I just read the stuff you wrote on the Christina Aguilera talk page, and this guy Quadell seems like quite a nutbag to me, even after you've given him the sources of the quotes, he still says it's unsourced! I posted a note on that page myself. It seems like all he does all day is go over pages making sure they strictly ahere to wikipedia's policies, and that everything has a source, which he'll never complete, I've never seen a stricter admin. The snare22:18, 25 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Hey Adoption
I liked the way you explained it to me on the Talk:Zac Efron The other guys comments were kinda not nearly as clear.. ive read youe info and i joined the LGBT Project because i know what u guys do and its important especially on a place like Wikipedia with lots of bias.. If you would adopt me i would be quite happy... im pretty active but school is about to start. _____.:!Ninja!:._____01:16, 22 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I won't be putting up another article for FA status. The Tompkins Park article was taken off my watchlist awhile ago. I didn't really care for the process. There were either irrelevant comments, opposes with no comments, or minutia put forth to deny it that, instead of wasting the keystrokes to tell me to de-wikify something, the write could have just de-wikified it. My Wikipedia edits are getting less and less; I watched User:IvoShandor's RfA fail over one (self-admitted) lapse in his editing (out of 20,000 edits, new articles, brilliant collaboration, etc.) sink his RfA. The gleeful judgmentalism was disheartening. It reminded me of a Senate confirmation for the U.S. Supreme Court. Generally, I find Wikipedia more of a frustration than a joy. I'm working on other projects now, and I think Wikipedia's community has become more suited to teenagers pantomiming adult American politicans than a community of good-natured intellectuals. It's just my opinion. I will probably still contribute photographs, but I've limited those contributions as I'm working on a book. In that regard, I'd be happy to obtain a few photographs of HMHS, which was the subject of a law school research paper I wrote. --David Shankbone14:28, 24 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]
FAC FAQ
Hi Dev. I have the first draft of the FAC FAQ thing we talked about. It's ended up being more of a guidelines' essay than a FAQ section, to be honest. It's pretty long, and I've surely left a lot of important things out, but it's a starting point. ;-) I need to rope help from someone at our translation department here to translate it into English (I can't fathom doing it twice in two different languages), and if you guys give it a look and think it's worth something, we can keep tinkering with it and adding new points and sections. :-) So far at es:wiki an admin has liked it very much, but as I said, it's just a first draft and needs more eyes. Oh, before I forget, the images policy is different in both wikis, and I've included only es:wiki's stance on it. That section will have to be modified here. Well, I'll see if I can get someone to translate it, and I'll keep you posted. Cheers! Raystorm(¿Sí?)15:01, 24 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I have enlisted a translator already, so hopefully we'll have something relatively soon. As for the google translator, I can more or less figure out the literal translations about the librarians (that's how admins are called at es:wiki) and their notice board, but for the life of me I don't know where the hell the kitchen maid phrase comes from! ;-D Raystorm(¿Sí?)17:35, 24 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks! I didn't even realize it. I hate it when other people don't sign their posts, I guess normally I'm busy with something, and rush through my post. I'm sorry. I'll pay more attention now. Thanx. Bryse18:17, 24 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]
sorry if I am doing this wrong, but I don't see anywhere that I can send you a message to. I did an update to the Jake Gyllenhaal page, and surprise surprise, all my work was taken down in one day! (From what I read in the notes, it was done by you I believe.) What is that all about? Who owns this Wiki anyway? the information I put up was correct, and I would like to know if I go to all the time and trouble to correct the changes, will my update be respected? what is going on? That was my second time updating Wiki, the first time was a year ago, to the Brokeback Mountain page, and there too, a whole whack of stuff (not mine, thank goodness!) was deleted. All kinds of good stuff was removed that time (and my one or two small edits as well).
Anyway, I made those corrections to the Jake Gyllenhaal page so that ppl that come here can get find the active fan sites. And why is the Yahoo Group still up and the other two websites taken down? I don't know one Jake fan, and I have been here over a year -- that has ever said a single word about Yahoo Group. ever. Yahoo Group!!??!!!!! NOBODY talks about them. Is it just a coincidence that the two commercial, corporately-owned mediocre miniscule sites for Jake (Yahoo Group and IMDb) get mentioned, and the two private Jake-intensive fan sites with infinite numbers of photos, videos, links, info, etc etc etc etc are treated so shabbily?? Like they don't even exist?!!! Is that what you want for Jake???? And what about IMDb? That's not a fan site. That's a movie database! That's like referring someone to the Yellow Pages!! Why do those two stay up, and the little guys get bumped? This is not right. Can you please reply to me, I guess I will give you my e-mail, no I don't want to put it here, it is too public, I think. I will check back for some kind of comment from you. Can you tell I am freaking out here? Thanks. Marie.
Article Sucks
Yup, that does sound a lot better lol. I'll write to u for advice the next time I find a poorly written article. In any case, nominating something for afd saying it "sucks" is the fastest way to get someone to pay attention to it and fix it when I'm too lazy to do it myself. ;-)
Well either that or the article gets deleted, which in the case of an article like that is no big loss believe me.
Were the 'articles I am interested in' general information or suggestions of collaboration? If the latter, I am interested in helping with the Stephen Fry article. What does GA stand for? And how do I graduate? Thanks for all your help!
I will do that once my exams are finished finally. My main problem is formatting shortcuts and I can't for the life of me find on my keyboard that line thingy that you put between the link and the display link - it drives me mad! Maybe thursday. But not now, I am going to bed! :)
Moonksy2922:45, 25 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Jet123 (Talk) has smiled at you! Smiles promote WikiLove and hopefully this one has made your day better. Spread the WikiLove by smiling at someone else, whether it be someone you have had disagreements with in the past or a good friend. Happy editing! Smile at others by adding {{subst:Smile}} to their talk page with a friendly message.
Hi there! I'm still here. Just taking a little time out, but I will be back soon with a vengance. I already have more ideas for Gay and Lesbian articles. I've given up on the FA thing, because I don't understand the rules.
Hey, no problems. I've archived the peer review since it's now a GA (yay!). Will probably put it in for another peer review soon hoping to get it to FA, after I've tweaked it a bit more. Enjoy your holiday! --Belovedfreak11:52, 2 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
My RfA
Thank you for participating in my RfA. It was successful, and I am now, may God have mercy on us all, an administrator. Look at all the new buttons! I had heard about 'protect,' 'block user,' and 'delete,' but no one told me about 'kill,' 'eject,' and 'purée.' I appreciate the trust the community has in me, and I'll try hard not to delete the main page or block Jimbo. -FisherQueen (Talk) 18:02, 2 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
LGB list
Hey, that's ok. I like lists! I do admire your optimism in hoping to reduce it to 0 so soon, it still looks like a very big list to me! I will keep plugging away though, I'm learning about all sorts of people I'd never heard of. --Belovedfreak11:54, 5 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
No problem - I have another one of the entire building (I don't think they occupy much of it) that I need to upload; it might be a nicer photo. --David Shankbone14:17, 11 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Monthly Challenge: Submit an article to our Jumpaclass competition! Languishing unloved, it is a great way to improving that article you always meant to improve but never got round to. Challenge someone else to go head to head and see who can improve their article most!
Our Deputy Coordinators have been doing a fabulous job so far. Well done!
The portal is now looking very snazzy, well done to Fireplace for all his hard work.
The list of LGBT people to be sorted has now beed reduced by 20%. Please help us with it, all of us adding just one person a day would have a dramatic effect!
The Core Topics is now largely complete. The original aim of getting some kind of publication out of it is extremely long term - any short term uses we can make of it are welcome on the project talkpage.
A suggestion was made this month that we start our own wiki. Although the conclusion was that we felt we were a part of Wikipedia rather than a stand alone organisation, it seems there is an LGBT wiki already, at http://lgbt.wikia.com/wiki/Main_page . Members may be interested in getting involved there.
The Collaboration is now getting rather short on suggestions. Article nominations for August through December would be welcome on the talkpage.
There is now a list of Missing LGBT Topics. Help is needed to work out which topics can be made redirects or need to be created. Please contribute is you can.
An LGBT banner that was created for Wikipedia's internal ads system has now been adapted so it can be placed on blogs and websites. The html is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:LGBT"><img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/76/Qxz-ad48.gif" height="53" width="445"></a> Please credit Miranda and link to her userpage: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Miranda">Miranda</a>. The banner can be seen in action here. If you have a blog or a website, please consider adding the banner, either in a post or as part of your profile.
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 Dev920 know.
Delivered on 16:00, 6 July 2007 (UTC).
Dare ya
To a Jumpaclass contest. :-) I know you're on holidays right now, so I'll be a sport and wait until you say you're ready (and have unlimited access to a computer). I'll pick one of those Spanish LGBT stubs (haven't decided exactly which one yet), and we'll see who's able to improve more an article in one week. :-) Doubledare ya! Raystorm(¿Sí?)10:32, 12 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Hehe, feeling sure of ourselves, are we? ;-) July 29th sounds good, it'll give me plenty of time to finish an article I'm working on anyway. Then I can perhaps teach you a lesson in manners or two. ;-D See ya! Raystorm(¿Sí?)15:30, 12 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Articles
List the articles that you consider so bad that Wikipedia shouldn't keep them. It would help out the project! - ~VNinja~
Dev, when you have some time, could you please try rewording "jumped with his trout rod strapped to his leg"? The reference uses the same wording. Thanks in advance. -- FayssalF - Wiki me up®01:30, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Edit summary
I made a mistake when giving a last warning someone for spamming. I didn't enter an edit summary and think that messes a mess. Do you think that is fine?
"I guess a more relevant question is not 'Why does Wikipedia host porn?' but 'Why am I so obsessed with porn I feel the need to "take a stand" against encylopedically written articles on it?'" I guess it just sounds too much like me to not be funny. :) — $PЯIПGrαgђ 20:50, 15 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Re: Poppy Z. Brite
Oh, Sorry! I did not notice that there was a separate list. I'll not do that in the future! Thanks for letting me know. :) Aleta11:32, 16 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Hi. I would like to know from you whether your comment on Jimbo's talk page was really sarcastic. Bielle said on my talk page that it was. You can see the thread here. A.Z.01:33, 23 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Brian Sewell
I'm sorry to get the impression that you are annoyed by my questioning whether Brian Sewell is gay. I have now read the c.9,000-word article by Andrew Barrow, 'A full life: nothing if not critical', The Independent on Sunday, 28.ix.2003, which makes a few of references to his suspected homosexuality (forgive me if you find the term objectionable). I can only reiterate that the meagre evidence available had previously seemed to suggest the opposite. I know that other people who saw his Naked Pilgrim and Grand Tour series reached the same conclusion as me.--Oxonian200621:16, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
WikiProject Bradford
I'm up for trying to start it, but not sure if theirs enough interest Wikiproject Yorkshire seems quiet most of the time. --Nate1481( t/c) 12:56, 26 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Tsk tsk. You're gonna have more days than me to improve the article, just so you know, because I'm leaving for Switzerland the 2nd of August. So quit whining! ;-) Raystorm(¿Sí?)20:41, 27 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I'd appreciate that. :-) You can finish before me and I'll use up those extra days I miss later? I think I know now how to set up a temporary irc channel, btw. Raystorm(¿Sí?)21:21, 27 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
You sure? I'll be back the 15th, that's a long time. I might get ahold of a computer at some point during my holidays, but I'm not counting too much on it. About the irc channel... it's terribly temporary, as in, if I'm not online it ceases to exist. :-P We have to register it so it becomes official I've been told. I'm thinking, #LGBTproject sounds good for a name? Cheers and welcome back from wherever you went on vacation. :-) Raystorm(¿Sí?)16:02, 28 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Just keep sweetening the pot, why don't ya? ;-) Btw, kudos from the Spanish wiki irc channel for your 'statement'! They wanted me to nominate you for RfA just because of it, interested? ;-) Some of them were pretty enraged about that user saying those things without consequences. Raystorm(¿Sí?)00:04, 29 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
It is kinda weird that he can say such things so freely and without getting some sort of admin warning. And you know, your last RfA was *ages* ago, you should start thinking about just biting the bullet and going for it again. :-) There's no way those 'Muslim'-related and Tory-project opposes are still relevant, right? But I kinda understand, opposes do hit one kinda hard, no matter how mild... :-P Nonetheless, I think your chances would be pretty good. Btw, you're sooooo gonna lose the jumpaclass contest, sleepyhead! X-D Raystorm(¿Sí?)09:30, 29 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
You should take a look at your own counterexample, Angelina Jolie - the only picture that is truly non-unique is the one at the Washington D.C. photo op, and I would say that it doesn't belong in the article. The rest of the photos are from different TV and movie appearances. Just providing a counterexample, even if it were valid, doesn't make for a cogent argument anyway.--DLandTALK18:13, 27 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, I would. :) My point was that precedent doesn't make it right - see WP:WAX for a similar point in the context of deletion discussion. Either way, I don't care enough about this whole issue to make a big stink about it - or to risk any bad feelings between us editors, for that matter - but I still stand by my position.--DLandTALK19:54, 27 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Aftonbladet is a popular Swedish tabloid (The Mirror is the closest thing we have here) and this article talks about their marriage and relationship. Do you need it translating? I am off to Sweden in the next couple of days so it might be a week or so before I can get it done. Hope this is ok Intesvensk00:09, 28 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Pedophilia brigade continue to work their magic on Wikipedia
Ah thanks! I have been looking through a load of FA films and FA nominations, including some of yours, and I must say I'm pretty overwhelmed by the idea of getting an article to FA class. Hopefully I will get there eventually... --Belovedfreak11:03, 29 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Please accept the nomination and answer the questions at the RfA page at your leisure. :-) Raystorm(¿Sí?)12:02, 29 July 2007 (UTC)Still having trouble with Jet123's previous nom.[reply]
Jake's pig source
Jake Gyllenhaal was a featured article, and I'm not sure that one weird, casual comment on his part merits inclusion in the article. But if you're so sure, you could at least format the citation in accordance with the style of the page. Thank you. --Melty girl19:16, 29 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I'm sorry, I didn't realize that you owned the Jake Gyllenhaal article, and no engagement with others' opinions is required of you. I stand corrected. --Melty girl02:53, 30 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
You misunderstood me, so I will try again without sarcasm. I made two points to you, first, my opinion that something you added to Jake Gyllenhaal was trivial (therefore potentially against Wiki policy), second that you did not format a citation in accordance with the page's format. Your answer to me -- "I wrote the article, please don't try to tell me how to format its references" -- indicated that you feel that you can take or leave Wikipedia policy as you wish. Hence my sarcastic response above. If you want people to respond to you well, don't take this kind of high and mighty attitude. Your work on the article is commendable, but it's the article itself that's important, not you -- and you are not infallible. It may be a small issue, but you don't have a special right to ignore the citation format, and it's wrong for you to snap at other Wikipedians who bring potential errors to your attention. The article is everyone's, and you should be pleased that someone else cares about preserving its quality. --Melty girl20:47, 30 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Hi, I've never talked to you before, but I was very surprised to see your RfA (I always assumed you were already an admin). Looking at your previous RfA, it seems you and I have much in common politically (I too am an active Conservative) and I just want to say that I definitely think you should be an admin, and I think the opposes on your current RfA are predominantly petty and poorly-supported. I hope your RfA passes, but if not, I would love to nominate you for a third attempt in a few months' time. WaltonOne20:12, 29 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I know how you feel - in my second RfA I was opposed for referring to one MfD nomination as "ludicrous and pedantic". (Fortunately I still passed.) All of us who participate actively in discussions have made one or two comments from time to time that, taken out of context, could be seen as incivil; sadly, the nature of the RfA process is such that one age-old mistake can bring down otherwise great candidates, and people are likely to pay more attention to one bad diff than to years of productive editing. I've seen this kind of thing happen time and time again. Like I said, I hope you pass, but if not I'll nominate you next time round. WaltonOne14:41, 3 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
WaltonOne has smiled at you! Smiles promote WikiLove and hopefully this one has made your day better. Spread the WikiLove by smiling at someone else, whether it be someone you have had disagreements with in the past or a good friend. Happy editing! Smile at others by adding {{subst:Smile}} to their talk page with a friendly message.
Maggie Gyllenhaal!!
A random note (after opposing your adminship candidacy- sorry): You have met Maggie Gyllenhaal, and I am insanely jealous. -- Kicking22201:15, 30 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
"Leader of the gay cabal."
ROFLMAO!!! You GO, Dev! Hahaha. BTW, though I don't get to drop in on the LGBT Project as often as I'd like, I think you've done a helluva great job with it, and I'm proud to be a far-off associate of all your hard work. Shoot, I'd vote for you as Life President of the Cabal--or better yet, Queen? Where's the Nom form for that? lol ;-) --Textorus07:22, 1 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
You're right, an election would be quite out of order. It would be much more fitting to follow WP:CONS and simply declare you, in the time-honored phrase, "our undoubted Queen." I'll start working on an Accession Council right now, Maj. :-D --Textorus22:36, 3 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
It is disheartening to watch the holier-than-thou clique at RfA ruin yet another good candidate's chance at helping the project because they still live in a world where everything is flowers and candy. Some of the opposes are utterly absurd, as if adminship were the Holy Grail of Wikipedia and somehow one must be perfect to be able to delete articles and wield a mop. They think you're incivil Dev, ha, the things I am thinking about saying (but won't) to the opposers on RfA are incivil, you're just opinionated and prefer not to gloss over that fact for the sake of someone's fragile psyche and self-esteem. I respect this even if people who edit Pokemon articles all day long can't. Your composure and civility during you're RfA prove you more the worthy of said designation. Good luck with everything else and happy editing. IvoShandor14:48, 3 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Aww. Thanks. That's nice of you. I meant what I said here and at your RfA. I had myself a similar experience so don't let it drag you down. You are a valued contributor indeed. : ) IvoShandor17:28, 3 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I'd just like to add a 'me too' to everything IvoShandor said :) Civility is nice, but not the be all and end all, and I prefer administrators who say what they really think and aren't afraid to tell people when they're being stupid. Kamryn · Talk22:24, 4 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I'm sorry to hear that, Dev, and I hope you reconsider. I didn't mean to turn on you, and hope you don't think I did…it was just so frustrating seeing you do exactly what they were nagging you about. You have a lot of admirers, you know.Proabivouac08:20, 16 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I have closed your RfA. I am afraid there was no consensus to promote you. Please address the concerns, and feel free to reapply in the future. Good luck. --Deskana(banana)17:15, 5 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Sorry it didn't work out, Dev. But do hang in there and apply again! You've worked tremendously hard and done lots of good wikithings; you'd be a fine admin.--Textorus17:16, 5 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I know this is the last thing you want to hear right now, but they do say third time's the charm... I don't doubt for a second you'll be an admin someday. Big hugs Raystorm(¿Sí?)14:27, 6 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Sorry to see they pooed on you again, honeybunch. Talk about casting your pearls before swine. I was away on vacation and just saw how it (didn't) work out. Fuck 'em, Dev. You don't need adminship to confirm to those of us who know you how much you've improved this damn place. With much love from your biggest fan, Jeffpw20:54, 10 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Hehehe. I was afraid of that. I can tell you why I did it though: if you set your computer monitor to 800x600 pixels, that's how it displays on my computer and that is even less aesthetically pleasing than the gallery. I sometimes forget that the way I can see these buggers is not the way most people have it displaying on their computer. I did up the screen resolution to 1024x768 (only two choices on my computer!) to take a look at how you all are probably seeing it - that's actually really good the way it is. Sorry 'bout that. Hope the scrolling reflist helped, at least. ZueJay (talk)00:07, 6 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Article on the color Lavender
I would suggest you ought to get together a group of people to monitor the article I wrote on the color Lavender. Someone who is apparently homophobic keeps deleting the "politics", "romantic love", and "sexuality" subsections of the "lavender in human culture section" (the three subsections about gays). Since I can't monitor the article all the time, I would suggest some of you monitor the "lavender (color)" article every few days to make sure those three sections aren't deleted. Best wishes, Keraunos06:27, 6 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Hello Dev. Note that the Nichols article has been gone over by a couple of people. Some of the refs have been tagged; I think it's because where there are direct quotes, a precise url is needed rather than a general site link. There's also a couple of buried questions regarding what happened in what year. With this stuff done, the FA review can be closed. Best, Marskell07:52, 6 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Hey I saw your comments on the WP:CVU discussion. I don't think you're an edit warrior at all Dev. People just all have their opinions about these controversial Wikiprojects and the strenuous MFDs some of them have faced. No one is out to sully the name of any user in these discussions. I posted that notice on WP:AN because I was concerned that we were going to have a can of worms being opened very soon, once more and more Wikipedians notice the red links at pages like Wikipedia:Vandalism and Wikipedia:Cleaning up vandalism. Don't get too hurt by the criticisms people may make toward yourself or others on the goings on of that painful MFD. We all are eventually criticized for any move we make, whether it be here on Wikipedia or real life. Best just to take it openly or ignore it if it seems not at all true.¤~Persian Poet Gal(talk)23:08, 9 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Dev: Well, I did my two presentations at Wikimania. The first one on Friday, the panel discussion with four Taiwanese college students, went great. It was a good discussion and the audience was into it. The debate about the value of Wikipedia is going on in some circles of Taiwanese education, between students and teachers, and we made our little mark.
My presentation on Saturday, my "big" paper--"Bright Air, Brilliant Fire: The Mind of Wikipedia" did not go as well. It seems that most of the audience (of maybe 20) was in there to rest on a hot day, and not really to see my presentation. Oh well, you win some, you lose some. If you were interested (few seem to have been), the paper can be found on one of the Wikimania pages:
http://wikimania2007.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Newimages&until=20070729171734
Or at least frustrated anyway. And in general that's a good way to describe a lot of the folks who consistently oppose from poorly constructed glass houses. That's all. Not that it's that big deal. Good luck in the future. IvoShandor22:24, 11 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Hail to the Chief
Yes, I watched the gay forum. Though I still support Hillary, I was impressed with both Kucinich and gravel. I might vote for Kucinich in the California primary--people say he's not electable, but if everybody voted for who s/he wanted to win, and not who s/he thought would win, we might have a different President in the White House today.
Don't let the bastards get you down, sweetie. Some of us here love you to pieces, and know what a valuable contribution you make to this Godforsaken place. Jeffpw06:06, 12 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I saw the highlights too in CNN. *Shakes head* Who was the guy who said it was a choice??? I loved Melissa there. *Grin* Only two were in favour of gay marriage, shucks. Anyway, I suscribe everything Jeff has said, including his great edit summary, hee hee. ;-) Love, Raystorm(¿Sí?)09:27, 12 August 2007 (UTC)Remember we have a contest going on when I come back![reply]
Nichols review
No problem helping with the review. Glad it was kept. It must be annoying knowing a link worked once upon a time only to find it dead. Cheers, Marskell13:58, 13 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Trust me, it isn't a threat, it's a promise. The article thoroughly disgusts me that it managed to get FA status on the quality and comprehensiveness that it is. I saw the page that was when it was voted, and it wasn't any better. Fictional characters do not get write-ups like biographies, which is what this article does. Not only does the IU information outweigh the OOU information 2 to 1, maybe more, but the article doesn't even give information about how the character came to be, and is riddled with original research. I haven't had the time to actually sit down and log everything wrong with the article to do a proper FAR, and I was mentioning it to another editor who took the liberty of tagging the article themselves. But now that I see people actually believe an article should look like this an still be FA status, you can be assured that I will thoroughly read over the article with every criteria of being FA. BIGNOLE (Contact me)21:57, 14 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Please don't be rude to other editors, as you were to Bignole on his talk page. I realise that you care about this character and that his history is important, but Bignole is right. Other FA fictional characters such as Jabba the Hutt and Padmé Amidala have concise "Appearances" section as opposed to long character histories. The Jack Harkness article, another LGBT television character with about three years of history who is being put up for FA, has also recently conformed to this example and is more accessible to non-fans as a result. You might want to look at my sandbox for the Buffy Summers character. While far from complete, I have managed to condense her history into a relatively brief "Television appearances" section, and she has four more years of far more detailed history than Andrew. The Andrew article looks fine to me with the exception of this section, and the OOU info is impressive for a minor television character. Just try not to get into fights with other editors. :) Paul73022:23, 14 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I'm sorry, but telling him you hope he will become a better person was a little rude, you have to admit. I know Bignole can be a little blunt sometimes, but seriously, listen to what he had to say. At the end of the day, we're only editing Wikipedia, it's not life or death. The more we help each other, the better the article will be, so let's learn to play together, okay? That goes for you too, Bigs, if you're listening. :P Paul73022:45, 14 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Andrew
Andrew Van De Kamp has been nominated for a featured article review. Articles are typically reviewed for two weeks. Please leave your comments and help us to return the article to featured quality. If concerns are not addressed during the review period, articles are moved onto the Featured Article Removal Candidates list for a further period, where editors may declare "Keep" or "Remove" the article from featured status. The instructions for the review process are here. Reviewers' concerns are here.
See honey? This is why I rarely edit here anymore. The dicks outweigh the collegial editors 10 to one here. It's not good for one's blood pressure or general frame of mind to contribute within this venomous nest of adders. That said, if you decide to cooperate with the Inquisition, you know you can count on me for support, both practical and moral. One more time: Don't let the bastards get you down. Jeffpw09:12, 16 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Look, why don't you actually try to defend the Andrew article if you honestly believe it to be FA? Wouldn't that be better than leaving sulky comments on the FAR and calling other editors "vengeful"? I know you put a lot of effort into the article but you seem to be taking this FAR extremely personal. Why do you feel that the character history is necessary in it's current form? Why do you believe the article to be FA? Please stop going in a huff when someone challenges your work and actually help to make it better. Paul73017:52, 12 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I don't want the article rewritten, I want the plot summary shortened to a reasonable length, that's all. Summarisation is not destruction; if people want to know every detail of Andrew's fictional life they can watch the show. I know you and Bignole have had an argument, but this isn't a vendetta against you. You still haven't answered my question as to why you think it's FA. Why do you think we need such a long plot summary? Paul73022:46, 12 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I wasn't planning on fighting you anywhere. I was annoyed by your insistance that there wasn't a problem, and my tone was wrong, but all my objections in the FAR are based on the criteria of FA status. Comprehension is the biggest issue, because the article is missing a lot of vital information that should be present, and it utilizes a lot of original research in places. The point of an FAR is not to delist an article from FA status, but to get it up to the current criteria. No one came to discuss the problems with the article, no one took any actions on the article. If you believe in something you have to fight for it, and all you've done (and the one random IP user) is say "this article is just fine" and not explained why it is fine. I've taken the time to review the article and point out issues with it, and you haven't bothered to show the same respect and at least acknowledge the complaints. If you choose not to, that's fine, it's your choice. I'm sorry that it had to come to this, and that we had to be at each other's throats beforehand. You're a very passionate person about the articles you work on, I can see that--I'm the same way myself--and it can be both a gift and a hinderance for community based work. BIGNOLE (Contact me)22:56, 12 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]
IRC
Hey Dev, good news. :-) We now have the IRC channel we talked about. More info on that here, but let me know when you'll log in so I can give you OP powers (as the coordinator of the project). :-) I'll be hanging around today at odd times, perhaps we'll meet there (I don't expect much people being today the first day it exist, although there are three people there now haha). I've found the IRC channels wickedly helpful in the past, so I hope this one works out too. Cheers Raystorm(¿Sí?)12:16, 15 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
/me does the big-point-won-in-tennis-match celebration: punch the air double-fisted and noisily shout "Come on!!" Well done, that's superb! Magnificent results! May I ask which institution of higher education (if any) you are planning to grace with your presence? Anyway, a resounding bravo! Cheers, MoreschiTalk09:16, 17 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Advice?
Thank you for agreeing to the adoption! I have (I think) joined the LGBT group and had a go at looking at the list of pages that had been picked up by the bot for having LGBT keywords.
However many of them are not related to LGBT and i was wondering if i should remove them from the list, and if so should i just do that by the standard page edit or do the individual pages need to be tagged/untagged in some way? Pi13:39, 19 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Well, you´re a born leader, honey! You took out the main image from this article last night/ early this morning, and I guess forgot to put it back. Shortly thereafter somebody followed your example, and deleted ALL the images. I have restored it to how it was before the evening´s festivities. Jeffpw11:01, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Your AFD on Lanny Barby is improperly. Do you wish to put her up for deletion? Or did you change your mind partway through? Tabercil12:10, 21 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
If you care to weigh in, there is a minor edit war going on regarding the appropriateness of mentioning Jake's awards in the lead. 17Drew is being very persistent about removal, but I don't think his arguments support his position. Did this lead make it through the FAC process? --Melty girl23:04, 22 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Congratulations on Jake Gyllenhaal being featured on the front page today!
I guess it realy is worthwhile when an article get's FA status. Amazing to think that your worlds are being seen on the frontpage by over 300,000 people :S. That's pretty damn amazing actualy, well done! (Pi15:47, 23 August 2007 (UTC))[reply]
Please don't criticize me simply because I wish to minimize the number of death threats and obscene emails and phone-calls I receive. Shankbone is misrepresenting my position: I have not asked for Michael Moore's website to be delinked permanently. I have simply asked for policy to be enforced evenly, and for on-wiki editors not to use my real name on-wiki. He has also misrepresented the facts in several other regards, but I won't bore you with the details. THF20:31, 25 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Your response seems to severely misunderstand my 20:31 comment. I am not talking about off-wiki links. I am talking about on-wiki violations of on-wiki policy by on-wiki users posting my personal information in talk-page comments and saying that it is okay because of the fact that other people know this information already. WP:HARASS is quite clear that the policy "applies in the case of editors who have requested a change in username, but whose old signatures can still be found in archives."THF20:52, 25 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
THF has smiled at you! Smiles promote WikiLove and hopefully this one has made your day better. Spread the WikiLove by smiling at someone else, whether it be someone you have had disagreements with in the past or a good friend. Happy editing! Smile at others by adding {{subst:Smile}} to their talk page with a friendly message.
Would you consider leaving Hypnosadist a note on his talk page that you mentioned him at WP:AN/I? It would be a nice courtesy, and perhaps would tone down some of the bad blood that is going around. :-) --Iamunknown20:26, 26 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Actually, it might be good if you removed the post. Other editors are suggesting he quit the histrionics, and we should wait for a while before another WP:AN/I imbroglio. ;-) --Iamunknown20:31, 26 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Regarding your comment on the AFD of the Ted Frank article
Of everything that was posted pro or con, I thought that your concise comment was the clearest and most-well reasoned. I've watched a number of articles stripped of content, then nominated for deletion because of lack of content, then using that deletion as the primary reasoning for not allowing the article to exist in the future, even when more content is available. I'd hate to see the Frank article go in that direction. Thanks for cutting through the silly agendas! Ossified20:41, 26 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Ditto. You were brilliant. :) I'm not going to vote though, unless THF votes (unless policy prevents people from voting about their own articles, which I would unserstand). — $PЯINGεrαgђ 22:34, 26 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Hey, Dev920, just a note to say I replied to your concern on my talk (I didn't see your note at the top until after I already posted it. :-)). ATren23:52, 26 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
obesity litigation
N.B. The wikipedia format {{SSRN|926536}}, which appears as SSRN926536, and provides a better link (as well as an abstract for a more accurate description of the article). THF01:46, 27 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
wikified
I wikified the article a bit. I do not see any major problems with it, which is why the nom for AfD is so weird. Anyway, I really want to add Pharmaceutical diversion to the "See also" list, but I'll never get the mop if I do that! ;-) 01:05, 1 September 2007 (UTC) Unsigned previously by Bearian13:46, 5 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I have not been able to find much more from Ghits than what is already in the article. I added a couple of cites. I suspect that more is on his blogs or a database such as the Wall Street Journal's. Bearian16:52, 5 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]
an/i apology
I apologize if my request was poorly phrased and that I misunderstood you, or I would have clarified sooner. I meant it as a request going forward, not as an accusation of wrongdoing. I was surprised to have my real name popping up on my watchlist on a thread that had nothing to do with me, and my perturbation perhaps came through too strongly in my wording. THF04:14, 27 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Oops
Hello Dev
I've been busy with work and school, so I have't been visiting wikipedia too often lately. :(
Anyways, yea I think I am ready to be unadopted lol, although I'd like to remain friends (is there something like that on WP?).
I see you're inactive for the moment, so best of luck to you for whatever you're doing, and I'll talk to you when your'e back.
Since Jeffpw seems peeved at me, I figured I'd add my additional 2 cents here, assuming you don't mind. Another reason for the tag would be his vocal opinions about the rights (or lack thereof) of the LGBT community. Ben Hocking(talk|contribs)22:13, 31 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
The media did not universally refer to the film this way, and in fact, neither of the characters defined themselves in this way. The phrase wasn't in use in the 1960s, the whole issue of the film wasn't what to call themselves, but how to deal with the relationship they had. No matter what the supposed orientation of the characters was, they were both involved in relationships with women and were struggling with societal norms at the time. That puts the issue into a much more complicated light than simply gay cowboy. This has been discussed at length in the talk section. The phrasing that replaced gay cowboy in the lead of this article was much more descriptive of the plight both of the characters were experiencing. Working in this phrase seems to me to be much more a political agenda than it is an interest in representing the core story of the film. What I wrote is more balanced and descriptive and has met from no other opposition in this other than in your reversion. Wildhartlivie14:26, 1 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I did not say that no media used that term, however I pointed you to an article which only used that phrase in the context of demonstrating how the media trivialized the story. You asserted that the media, as a whole, used it to describe the film. You don't be silly, the point in that article is that the film isn't about the issue of sexual orientation as much as it as about a love story, period. Again, this appears to be more of a political issue than an interest in portraying the film for what it is. In comment to the poster in the section below this, what was used in the 1960s is quite relevant, since the film depicts the culture of that time, not in 2005. Wildhartlivie15:07, 1 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]
"Gay cowboy"
I had a Jake Gyllenhaal edit war that I recently lost on the "gay cowboy" issue -- did you get a chance to check out the talk page yet? Very frustrating. Sadly, it resulted in what you just (rightly) changed. And this new commenter: "The term 'gay' wasn't even used in the 1960s" -- this was a 2005 film! Hello?! --Melty girl14:28, 1 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]
The problem, of course, with the "scare quotes because someone wrote it" approach is that it explicitly prohibited by WP's MoS. See Wikipedia:Words to avoid for more information on writing according to WP standards. Please leave off sticking in some bad characterization because it "sounds cute" or whatever the rationale du jour is for poor writing. LotLE×talk07:01, 2 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Well, having been one of the (far too many) editors who worked to develop a stable, more or less NPOV version of this article, I have to say I'm a bit flattered. On the other hand, I have to wonder what you see in the article that makes you feel it's one of the "best of the best." You've got a lot more experience in article development than do I, so I'd appreciate your insights. Thanks. Risker19:43, 1 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Comments, Questions, Notes
How's "B" coming along? Almost ready for FLC?
More women's pics for "T"?
Let me know when the newsletter is ready and I'll send it out.
I've been trying to catch you on IRC, but we haven't been on at the same time. I'm about to head out for a minute - will you be around in 1/2 an hour? I'll check in on the LGBT channel.
I haven't read his article, but is Giorgio Armani's sexuality really disputed? It says so on the list.
In my mind, he seems to have overshot the 3rr, after I warned him he was at his limit. Why don't you have a look at the edit he made, my warning, and his reply to see what action, if any, you want to make. Jeffpw19:41, 2 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]
FAC and Essjay
FYI - I know you've been working on getting the Essjay article up to FA status. I archived it from the FAC early during my archiving/promoting tonight because I feel the current nomination has basically no chance of getting a consensus to promote. You've gotten lots of feedback about the article from which to make improvements. I don't normally leave these kinds of message, but this was an exceptional case and I didn't want you to feel discouraged Raul65407:21, 4 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Hello, I am a Gay activist member of Queer Nation and believe in outing. I am a social activist too who had a friend murdered by a CIA backed death squad in Latin America. I have had some problems here on Wiki for my beliefs and because English is not my first langauge, and other things. I have been called homophobic for believing in outing Larry Craig, Matt Drudge, Matt Sanchez, Merv Griffin and others and was in trouble just a few days ago for using the word Queer! Will you be my mentor? Thanks. •smedleyΔbutler•22:12, 4 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Message from Coordinator: It's been almost two months since the last newsletter came out, so there are a fair few people who haven't really been kept up with our project. I'd like to welcome all those who have joined and those who have returned, and strongly reccommend that you use the talkpage for any queries or problems you have. Happy editing!
Article News
The ongoing effort to create a comprehensive list of LGB people has begun to bear fruit - /A AND the /W-Z lists have been featured! Congratulations to Dev920 and SatyrTN who nominated them respectively. Please consider pitching in the the remaining lists to help us get them finished before the end of the year.
Project News
WP:LGBT now has an IRC channel! It is #LGBTProject on Freenode. Users without IRC or Xchat can use the java app at java.freenode.net to access the channel from their web browser. Hope to see you in there sometime!
David Shankbone has taken a LOT of photos. An idea has been mooted to create a page for listing people who are willing to take images in their area on request, please give your thoughts here.
Considerable discussion has recently been held on our coverage of same sex marriage, civil unions and domestic partnerships. You may be interested to read it.
The list of LGBT people to be sorted has now been reduced by over 30%. Please help us with it, all of us adding just one person a day would have a dramatic effect!
A gay cabal conspiracy ghost has been created to do with what you will. :)
Wooh, massive gay conspiracy...
Member News
Since the last newsletter was released, we have had more members been labelled inactive than who have signed up - please consider recruiting a few more people if you can, a WikiProject is only as good as its members. :)
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 Dev920 know.
Hello Dev920, WatchingWhales12:39, 7 September 2007 (UTC) has smiled at you! Smiles promote WikiLove and hopefully this one has made your day better. Spread the WikiLove by smiling at someone else, whether it be someone you have had disagreements with in the past or a good friend. Go on, smile! Cheers, and happy editing![reply] Smile at others by adding {{subst:Smile}} to their talk page with a friendly message.
Situation in Portuguese language Wikipedia
Hi, Dev. I finally started editing the Portuguese language Wikipedia for real. They don't have a lot of articles and, as one would expect, they have almost no LGBT-related articles. That Wikipedia had no article about homosexuality and religion, nor about LGBT and countries, nor about same-sex marriage and civil partnerships by country. I don't know yet about LGBT users. I'm going to create the page for the "Projeto Estudos LGBT". Do you have advice and suggestions? A.Z.20:44, 9 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you a lot for the advice about bringing new people to the project. There's already another member! I posted a message on his/her talk page, and they joined. A.Z.00:56, 11 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]
After more people join, what do we do? We use that page as a place to debate improvements for articles about LGBT-related issues, of course, but what are the most important things that the WikiProject LGBT Studies does that would be hard to do without it? A.Z.00:59, 11 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Orphaned non-free media (Image:Arbcom.jpg)
Thanks for uploading Image:Arbcom.jpg. The media description page currently specifies that it is non-free and may only be used on Wikipedia under a claim of fair use. However, it is currently orphaned, meaning that it is not used in any articles on Wikipedia. If the media was previously in an article, please go to the article and see why it was removed. You may add it back if you think that that will be useful. However, please note that media for which a replacement could be created are not acceptable for use on Wikipedia (see our policy for non-free media).
If you have uploaded other unlicensed media, please check whether they're used in any articles or not. You can find a list of 'image' pages you have edited by clicking on the "my contributions" link (it is located at the very top of any Wikipedia page when you are logged in), and then selecting "Image" from the dropdown box. Note that all non-free media not used in any articles will be deleted after seven days, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. Thank you. BetacommandBot05:23, 11 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I was hoping they wouldn't notice
But sadly, the Wales/Sanger edit warriors have noticed the inclusion of the photos and will now continue edit warring to keep Sanger's photo in as long as Wales's is there. While I do think that the photos of critics was an inspired idea, it seems these folks look for any opportunity and will go to any length to continue this little battle. And, sorry to say...it was predictable. Risker00:04, 13 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Orphaned non-free media (Image:Arbcom.jpg)
Thanks for uploading Image:Arbcom.jpg. The media description page currently specifies that it is non-free and may only be used on Wikipedia under a claim of fair use. However, it is currently orphaned, meaning that it is not used in any articles on Wikipedia. If the media was previously in an article, please go to the article and see why it was removed. You may add it back if you think that that will be useful. However, please note that media for which a replacement could be created are not acceptable for use on Wikipedia (see our policy for non-free media).
If you have uploaded other unlicensed media, please check whether they're used in any articles or not. You can find a list of 'image' pages you have edited by clicking on the "my contributions" link (it is located at the very top of any Wikipedia page when you are logged in), and then selecting "Image" from the dropdown box. Note that all non-free media not used in any articles will be deleted after seven days, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. Thank you. BetacommandBot04:04, 14 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Hello, Dev! Did you by any chance manage to catch the film on TV (and onto DVD)? If not, that's fine, but if you did and you could send me a copy, that would be unbelievably cool. Take care! — Emiellaiendiay05:27, 16 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I have no idea about when, where, or how the film's shown. Apparently there's no US distributor though, sigh... There's now an official site for the movie, and it actually provides information! So things are progressing. And thank you! Take care. — Emiellaiendiay17:39, 16 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Birmingham meetup
Hi there, I noticed you put your name down as interested in a Birmingham meetup. Just letting you know, the date is now set as Saturday 20th October. We really need input on where, and what time we will meet, so comments would be much appreciated on the page. Thanks. Majorly (talk) 13:06, 16 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]
List of LGBT rights activists
You removed the recommendation for deletion without any resolution of the issues stated for removal of list. True, definitions for inclusion could be developed, but the article has existed for over a year and half in its present form without criteria IN VIOLATION of WP:list guidelines and for even longer without guidelines under another title. Your removal of the tag without providing any guidelines is completely unproductive.207.69.137.1523:07, 25 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Disputed fair use rationale for Image:Sandi dubowski.jpg
Thanks for uploading Image:Sandi dubowski.jpg. However, there is a concern that the rationale you have provided for using this image under "fair use" may be invalid. Please read the instructions at Wikipedia:Non-free content carefully, then go to the image description page and clarify why you think the image qualifies for fair use. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to ensure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.
Dev, just so you don't get confused trying to figure out why this got tagged, the image was in Sandi Simcha DuBowski, but the only fair use rationale on the image description (written by you) was for Trembling Before G-d. My understanding of the NFC policy is that screenshots and the like cannot be used for living persons and only for illustrative purposes on the articles of the media they are from, so I removed it from Sandi Simcha DuBowski (so it won't be listed in the links, and you'd have a hard time tracking this down, hence my note). However, I noticed that it was removed from Trembling too, I'm assuming in response to the FAC discussion, so it's now not used in any articles at all, which is also against WP:NFCC, so unless you feel it would improve Trembling Before G-d, it's probably going to get nuked. Cheers, —bbatsell¿?✍04:38, 29 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]
...but we once talked about creating a FA guide. :-) Knorpel translated what I did on es:wiki, you can find it here. I haven't checked how good the translation is, but it looks okay. Wikiterms should be rechecked though. If you think this could be helpful in any way, let me know. ;-) Cheers Raystorm(¿Sí?)09:38, 11 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]
The LGBT studies project has been rather quiet of late. Though we've added over 180 new members in the last year, only a small percentage are active participants. If you haven't visited our project or talk page in a while, please stop by for a look. Also, if you happen to bump into another editor who you feel might enjoy working with us, please extend an invitation. There's lot's do do, and the active members would sincerely appreciate some help.
Our Peer review project is struggling at the present, with only a few people reviewing the articles. While it is certainly possible to submit articles for a general peer review, a review by members of the LGBT community can be of additional value for LGBT specific writing. There are several articles currently up for review on a wide range of topics. At the very least, reading the articles will undoubtedly broaden your intellectual horizons :-)
At the moment, David Le Brocq, Malmö Devilants and Trajectory Hermeneutics are up for deletion review. Please take a look at them and make your voice heard at the deletion review. Articles nominated for deletion also present a challenge for improvement. See what you can do, and watchlist our deletion review page.
The Pederasty articles continue to be a point of controversy both within and outside of our community. Various editors have suggested that to include them as LGBT Project related somehow taints the project and brings Wikipedia into disrepute. Other editors have stated that the articles, and especially the Pederasty article, are part of the core of LGBT studies. Well meaning editors continue to remove our tags from the articles themselves as well as the talk pages. If you have time, please read the articles and watchlist them to protect them from vandalism and well meaning but counterproductive edits.
The list of LGBT people has survived its 4th nomination for deletion. Please watchlist this list to protect it from vandalism and unsourced additions. There are many in Wikipedia who would like to see this Featured status list removed from the project. It is up to us to keep it to such a high caliber that it never is removed.
Our project member David Shankbone is now working as a journalist for Wikinews, as well as continuing to improve our project and Wikipedia as a whole with his photographs. A sincere thank you goes out to him for all of his hard work. Wikipedia would not shine nearly as brightly without your contributions, David.
Happy Halloween, everybody! Be happy and celebrate!
The surviving life partner of prominent LGBT rights activist Barbara Gittings recently called one of our editors and, among other things, complimented us on what a great job our project is doing on Wikipedia. Thanks to everyone who contributes to this project, either through their article edits or support for other project members. We really are making an difference here!
Member assistance
Some of our project members have been having difficulties related to editing on the encyclopedia. If you are feeling frustrated or distressed by your editing experience, please don't keep it to yourself. Wikipedia is a collaborative effort, and we are all here to help one another. Drop a line on our talkpage or on another editor's page, and other members of the LGBT project will happily give you the support you want and need.
Lastly, Halloween is just around the corner. More than most holidays, Halloween is a holiday embraced by and tailor made to our community (though God only knows why we are invisible in the Halloween article here. Perhaps somebody would like to rectify that editing oversight). Have fun, everybody, and remember to both trick and treat!
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 Dev920 know.
What do you mean "disrupt people's lives"? That is a very loaded charge, and it is completely unfounded. Please explain, in detail, which edits you consider to be "personally disruptive"; otherwise, please retract it. ATren14:46, 17 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]
It was my message, and you complained about it, so I assumed you wanted it removed. Keep it as long as you like. And while we're talking about it, what exactly did you consider to be "personally disruptive"? Something you saw from me must have triggered such a charge, and I would appreciate knowing what it was so that I may correct it. ATren17:44, 18 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I was wondering if you were planning on attending their concert in London or elsewhere in the U.K., and if you wanted to meet up if you were. I would love to see them, and doubt they will ever make it to Holland. Let me know. I bet it will sell out fast. Jeffpw17:06, 18 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]
OMG!! Really?!? (I mean, I know you said it was just a possibility, but allow me to get excited). I have been listening to songs from their new album, and it's one of their best. I would be thrilled if I could go see them live, but didn't want to go alone. Let's hope we can work this out. SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO thrilling! Westlife!!!!!!!!! WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Jeffpw18:03, 18 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]
ON the BLP noticeboard, that guy who tagged the article is now questioning if the refs are reliable. I think they are and have said so. One site has a code of ethics from the zMexican Journalism Commission, and another is both land and net based. The rest are a site from a TV show, a site from a TV network, and his fan site. How much more reliable do we need to get? Jeffpw19:42, 3 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I understand your desire here, but you have to read the policy. If he does not currently publicly self-identify as gay, then we cannot say that he is. It's black and white - there's speculation, rumor and such, but if he has refused to make public statements, we can't categorize him. FCYTravis23:52, 3 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Hey, Peeps, it's that time of the month again (no not that time — get your mind out of the gutter): time for another monthly edition of the LGBT Project'sLove Boat newsletter from your cruise directorMiss Julie. So much has been happening this month and I just can't wait to tell you all about it!!!
Alice and her harasser
Let's start with some good news: Alice and the project lost the bothersome sock puppet who had been disrupting many articles we monitor, and now most of us can edit in relative peace. Congratulations, Alice, for being able to come out of semi-retirement. Benjiboi, on the other hand, has gained an anonymous IP stalker who seems to be more Catholic than the Pope and who has a hard-on for the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. We seem to have a sort of Yin and Yang thing going on here, which helps both to keep us in balance and on our toes <bright smiles all around>.
Harry Potter and his homosexual teacher
Albus Dumbledore got outed this month, and was immediately adopted by our project. The international brouhaha surrounding this disclosure reached all the way to Wikiland, and his article was briefly locked due to homophobic vandalism (as well as well meaning editors who just couldn't believe that that nice man could possibly be gay). This is a wonderful article to add to your watchlist, and will surely give you hours of reverting fun on cold winter days.
"My Fellow Americans"
On a more serious note, Fireplace has suggested a new article series about LGBT rights in the United States, state by state. This ambitious topic will surely require many editors and a lot of research, but has the potential to add further prestige to our already prestigious project.
Same name, same sexuality: a riddle for the ages
Francis Bacon (not the new gay one, but the old gay one ... though they're actually both dead, now that I think about it) has also aroused passions here on Wikipedia, with editors opposing his sexuality being disclosed in his biography. The always helpful Haiduc has thoughtfully provided any number of sources, but it is slow going getting his point across. Anyone want to lend a hand?
Beat writer arouses Irish guy
And speaking of passions, Jack Kerouac has inflamed the senses once again with editors, including administrator Irishguy, mounting a spirited defense to keep him as heterosexual as possible for Wikipedia purposes. Why? I don't know. Perhaps some of you can drop by the talk page and ask your questions there. I feel certain a stimulating debate will ensue that will be enjoyed by all.
Love those Texas Longhorns
Did you know that one of our Featured articles, Lawrence v. Texas, lost its shiny gold star? That was a shocker. It has been suggested that we turn our attention to it in an effort to restore it to its former glory. I took a peek, and it does need our help badly. For our American editors, it would seem almost a civic duty to edit it (not that I'm hinting....).
Point and Counterpoint
Though it was far too intellectual a debate for a mere cruise director like myself to take part in, Intersexuality was certainly a hot topic a week or two ago. The thrust of the debate was over inclusion in our project. Lots of good editors had lots of good opinions. For those too lazy to check out the discussion, we decided to leave it out for now.
Drudgery on offer
Peer review is, as always, short staffed and seemingly unloved. Wouldn't you feel better about yourself and the world in general if you took a few minutes to read one of the listed articles and offer some helpful advice? I know I'd feel better if you did.
"My Fellow Americans" redux
The article LGBT movements in the United States certainly raised eyebrows last week, especially when it was discovered that copyrighted content had been added to our article. Tragedy was averted at the last minute, though, when the original hosts of the article where the material had been pilfered agreed to make it free to everyone. Our thanks to them, whoever they are. Busy Bee that I am, I haven't had time to read it, but I'm sure it's sensational.
Not content to run for Best Actress, plucky Bannon won a Best supporting actress Oscar... whoops, I meant to say Ann is also getting more than her share of womanly attention on the Good Article list. Joining her on this exalted plane are Freddy Mercury, Waylon Smithers and Lance Bass. Good articles indeed, and the last one mentioned just goes to show that one needn't admire the subject of an article to appreciate the effort put into making him worthwhile reading. What on earth Britney ever saw in him I'll never know. Truly a riddle cloaked in an enigma and wrapped around a puzzle.
On a personal note, your already overworked cruise director is being cyberly whipped almost daily by Nemissimo, who desperately wants to get the German BDSM translation copy edited and used as a replacement for the current one. It's such a ... err, stimulating topic that I am sure many of you will want to join the copy editing fun. Jump right in, folks! It's so lonely copy editing it all by my lonesome!
Late breaking news
A little birdie just whispered in my ear that our noble collaboration project was delisted from the Community Portal due to inactivity. When asked how this scandalous turn of events could have occurred, the answer I received was "we suck at stuff like that". Well. In the first place, I disagree that sucking should be considered a negative, but to each his or her own. In the second place, I have full confidence that we can and will collaborate with other projects in the future. So let's not view this as a setback (even though it is), but rather a challenge to improve (and good Lord, I sound almost Wikipedian!).
Champagne dreams and caviar kisses
Lastly, the holidays are rapidly approaching. Our American cousins are currently getting ready to slaughter masses of poultry in an effort to show their gratitude and generally peaceful demeanor, and those of the Canadian persuasion, trendsetters that they are, celebrated a bit early this year. I'm sure all us foreigners will join together in wishing them all a very happy Thanksgiving on their respective holidays, both already celebrated and forthcoming... though I would hope somebody would enlighten me as to why they don't celebrate it on the same day. I was awake all last night trying to figure that one out.
In the spirit of this peculiarly North American holiday, let me take a moment to thank all of our editors for their contributions to this project. It's people like you who make people like me...well, a "people person"! May all your Wiki days be bright, and may your Love Boat never turn into a Poseidon.
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Is this source reliable enough to your mind? I figure it's easier to add the Reese stuff in a well-written, well-sourced way ourselves, rather than deal with the inevitable poorly-written, unsourced additions that will keep repeatedly popping up. --Melty girl17:15, 14 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I think People is a very reliable source. It is a daughter of Time-Life news, and is fact checked. Yes, it's shallow and fluffy, but that doesn't make it wrong. I don't know what Dev thinks of it, but since your question came after my linking of it, I thought I would give my opinion. Jeffpw17:25, 14 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
You are familiar with the ArbCom, and I now have Cool Hand Luke and ATren trolling my edits, reverting them, when they meeting guidelines. I've raised the issue on the Admin board. Can you make a statement? --David Shankbone16:51, 14 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Featured List of the Day Experiment
There have been a series of proposals to initiate a Featured List of the Day on the main page. Numerous proposals have been put forth. After the third one failed, I audited all WP:FL's in order to begin an experiment in my own user space that will hopefully get it going. Today, it commences at WP:LOTD. Afterwards I created my experimental page, a new proposal was set forth to do a featured list that is strikingly similar to my own which is to do a user page experimental featured list, but no format has been confirmed and mechanism set in place. I continue to be willing to do the experiment myself and with this posting it commences. Please submit any list that you would like to have considered for list of the day in the month of January 2008 by the end of this month to WP:LOTD and its subpages. You may submit multiple lists for consideration.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:LOTD) 01:07, 16 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Jihad for Love
Wow, that's so cool! And you met Sandi Simcha DuBowski! Any chance you took a free-use photo for Wikipedia? Haha. So the movie is showing in SF? That's great. Do you know any details about it, like when or where? The website only lists screenings outside the US. — Emiellaiendiay00:03, 18 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I see you are part of the adopt-a-user thing...
I was wondering if you'd like to 'adopt' me... i think i would have an interest in perhaps some similar types of articles as you ;)
...for helping me navigate the waters of my surprisingly peaceful RFA, which closed successfully with 85 supports, 1 oppose, and 0 neutral.
I would particularly like to thank Acalamari and Alison, my nominators, and everyone who watched the page and ran the tally.
If there is anything I can do to be of service in the future, please feel free to contact me. (Oh, and if you hate RfA Thankspam, please forgive me. I promise I won't block you for deleting it ;-))
And forgive me if I need a Wikibreak now and then (like now. I'm exhausted!). You wouldn’t want to see me climbing the Reichstag, now would you?
Off to flail around with my new mop! (what?!)
Kathryn NicDhàna♫♦♫ This RfA thanks inspired by Neranei's, which was inspired by VanTucky's which was in turn inspired by LaraLove's which was inspired by The Random Editor's, which was inspired by Phaedriel's original thanks.
i dont have two adopters anyway...
I only have one... as like I had to do for the second one that replied, I could not accept, as i had already been given one. At the time when I wrote the message to you, I had no adopters... I am sorry... but I did message you with a genuine interest for adoption. Iamandrewrice (talk) 13:17, 28 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Hey Dev920. I'm writing the WikiProject report this week on WikiProject LGBT studies, which I noticed you coordinate. So, to spice up the story this week, I will give you a short interview :)
Q: What is the best way for users unfamiliar with LGBT topics or new to Wikipedia to get involved in the project?
A:
Q: What are some of the departments in the project?
A:
Q: Are there any ongoing discussions pertaining to project issues or articles in the project's scope?
A:
Q: What are some of the features of the project's website?
A:
Q: What are some of the project's most recent achievements?
Hi Dev,
I hope you are well.
Since you adopted me i've been trying to get more involved in the whole 'wikipedia thing'. I went to the meetup in Birmingham which was interesting, have started getting the signpost etc but i wondered if you could advise me on a couple of niggling queeries.
I've been looking into making a bot as i have a few ideas of automated functions i'd like done. I have (i think) good enough programming experience to make the thing but despite reading the articles on bots i am still a little confused about the rules.
Before i request bot approval am i allowed to either use the software to make edits simply to test the code or idealy let it loose to think for itself, provided it was confined to my own userspace? I created an account for the bot to use too.
I also want to make a determined effort towards editing a connected bunch of articles and getting them up to a decent standard and as there is no current wikiproject with any oversight over these articles would you recommend i make one? I wouldn't expect a huge ammount of interest as the idea i have is nowhere near as mainstream as something like LGBT but i thought that there must be other interested people out there and it would be a good place to collaborate, share info etc.
Thank you for getting back to me, i asked SatyrTN about the bots, and as for the userproject, the one i was thinking of is Cambridge. There unfortunately isn't currently one, nor an East Anglia. :(
I just had a quick poke around your Bradford and it looks quite interesting, good luck with that. I'll keep the idea in mind i think for now because i'm a bit busy with uni interviews and stuff so don't quite have the time right now to make such a thing anyway.
I wanna goooo, but I won't have my exams' timetable for January until next week! I fervently hope some tickets are available then. I wanna go I wanna go I wanna go! Raystorm(¿Sí?)20:43, 3 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Quelle Suprise! King James is a Queen!
Our dear Haiduc, never a stranger to controversy, recently decided to delve into the wardrobe of the British Monarchy, and what did he discover? King James had more than appreciative eyes for strapping young men! Naturally, Haiduc felt the need to share this news with the community, but instead of being praised for his scholarship, he was reviled. In fact, one rabid heterocentrist even rummaged around in his own wardrobe until he found an old pair of socks to play with. All seemed lost until astute editor Jeffpw noticed some odd postings and did some sleuthing of his own. The socks were uncovered, the Wicked Witch was melted and readers the world over were able to learn that Good King James regularly ordered tube steak from the menu of the day. Thank you, Haiduc! Thank you, Jeff! And let Miss Julie add (for readers who might not know) that tube steak tastes just like chicken!
It's Britney, Bitch!
Well, maybe it's not Miss Thang, herself, but it's the next best thing: Chris Crocker! he stirs up just about as much controversy as his idol does, even here on Wikipedia. Though it's all a bit of a muddle, one of our editors hopes you can drop by the talk page and leave a message of hope for those battling the forces of obstructionism in that little corner of the Wiki World. It is so hard to spread enlightenment. As Miss Parker herself said, "You can lead a whore to culture, but you can't make her think".
Game show for nerds
Wallowing in cash from the latest beg-a-thon, the powers-that-be have decided to sponser a little contest here to improve the articles, with a Grand prize of $100. Yeah. Just enough for a Burger King dinner for the family. Still, the thought is nice and the goal is noble, so we should support it. Our little Queer beehive has taken a look at what's on offer, and both the Greek Traditionalists and Daughters of Bilitis are well represented. The ever useful SatyrTN has made a little list, which can be found here (if that malignant bot hasn't archived it already, that is). So find a pal, roll up your sleeves and dive right in. Let's show this Encyclopedia just what Queers with firecrackers up their....err, I mean, let's show the others what we can do.
Jón Þór Birgisson
I can't pronounce his name, but he's awfully cute, he's deliciously foreign, and best of all...he's GAY! But he won't be for long, if certain users have their way. A concerted effort has been under way for a while now, designed to neuter poor Jon (pretend I put a little accent thingy over that O) and make him into a sort of rockin' Ken doll. So please watchlist this hunka man, and keep him queer! If anybody questions you, tell them "Miss Julie sent me".
TranSanta
Everybody loves a sequel
Readers not afflicted with Alzheimer's will remember that last month we had a little story about Alice and her harasser. That proved so popular that we bring you the sequel: Benjiboi and his stalker. After a chance meeting at the Michael Lucas article, this anonymous user took a shine to our Benjiboi, and has been showering him with attention on virtually every board on Wikipedia. Flattered though he is, Benjiboi finds the attention a bit distracting, and administrators have been seeking various remedies for this. It has proven difficult, as the stalker has an IP address that changes quicker than Superman in a telephone booth. So perhaps some of you would like to watchlist Benjiboi's page, and lend a hand if you see some love letters from an 11 digit friend. I was actually thinking we should get Alice's harasser and Benjiboi's stalker together. Then we could have another sequel, sort of like Freddy vs. Jason. Any bets as to who would win??
Not quite the second coming, but special just the same
Let me be the first to give a warm, wet, Love Boat kiss (though not with tongue) to our newest Project members: Jacksinterweb, Cleduc, Pigman, Becksguy and Iamandrewrice. Even in the month of our Saviour's birth, your popping into our Wikipedian lives is a blessed event indeed. As Jesus Himself said, "Live long and prosper". He did say that, didn't he? I think he said it. In any event, if he was standing next to me now, I'm sure he'd say it, and add, "Happy homo editing!"
Battle of the Wikipedia Stars!
Indomitable Ann Bannon is holding her own in Wikipedia's answer to American Idol: The Featured Article candidate list! For four feverish weeks, she has mastered the challenges and not been eliminated from the competition. Drop by the FAC page and show Ann you love her....or give her the hook (I'm not supposed to tell you how to vote). Giving our plucky Ann reason to hope is the recent promotion of List of gay, lesbian or bisexual people: Sa-Sc. If Miss Julie has her way, we will have the entire alphabet of Queerdom Featured here on Wikipedia soon! And I would be remiss if I did not give a warm, Lesbian salute to our own Belovedfreak, who showed Wikipedia with But I'm a Cheerleader that even pom poms are no protection from the Love that dare not speak its name, and got a gold star for her efforts.
Climbing the Wikipedia career ladder is User: Tim1965, who has not only written, but is now promoting Reel Affirmations to Good article status. Best of luck, Tim, and remember: there are no small parts, only small actors. We're sure you'll be trading that green circle for a gold star soon (assuming you get the green in the first place!).
Santa's on his gay way!
Santa needs elves
Yes, I know: packages need buying, trees need trimming, egg nog needs drinking. The holidays make many demands on our time. It's ...well, it's a bitch, is what it is. So I wouldn't blame you for skipping this little section and putting off my request until next year. But...think of the children. Our future. They need quality information about the homosexual "lifestyle" if we are to indoctrinate them properly. That's why I am asking you to drop by our Peer review area and give your meaning as to the efforts of your fellow gay Wikipedians. And think: in this season of kindness and good will to all, isn't it nice that I am pointing you to someplace where you can (in a Wikiloving way, of course) rip someone a new asshole? Think about it...and those children with their shiny, bright eyes, thanking you for contributing to their future.
Even more festively, consider joining in on the deletion discussions of our favorite articles. Here you can bandy about such words as "homophobia", "Right-wing Christian agenda" and my personal favorite, "just who do you think you're pushing around?!?!?". If you play your cards right, there might even be an extra present under the tree for you. :-D
Urgent Christmas appeal Tovojolo asked me to ask you to edit Elizabeth Bishop as part of the Collaboration Project. She's an old dead poet (Miss Bishop, not Tovojolo. I've never actually met Tovojolo. She's probably very young and attractive. Maybe somebody should ask if she's single), but she was a flaming homosexual long before most of us had even been conceived, so we owe her some respect. Tovojolo actually asked me for the last newsletter, but Miss Julie forgot. Bad Miss Julie. She was so busy boosting morale it just slipped right by her. Nemissimo, maybe you need to crack that whip again to get Julie back in line.
Surrender, Dorothy!!!!!!! Friend of Dorothy has attracted the attention of a group of....the more senior elements of our gay society. They disagree with our thesis that Saint Judy was the possible source of the term, and demand we change the article to reflect their contention that Dorothy Parker was the origin. The problem is, their source didn't check out. So we agreed to disagree. Well, we at the project did. They got kinda mad at us, said unkind things, and started edit warring. Though they are old, they are certainly quick, and could revert the article faster than my nimble fingers could press the undo button. To quote the divine Miss Parker, every time I saw the article on my watchlist, I thought to myself, "What fresh hell is this?". The page was protected by sympathetic administrators, but keeping an eye on it will keep Dorothy safe from future Wicked Witches of the West or East.
Ambrosia
Our dear Benjiboi has been busy indeed, lately. He recently made fruit salad out of Fruit, turning a once nasty word into a damn good article, and saving it from deletion! Congratulations, Benjiboi! I hear he has turned his attention from fruit to poultry now. Before he is through, he will have turned every major food group gay on Wikipedia!
Christmas came early
Yes, indeed! Valued administrator WJBscribe was raised out of the mire of mid-level management and placed squarely into the Pantheon of Bureaucracy! And Miss Julie is just too proud of him not to mention that he got the most support votes in the history of Wikipedia! Congratulations, WJB! We know you will not prove the Peter Principle correct!
You!
Yes, you! It's you who make this project shine! It's you who make Wikipedia such a valuable resource for all humanity! And it's you who make Miss Julie's dull life just a little bit better. So I want to take this moment to thank each and every one of you for all you do here. Merry Christmas, everybody! Happy Hanukkah! Festive Kwanzaa!Delirious Dong Zhi!Delicious Diwali! And for our oppressed Iranian brothers and sisters, I wish you a safe and joyous Yalda. And if I didn't mention your favorite December holiday, well, it's because I feel it's so special I should just keep it between you and me. Always remember: You light up my life!
May we all have a joyous holiday season, and a safe, healthy, happy and prosperous 2008.
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James I of England mention in the Signpost article
Hi Dev. I noticed the James article mentioned in the Signpost article (which was a nice interview, by the way). I was recently pointed to an old discussion in the archives which I thought you might find interesting: Talk:James I of England/Archive 2#For information's sake.... Lots of quotes from very reputable sources there. Where do you stand on what sources should be used in cases like this? Especially if they differ in the degree of their assessments? Mainstream history books? Biographies of James? Histories written by scholars of LGBT history? What weight should be given to each point-of-view? Carcharoth (talk) 04:14, 6 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Wishing you and yours the very best of the holiday season. May the coming year bring you peace, joy, health and happiness. God bless us, every one! Jeffpw (talk) 20:02, 14 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Lance Bass
Yeah, I think it needs a bit of copyediting before FA... I'll probably nominate it sometime in the future, after a little work is done, and I find some copyeditors. Thanks for your comment! --MgCupcake (talk) 02:08, 15 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Happy holidays!
Happy holidays Dev! I hope you get many gifts under the tree this year hee hee (perhaps a better internet connection? A ticket for the Linkin Park concert?). ;-) Cheers mate! Raystorm(¿Sí?)19:46, 24 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Jumpaclass - January
Gosh, how cool! I get to pick a subject for January that rivals Sexuality in Startrek and LGBT Racism!! There are so many subject that need work, but I guess I need to pick something that can be worked on globally and by all LGBT people. Let me ponder and I'll suggest something by the 1st Jan. Fluffball70 (talk) 13:03, 30 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
OK, I've thought about it and discussed it with my partner and we feel that one area that is a bit ratty that the whole LGBT world could join in with is LGBT symbols. It needs to be split/merged with LGBT slogans and symbols and is missing a great many symbols such as the 'pink union jack' that is popular here in the UK, the 'bear pride flag', the 'bisexual pride' flag etc, etc. I am sure there are more around the world. If you like this, where shall I post this suggestion? Fluffball70 (talk) 22:06, 30 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Hi there, I noticed you expressed interest in the Birmingham meetup last October. Just letting you know, another UK meetup is in planning stages, here. We need input on where and when we will meet so comments would be much appreciated. Thanks. Majorly (talk) 16:49, 3 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Hi Dev, I was just wondering whether jumpaclass is actually going to operate in 2008. As a newbie, I'm happy to participate, but there is little point in my posting on jumpaclass as I make edits if it's inactive. Jay*Jay (talk) 13:12, 17 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.
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Would you mind taking a look at Ivan Bussens article for me? Looks like a copy and paste job, but since you are the coordinator for this topic you may have a vested interest in expanding the article and making it done right. Just my two cents.. Thanks. Lithron (talk) 01:49, 22 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Greta Keller
I understand your reasoning for removing Greta Keller from the LGBT category and project as there is not proper substantiation in the article. I haven't worked on the article for quite some time and am not as active here as I was at one time for a number of reasons. She does belong in the category and I'll try to make some additions in the near future. Her husband's article for one mentions their marriage as a "beard" and there are a few online refs for that. I knew her and she had relationships with both men and women. Doc ♬ talk03:10, 22 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Grrrlriot (talk) has smiled at you! Smiles promote WikiLove and hopefully this one has made your day better. Spread the WikiLove by smiling at someone else, whether it be someone you have had disagreements with in the past or a good friend. Happy editing! Smile at others by adding {{subst:Smile}} to their talk page with a friendly message.
Adoption
Hello, Would you like to adopt me? I am already adopted, but I would like some more adopters. I want to learn everything about wikipedia. I have learned a lot so far, but I'm always willing to learn more. --Grrrlriot (talk) 02:24, 10 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Time to graduate from Adopt-a-User
I have been adopted by you for 10 months. I now know Wikipedia rules, steps to be an admin, etc. Please accept me to graduate. Thank you. Jet (talk)07:32, 11 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Hi Dev, I look forward to meeting you at the manchester meet. Sorry I didn't check the page for a few days to reply to your question :) I just said that you should read WP:ANI for any current gossip, also you could look at those who've said they're defo coming's userpages to get a feel for each other and possible shared opinions or stuff to chat about. :) Merkinsmum18:03, 21 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.
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I would like to ask you for you opinion on this, I've been searching everywhere in our policies but I couldn't find an answer. Maybe you know what to do, or know someone who knows? Thank you --W2bh (talk) 02:50, 13 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Dev, I am interested in being adopted (Will you adopt me?). Will you please do it as soon as you have time? I need more Wiki-experience, anyway. Thank you.Kitty53 (talk) 05:09, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Exodus International
The Exodus International article currently claims that Exodus provides support; editors have objected to my changing it to say "targets" or "claims to provide support". It's POV to say that a controversial organization actually does provide support when it may well actually harm them. I'm not sure the right way to go. More people involved with the LGBT project should be w atching this page i think. Tb (talk) 01:40, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]
From an old colleague
Dev: Remember me? I am Jim Nightshade, who you "adopted" maybe back in 2006. Last year I gave a presentation at Wikimania in Taipei, which I informed you about. Since then I dropped out--because Wikimania somehow cancelled my password, and I was unable to retrieve it, and unable to log on. I kept editing articles, quite a few (many in drama, including Beckett, Mamet, Pinter, etc.), but always anonymous after that. I did not have the time to start a new user page.
Then suddenly today, I logged on again, and here I am. I see you say you are scaling back your activity on W. I see why, and I never had the time to do a lot. It's addictive, I know, but it don't pay very well.
Hey there. I'm trying to revitalize WP:LGBT by restarting the newsletter. I don't mind writing it, but I don't know how it's sent out without SatyrBot. You can read it here. What do you think, send it out in a week or so? I dunno... --Moni3 (talk) 18:40, 9 June 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.
WP:LGBT's Role in HIV / AIDS articles
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.
Is Pride POV?
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...
Queer Studies is offensive!
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 [5]. The page needs to be updated with the new winners, to be found on the official website [6].
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 month's Wiki stars
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!)
Compulsive hoarding of templates
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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Can you point me to the LGBT Guidelines for stating whether or not an individual was gay/bisexual? I'm writing a biography of an individual who claimed to be homosexual in a book he wrote, and published under a pseudonym.(AFAIK, the only time he used that pseudonym once.) In the material he published under his usual name, his only statements about homosexuality, are negative. jonathon (talk) 20:13, 23 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I don't know that Dev is editing right now, but I'm an active member of WP:LGBT. Is the subject of your book alive? If so, you would have to adhere to the policies of Biographies of Living Persons. If the subject is not alive, either a self-admission of romantic or sexual relationships with the same sex, or reliable historical source that documents the same is needed. If you would like more input, please see the WP:LGBT talk page. --Moni3 (talk) 20:23, 23 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I have been trying to clear the list of articles needing copy-edit, and found a copy edit tag dated January 2007 on User:Rockdozen/templates, which I want to remove since there's no point in a user's subpage being on the copy edit backlog.
Since Rockdozen seems to have been inactive for almost two years, he's your adoptee, and I'm not sure if it's acceptable to edit users' subpages without their consent, I decided to ask you if that's ok.
I don't template editors with as many edits as you have, but, in case I need to show that you are aware of the 3RR policy, I would like to remind you that you cannot make over 3 reverts in the same article during a 24 hour period. You might want to refresh yourself with the WP:3RR policy if you haven't read it recently. Kww (talk) 22:58, 20 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Hey Dev920, I completely agree that including this is fine. Having cleaned up a bunch of the drivel on the talk page, though, I see where Ward3001 has been fending off some persistent madness and he likely lumped your work in that mindset. Hopefully Lindsay and Sam will get married and all the lingering questions will be silenced on the matter. Banjeboi11:04, 21 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Merge discussions
There is no WP guideline on the timeline of merge discussions, sometimes it takes only a day, sometimes weeks, in any case the discussion of merging Haredi Judaism with Orthodox Judaism which now seems to be more about renaming the former is ongoing. Removing the merge template quells the discussion and I would appreciate it if you could leave it to me being the one who started the discussion, to end it. ephix (talk) 21:02, 24 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Sorry
Sorry I didn't reply to your nice condolence email. It was just too hard. Please do not feel affronted, and if you do, I apologize sincerely. Life is not much better now than it was a month ago, but I am slowly accepting the situation. Thanks for being a good friend, and once again, I am sorry for my lack of manners. Jeffpw (talk) 11:38, 25 July 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
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Funny quote from the NYTimes which made me think of you
The Los Angeles Police Department was absent from the hearing. In an early morning television interview, Police Chief William J. Bratton, who opposes any new laws concerning paparazzi, called the hearing a “total waste of time.”
“If you notice,” Chief Bratton said, “since Britney started wearing clothes and behaving; Paris is out of town not bothering anybody, thank God; and, evidently, Lindsay Lohan has gone gay, we don’t seem to have much of an issue.”
Hi Dev920. My name is Holly and I'm a friend of Eleanor, Jeffs mom. She isn't registered here but is checking in to read all the wonderful comments and tributes left by his friends. She called me today and said that she seen the comment you left about the concert you attended in London with Jeff. She remembers him telling her of this (and the fact your mom had to come to chaperone because he an older man) and it made her smile. He spoke of being excited to go and how much of a good time he had. She kept a copy of the picture you posted as she hadnt seen it and wished me to pass along a thank you for sharing it.El's friend (talk) 23:58, 16 August 2008 (UTC)El's friend Holly[reply]
Hi, you've contributed to past discussions on the Template talk:Sexual orientation page and we are now in the process of noting which of several proposals might help resolve some current content disputes. Your opinion to offer Support, Oppose, and Comment could help us see if there is consensus to approve any of these proposals. It's been suggested to only offer a Support on the one proposal you most favor but it's obviously to each editor's discretion to decide what works for them. Banjeboi23:29, 24 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I don't check my email often so didn't see that Jeff had sent me a message a few weeks prior. He left a link[7] to an online diary. Thought you might be interested. Banjeboi23:00, 29 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Even though you are right about the LGBT project, you are wrong about BLP ... BLP applies to all pages, including talk. If this really was a BLP issue, the other editor would be right to remove it from the talk page.Kww (talk) 12:38, 12 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Some advice?
I wish I could just send you a quick little email message, but I'm new to wikipedia and this is the only way I know how to contact you. I'm hoping for some advice and/or maybe just some input. :)
What is the best course of action when you have a seemingly legitimate source with a direct quote from a female musician where she identifies as lesbian, yet fans etc continuously erase this information? There is an article which has been consistently edited to cover up an artist's homosexuality even though she went on record about being lesbian back in '02. The wiki article I am referring to is Brandi Carlile and here is the source: http://westernfrontonline.net/200211222916/art-life/teasing-the-crowd/ Apparently, she no longer wishes to be publicly out now that she is signed to a major label (a direct contradiction to the source btw) and her fans have been "cleansing" the article on her behalf.. TheGifted1 (talk) 03:48, 14 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Wikimedia UK 2.0 Voting is open :-)
A warm hello to all those signed up as guarantor members of the soon-to-be-rebooted UK chapter! Voting is now open over at meta - there's tons of information online over there, and the mailing list has been very active too. Discussion, comment (and even the inevitable technical gremlins!) are most welcome at the meta pages, otherwise please do send in your vote/s, and tell a friend about the chapter too :-) Privatemusings (talk) 22:29, 20 September 2008 (UTC)I'm not actually involved in the election workings, and am just dropping these notes in to help try and spread the word :-) I welcome any or all comment too, but 'election related' stuff really is better suited to the meta pages :-)[reply]
I am developing an article on words borrowed by Tamil from Indo-Aryan languages. I am citing a standard authoritative lexicon from which I find the words that are borrowed before including them at Indo-Aryan loanwords in Tamil. There are a few people who seem to be intent in damaging the article by adding "cite" tags, "disputed" and "dubious" tags for the article and threatening to delete it within 24 hours.
Thanks for your response. The article is saved. I was concerned that a strictly academic article was going to be pulled down due to nationalistic/vested interests. Kris (talk)16:22, 1 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
A friendly reminder from the Adopt-a-User project =)
Hey there Dev920! This is a friendly reminder to update your status at Wikipedia:Adopt-a-User/Adoptee's Area/Adopters whenever it is appropriate in order to provide new users with the most up-to-date information on available adopters. Also please note that we will be removing adopters who have not edited in 60 days. If you become active again (and we hope you do!) please feel free to re-add yourself. Cheers!
Hello! Thanks for showing an interest in Wikimedia UK v2.0. Formation of the company is currently underway under the official name "Wiki UK Limited", and we are hoping to start accepting membership in the near future. We have been drawing up a set of membership guidelines, determining what membership levels we'll have (we plan on starting off with just standard Membership, formerly known as Guarantor Membership, with supporting membership / friends scheme coming later), who can apply for membership (everyone), what information we'll collect on the application form, why applications may be rejected, and data retention. Your input on all of this would be appreciated. We're especially after the community's thoughts on what the membership fee should be. Please leave a message on the talk page with your thoughts.
Also, we're currently setting up a monthly newsletter to keep everyone informed about the to-be-Chapter's progress. If you would like to receive this newsletter, please put your username down on this page.
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
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Information is given on the form about membership fees (£12/year standard, £6 for concessions); these need to be paid by cheque initially, although we hope to accept other forms of payment in the future. Applications should be submitted to me at the address given on the form. If you have any queries about the application process, please let me know.
We will formally start accepting members once we have a bank account, as we cannot process membership fees until that time. We will be submitting our application for a bank account in the very near future, and we hope to have this set up by the end of December at the latest.
Thank you for your support so far; I look forward to receiving your membership application.
P.S. if you haven't already, please subscribe to our newsletter! See meta:Wikimedia_UK_v2.0/Newsletter for more information and to subscribe.
Wiki UK Limited is a Company Limited by Guarantee registered in England and Wales, Registered No. 6741827. The Registered Office is at 23 Cartwright Way, Nottingham, NG9 1RL.
Student Direct
I'm intrigued that no-one's added anything about any of this year's controversies to Student Direct yet. I thought the toilet affair would be straight on there. I'm going to write it myself when I'm a bit less tired. JCzech (talk) 05:49, 4 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]
A few from Manc may come, they did last time. I'm just contacting anyone who was involved in the planning page of the last Birmingham meetup and said they might come. StickyParkin15:47, 16 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]
The is a discussion about the direction of the project on the talk page, and possibly restructuring & reassigning the coordinators. Do you still have enough time/desire to be a coordinator, possibly one of several? OR are you concentrating on mainspace work for a while? Just wanted to ask before the conversation got too far advanced.YobMod11:21, 12 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Hey there. I notice you were interested in attending [[Manchester 4; we're in the process of organising another one for some time in April. Hope you'll pop along to the page to organise a time and date appropriate for you :). Ironholds (talk) 23:17, 19 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Caled/Kaled
The source that was missing was not that the word means "hard" in Welsh, but that there's any connection between that and the Daleks or Kaleds in Doctor Who. (Yes, Terry Nation was Welsh, but that's far too circumstantial — we'd need some reliable source making the connection.)
There used to be a sentence in Dalek pointing out that in Russian and other Slavic languages, the root dalek (Russian далеко, daleko) means distant or far away. It was removed in the Featured Article Review because there was no source making the connection. I figured that caled would fail to meet muster, for the same reason. —Josiah Rowe (talk • contribs) 01:35, 14 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Student Direct
It's nowhere near finished - I got started on it mainly because Kate was happy that there was an article for her union's The Boar but not for our SD. Then I got distracted by other things and never did anything with it (though I am pleased to see that there have been a couple of edits to it since I left it). Would you care to give any examples of inaccuracy? :-P JCzech (talk) 17:10, 29 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
#LGBTproject IRC channel
Hey, who's in charge of this channel these days? I see Raystorm (talk·contribs) is inactive and based on the project talk page archives, it seems he/she was handling it at one point last year. I'm just trying to find out so I can see if I should put the efforts into resurrecting it as a resource for the project. I go in the channel from time to time but no one is ever there. Do we have a contact person? Are you one? Who's handling the administrative functions such as making someone an op, banning a homophobe, etc. ? -ALLST✰R▼echowuz here @09:07, 19 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for the note. Raystorm hasn't been active for a while and Satyr has been sparadic as well. I went on and set up a new channel as I was told it needed to follow conventional naming convention for Wikipedia related channels anyway.. #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 information on IRC and a listing of other useful Wikipedia-related channels, see Wikipedia:IRC channels. :) -ALLST✰R▼echowuz here00:21, 24 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]
To be honest, I thought the "naming convention" argument put forward was a bit weird since there's really no Wikipedia policy for IRC - at least none that I know of. But it does make sense when I look at the Wikipedia related channels and how they are name such as the channels #wikipedia and #wikipedia-en and #wikipedia-admins , etc. Anyway, I don't want it to be "all mine", I want OUR project to use OUR irc channel. :] -ALLST✰R▼echowuz here16:13, 24 June 2009 (UTC)[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.
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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).
To receive this newsletter in a different format, please let us know here. If you have any news or any announcements to be broadcast, do let Moni3 know.
Hi, I have been away from Wikipedia for a looong time. We exchanged notes when I was still an active user:) I see you are still pretty active - if I could be of any help when LGBTQ topics meet anything Polish or connected with Poland please let me know...
The Polish Wikipedia oozes with homophobia, I was fed up with wikipedia for some time... Greetings! (and I hope I wrote this message in the right place, I forgot how things are done here eheh) Boyau (talk) 17:17, 27 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Hehe, I remember how crazy it can be. Enjoy it while you can! College life beats real life. :P But I do hope you're doing great. As for me, I recently finished my Master's degree, which freed up my time considerably, let me tell ya! I'm contributing again to the Spanish Wikipedia quite actively. I had missed editing articles, isn't that funny? But when I returned to the English wikipedia, I saw that many of the "old" faces were gone. Allstarecho, David Shankbone, WJBscribe (although it seems he's back now, yay), you... I guess it can't be helped, life does go on. But I was happy to see you pop up on my watchlist the other day. :) Maybe you'll let the wikibug bite you again, hehe. Cheers Raystorm(¿Sí?)23:45, 7 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Unreferenced BLPs
Hello Dev920! Thank you for your contributions. I am a bot alerting you that 1 of the articles that you created is tagged as an Unreferenced Biography of a Living Person. The biographies of living persons policy requires that all personal or potentially controversial information be sourced. In addition, to ensure verifiability, all biographies should be based on reliable sources. If you were to bring this article up to standards, it would greatly help us with the current 15 article backlog. Once the article is adequately referenced, please remove the {{unreferencedBLP}} tag. Here is the article:
Hey Dev920! I can see you've had major success here on Wikipedia. I personally have always wanted to be behind the making of a Featured Article, and I can see you've had not one but 5. I have been working on Linda McMahon recently, and I take a lot of pride in that page. I personally am a bit of a fan, and I can see what I've been writing is coming close to weasel words and peacocking now. Let me know, how can I improve my edits? I definitely would like your feedback, and I personally wish I could get a good guide or good sense of how you mastered not one but 5 featured articles.
Hello Dev920, you are receiving this message because you are listed as the LGBT Wikiproject coordinator. I have decided to hold an election (and to run) for the position, so I am inviting you to run if you feel you can still perform the duties of coordinator. The WordsmithCommunicate19:45, 5 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Adoption
Hi Dev920,
I've started to clean up the Adopters' list. You appear to appear to have been editing only sporadically in the last months. I wonder if you're still interested in adopting new users. If you're not interested any more, would you mind removing yourself? Thank you and happy editing, SnowolfHow can I help?11:16, 20 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Latter Days FAR
I have nominated Latter Days for a featured article review here. Please join the discussion on whether this article meets featured article criteria. Articles are typically reviewed for two weeks. If substantial concerns are not addressed during the review period, the article will be moved to the Featured Article Removal Candidates list for a further period, where editors may declare "Keep" or "Delist" the article's featured status. The instructions for the review process are here. - Kollision (talk) 03:45, 26 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]
WikiProject LGBT studies partnership with new WikiQueer project?
Greetings, I am the sysop and public representative for a new Wiki project, WikiQueer - specifically for the LGBTQ communities - that supplements the LGBTQ content on Wikipedia with other resources, talking points and information pertaining to the LGBTQ population. Essentially content currently not allowed on Wikipedia or articles that don't meet Wikipedia's notability requirements but might meet the notability requirements of a queer historian. Put another way - all that content some of us wished we could post but have had shot down too many times to keep trying. We will be soft launching in the next few days with a grand opening later this year. I am very interested in partnering and supporting Wikipedia and the Wikimedia Foundation in whatever ways we can. A number of international, national and local nonprofit organizations and community leaders have already signed onto the project or are preparing to publicly join in the coming months.
I am hoping that as the coordinator of WikiProject LGBT studies you can help us navigate a possible partnership. We're especially keen on helping convey that we support Wikipedia and are trying to expand on and enhance that experience rather than challenge or compete. In a number of ways we are attempting to promote and give due credit to the WikiProject LGBT studies and will continue to expand on those efforts.
Any feedback on the WikiQueer project itself is also appreciated. We're also actively seeking individuals within or supportive of queer communities to join our Global Advisory Board if you or others you know may be interested.
Thank you in advance for your time and I appreciate all of the great work you and other Wikipedians are doing!! --Varnent (talk) 06:25, 1 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you for posting on the WikiProject about the possibility of a collaboration. I'm happy to field any questions or concerns folks may have. Since I sent that message, we've had some interesting developments. Largely, some better examples of how we intent to collaborate with, rather than duplicate, other projects. Here are a few examples that I hope will give you a better sense of what we're hoping to accomplish with these partnerships:
Sorry for such a delayed response to your inquiry on my talk page. Wanted to give you a more thoughtful response - which led to a whole serious of conversations and investigating ideas. :)
In general, I think mutual support on each other's wiki project is a quick summary - but I could see things being a bit more in-depth. We're mimicking a lot of the enWP infrastructure, intentionally, to help certain articles develop with the hopes of having an in-depth version put up on enWP once it qualifies. Sort of an incubator for LGBT related articles that may take a longer period than a sandbox approach would generally be used for to gain notability or meet other qualifications. Additionally, I think we could consider some joint efforts to recruit volunteers. We have intentions of being present at Creating Change (world's largest gathering of LGBT activists) and other events through our organization partnerships. Also in discussions about webinars with international and national LGBT organizations which could potentially promote both projects. If supporting WMF directly is a WP:LGBT goal, we're discussing local joint fundraisers with WMF folks and another LGBT wiki project. Finally, we have recently signed an agreement with a new mobile app in development that's uniting hundreds of LGBT organizations around the world to help educate the public, recruit volunteers for projects and raise funds for those projects. Within our area we could help promote WP:LGBT efforts and promote our collaboration.
Sorry if that's a bit of a longer response than you were hoping for, but trying to get some brainstorming going. :) Let me know if this is of any interest. Thank you! --Varnent (talk) 01:26, 12 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]
The article will be discussed at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/List of Marijuana Parties until a consensus is reached, and anyone is welcome to contribute to the discussion. The nomination will explain the policies and guidelines which are of concern. The discussion focuses on good quality evidence, and our policies and guidelines.
Users may edit the article during the discussion, including to improve the article to address concerns raised in the discussion. However, do not remove the article-for-deletion template from the top of the article. Winner 42Talk to me!19:26, 19 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]
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