Deadnaming
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Transgender topics |
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Deadnaming is the act of referring to a
Transgender and non-binary people seeking to avoid deadnaming may face administrative or bureaucratic obstacles to changing their names. Published authors who have later transitioned may be troubled by the appearance of their former name in bibliographic metadata records that are nearly impossible to update. Some social media platforms have implemented policies to avoid deadnaming, such as standardizing the use of preferred names rather than legal names or formally banning the practice of deadnaming.
Background
As part of
Trans people who wish to avoid being deadnamed can sometimes face significant bureaucratic and administrative obstacles. The legal name change itself requires time, money, and effort. Changing corresponding information such as names, emails, and class schedules in some institutions (such as schools) can be difficult.
Deadnaming may also be done accidentally by people who are otherwise supportive of trans individuals, such as supportive family members or friends who have not yet become accustomed to using a trans person's new name. Repeated failures to avoid deadnaming, however, can be considered disrespectful.[8]
Christopher Reed, a professor of history and scholar of queer culture, argued that objecting to deadnaming "inhibits efforts toward self-acceptance and integration".[11] Grace Lavery argued that the freedom to deadname is not covered within the principles of academic freedom.[12] Disputes surrounding the legitimacy of deadnaming have led to disputes within the LGBT community, with some stating that deadnaming itself is a tangible harm, and others arguing that the policing of deadnaming would resemble a "re-education camp".[13]
Queer scholar Lucas Crawford has theorized that some transgender people insist on preventing deadnaming in part as a strategy of prospective self-assertion: "by insisting on the primacy of the present, by seeking to erase the past, or even by emotionally locating their 'real self' in the future, that elusive place where access (to transition, health care, housing, a livable wage, and so on) and social viability tend to appear more abundant."[14] Correcting deadnaming by third parties is cited as a way to support trans people.[15]
When trans journalist and University of California professor Theresa Tanenbaum transitioned in 2019, finding herself unable to remove or have her deadname retracted from old publications, she argued that there were broader implications to deadnaming that affected not only the trans community, but other groups in general. Agreeing with journalist Oliver-Ash Kleine of the Trans Journalists Association, Tanenbaum stated, "you might want to change your name on past work to erase from your identity the traces of an abusive former partner, or because you've converted to a different religion, among many other reasons." She suggested that deadnaming could happen to a wide variety of vulnerable groups within and outside of the trans community, and that for herself, it has been frustrating and harmful to have media outlets refuse to remove her deadname from old articles.[16] Jaye Simpson, writing for Briar Patch Magazine, added that Black and Indigenous communities and trans members within these communities are also at risk for deadnaming, recalling Canada's settler-colonial history, the replacing of Indigenous traditional names with Anglican names in Canada's residential school system (an offence that can now be reverted by legal name change under Canadian law, a process typically made free to residential school survivors), and the inability for western culture to grasp non-binary and Two-spirit identities.[17]
Consequences
A 2021 survey by The Trevor Project showed that trans and nonbinary youth who changed their name, gender marker, or both on legal documents, including birth certificates and driver's licenses, had lower rates of suicide attempts.[18]
Cataloging metadata
For institutions such as
Traditional library cataloguing features fields for an author's given name, surname and gender. As noted by Anne Welsh of Cataloging and Indexing Group in their 2019 editorial, this format can lead to issues with deadnaming and falsely assuming gender identity. Using classic author Vladimir Nabokov as an example, Welsh stated, "obviously Nabokov's identity has been inferred from his work and has defaulted to “male.” Without highlighting specific individuals here, it is clear that the issues of identity and of dead-names (when someone does not want their former, other-gendered name to be associated with them after they have transitioned to the gender with which they identify) is an important one. Movie database IMDb recently responded to demands from actors to remove links between dead-names and names for actors who have transitioned, unless the actor wants the link to be in place. It is worth being aware of the implications of retaining such links in library authority data, and of the similar issue around the 375 field for recording gender. If you ingest authority data it may be simpler to remove the 375 field from all your data at the point of ingestion."[20]
Corporate and political responses
Some web platforms such as
In 2013, the English Wikipedia elicited media coverage over its response to Chelsea Manning's public transition. The article about Manning was initially quickly renamed, but a protracted dispute ensued; the matter was ultimately taken up by the site's Arbitration Committee, which imposed sanctions on editors espousing transphobia, but also on those making accusations of transphobia.[22][23][24] Wikimedia Foundation executive Sue Gardner expressed disappointment over the handling of Wikipedia's response.[25]
In response to actor
On March 12, 2021, the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction announced that its student information system would display each student's "preferred name" rather than birth name, which would eliminate deadnaming on state reports, student report cards, and teacher grade books.[29]
In late June 2021, the website Fandom announced new LGBT guidelines across its websites in addition to the existing terms of use policy that prohibits deadnaming transgender people across their websites. The guidelines include links to queer-inclusive and trans support resources, and further guidelines were released in September 2021 related to addressing gender identity.[30]
In popular culture
The phenomenon of deadnaming, especially towards trans and other LGBTQ+ individuals, has been explored in fictional media.
Books
- Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender features titular character Felix, a Black queer youth, being maliciously deadnamed in public, leading to the character trying to find out who deadnamed him. Pre-transition photos of Felix are also posted, which leads to him being bullied.[31]
Film
- In 2013 film life insurance policy.[32]
- In the 2017 Chilean film A Fantastic Woman, protagonist Marina, a trans woman, is bullied, harassed and deadnamed by police. Marina has not legally changed her name or gender identifier on her identification card, so her deadname and birth sex appear on the card.[33][34]
Television
- In the 1980 Johnny is asked by Jennifer Marlowe to stop Herb from hitting on her, which he does by lying to Herb that she is transgender and "a result of the most cunningly successful sex change operation in medical history."[35][37]
- On the American crime drama series Cold Case, the 2007 episode "Boy Crazy" depicts a 16-year old tomboy in the 1960s named Sam. Her school principal insists on calling her "Samantha" as "Sam is a boy's name". Her parents later send her to a mental hospital where she is subjected to electroshock treatment as conversion therapy, that leaves her in a vegetative state.[38][39][non-primary source needed] Another episode "Daniela" depicts a teenage runaway living on the street in the 1970s, who commits suicide. Daniela is later deadnamed by her mother and by the detectives investigating her case when it is revealed that she is transgender.[40][non-primary source needed]
- Adam Torres is a transgender boy in the
See also
- Anti-LGBT rhetoric
- Lavender linguistics
- LGBT rights in the United States
- Naming ceremony
- Naming law
References
- ^ Schmall, Emily (January 6, 2024). "Transgender Candidate in Ohio Is Disqualified for Not Disclosing Birth Name". The New York Times. Retrieved January 6, 2024.
"Had I known this law existed, I likely would have bit the bullet and put my deadname next to my legal name," she said, using a term for a transgender person's birth name.
- ^ S2CID 148637812.
Originating in the trans community, the term "deadnaming" describes calling a trans person by their birth name after they have adopted a new name. The act of deadnaming has the effect of "outing," or making public, a trans person's identity. Deadnaming is sometimes accidental, as when a friend or family member is still adjusting to a trans person's new name and unintentionally calls them by their birth name. However, there are also many times when trans people are addressed by their birth name as a way to aggressively dismiss and reject their gender identity and new name.
- ISBN 978-0-7565-6561-9.
- ^ "Oh my days! It's the OED June 2021 update". Oxford English Dictionary. June 8, 2021. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
- ^ Glicksman, Eve (April 2013). "Transgender terminology: It's complicated". Monitor on Psychology. 44 (4). American Psychological Association: 39. Archived from the original on September 25, 2013. Retrieved September 17, 2013.
Use whatever name and gender pronoun the person prefers
- ^ "Meeting the Health Care Needs of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) People: The End to LGBT Invisibility" (PowerPoint Presentation). The Fenway Institute. p. 24. Archived from the original on October 20, 2013. Retrieved September 17, 2013.
Use the pronoun that matches the person's gender identity
- ^ "Glossary of Gender and Transgender Terms" (PDF). Preface: Fenway Health. January 2010. p. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 19, 2013. Retrieved September 17, 2013.
listen to your clients – what terms do they use to describe themselves
- ^ ISBN 978-1-7936-0034-9.
- S2CID 237454133. p. 1019:
Such microaggressions consist in more than simply using the wrong name; rather, they cut to the core of and question the recipient's identity and self-understanding.
- ^ "Deadnaming A Trans Person Is Violence – So Why Does The Media Do It Anyway?". HuffPost. March 17, 2017. Retrieved January 2, 2020.
- ^ Reed, Christopher (November 22, 2018). "Axiomatic" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on November 22, 2018. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
- ^ Lavery, Grace (October 29, 2018). "Grad School As Conversion Therapy". BLARB. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
- ^ "Conversion Therapy v. Re-education Camp: Open Letter to Grace Lavery". BLARB. December 11, 2018. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
- S2CID 188098200.
- ^ Johnson, Hannah Lee (Spring 2019). "Rhetorics of trans allyship, toward an ethic of responsible listening and ally labor". University of Iowa. Archived from the original on March 6, 2020. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
- ^ Metz, Rachel; Flynn, Kerry (June 2021). "'It's just human dignity.' Trans writers and journalists struggle to get old bylines corrected". www.cnn.com. CNN. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
- ^ Simpson, Jaye. "Land Back means protecting Black and Indigenous trans women". briarpatchmagazine.com. Briar Patch Magazine. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
- ^ "Deadnaming: How Using the Wrong Name Can Affect Mental Health". psychcentral.com. Psych Central. November 16, 2021. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
- ^ "Multiple Surnames". acrl.ala.org. ANSSWeb. Retrieved January 30, 2023.
- ^ Welsh, Anne (September 2019). "How much is too much? Keeping up-to-date in non-RDA setting" (PDF). Catalogue and Index (196). Retrieved January 30, 2023.
- ^ Fortin, Jacey (July 28, 2021). "New Policy Aims to Help Transgender Researchers Update Names on Old Work". The New York Times. Retrieved August 28, 2021.
- ^ "Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Manning naming dispute". English Wikipedia. Arbitration Committee. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
- ^ Hern, Alex (October 24, 2013). "Chelsea Manning name row: Wikipedia editors banned from trans pages". The Guardian. London. Retrieved November 20, 2022.
- ^ Stern, Mark (August 22, 2013). "Wikipedia Beats Major News Organizations, Perfectly Reflects Chelsea Manning's New Gender". Slate. London. Retrieved November 20, 2022.
- ^ Gardner, Sue (September 4, 2013), "How Wikipedia got it wrong on Chelsea Manning, and why", Sue Gardner's Blog, retrieved November 20, 2022
- ^ Shoard, Catherine (August 13, 2019). "IMDb changes names policy after transgender protest". The Guardian. London. Retrieved August 28, 2021.
- ^ Gilcrease, Grayson. "Netflix Is Making a Change For Elliot Page". www.imdb.com. Popsugar. Retrieved August 28, 2021.
- ^ "Going for Broke (TV Movie 2003)". Internet Movie Database. July 14, 2003. Retrieved August 28, 2021.
- The Advocate. Los Angeles. Archivedfrom the original on March 16, 2021. Retrieved April 2, 2021.
- ^ Whitbrook, James (June 24, 2021). "Fandom Launches New LGBTQIA+ Guidelines for All Its Wikis". io9. Gizmodo. Archived from the original on June 27, 2021. Retrieved June 28, 2021.
- ^ ""Love is the Best Thing Alive": Celebrating LGBTQ+ Voices and Stories". 826national.org. 826 National. June 8, 2022. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
- ^ Friess, Steve (February 28, 2014). "Don't Applaud Jared Leto's Transgender 'Mammy'". time.com. Time. Retrieved January 30, 2023.
- ^ Crawford, Lillian. "Girl, A Fantastic Woman and cinema's difficult period of transition". lwlies.com. Little White Lies. Retrieved January 30, 2023.
- ^ Freeman, William. "REVIEW: A Fantastic Woman (2017) dir. Sebastián Lelio". bostonhassle.com. Boston Hassle. Retrieved January 30, 2023.
- ^ a b "65: WKRP LGBTQ+". www.gayestepisodeever.com. Gayest Episode Ever. Retrieved January 30, 2023.
- ^ "Hotel Oceanview Episode aired Nov 29, 1980 TV-PG 24m". www.imdb.com. IMDb. Retrieved January 30, 2023.
- ^ "WKRP in Cincinnati: Season 1, Episode 3 script | Subs like Script". subslikescript.com. Retrieved February 5, 2023.
- ^ "Boy Crazy Episode aired Nov 18, 2007 TV-14 44m". www.imdb.com. IMDb. Retrieved January 30, 2023.
- ^ "05x09 - Boy Crazy". transcripts.foreverdreaming.org. Cold Case Transcripts. Retrieved January 30, 2023.
- ^ "Daniela Episode aired Oct 17, 2004 TV-14 44m". www.imdb.com. IMDb. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
- ^ Adams, Nick (August 15, 2013). "Sad turn for Adam on "Degrassi" in last night's episode (Spoiler)". www.glaad.org. GLAAD. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
- ^ Levitt, Barry (January 28, 2022). "The Most Memorable Moments In Degrassi: The Next Generation". www.looper.com. Looper. Retrieved February 2, 2023.