are welcome to update, offers some ideas and wanted articles.
This campaign is supported by the Wikimedia LGBT+ User Group, an officially recognized affiliate of the Wikimedia Foundation. The group's mission is to develop LGBT-related content across all Wikimedia projects, in all languages. Visit the affiliate's page at Meta-Wiki for more information, or follow Wikimedia LGBT+ on Facebook. Remember, Wiki Loves Pride is about creating and improving LGBT-related content at Wikimedia projects, and content should have a neutral point of view. One does not need to identify as LGBT or any other gender or sexual minority to participate. This campaign is about adding accurate, reliable information to Wikipedia, plain and simple, and all are welcome! If you have any questions, please leave a message on the campaign's talk page.