Wikipedia:WikiProject LGBT studies/Guidelines
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A person's gender identity and sexual orientation is intimate to who they are and how that impacts their personal and professional life will vary. Extreme care should be taken to avoid
Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, not a newspaper: We follow, not lead. Implicit in the
- sex characteristicsare not interchangeable. However they often intersect and defining the effects of each can be difficult if not impossible.
- The Wikipedia guidelines on identityguide us to refer to transgender individuals according to the names and pronouns they use to identify themselves.
- Identification and categorization of people is bound by Wikipedia's policy on reliable sourcing. After taking that into account:
- A living person may be categorized and identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) only if they themselves publicly identify as such, e.g., Billie Joe Armstrong.
- Specific categorization rules apply regarding gender, sexuality, and medical conditions.
- A deceased person may be categorized and identified as lesbian, gay, or bisexual if they were involved in documented, noteworthy relationships with persons of the same sex or other sexes, such as Marlon Brando.
- agender (genderless), e.g. Herculine Barbin. They may perceive being intersex as related to their sex, or not, or as a medical condition, or not. Some intersex people are LGBT, while others are heterosexual, cisgender, or binary. Care has been taken to limit the interrelationships between LGBT pages and intersex pages because of these issues.
How to write about transgender and non-binary people
As
In cases where the prior name is known only as the result of being outed, editors may feel it would be giving it
Transgender is an adjective; hence one says "Smith is a transgender woman" (or simply "a trans woman"). The use of it as a noun (as in "Smith is a transgender", "the film features two transgenders") is often considered offensive, is deprecated by several style guides and dictionaries, and should be avoided.[1][2][3] Likewise, transsexual is an adjective, and should not be used as a noun.[4] Transgendered is also offensive and deprecated by style guides and should also not be used.[5][6][7] (Direct quotations, however, should not be altered.)
When to use gay or homosexual
When describing a living person, their documented preference for a description of sexual orientation should be used as a default. Where a self-description is unavailable, gay or lesbian is preferred to homosexual in articles about living people. For historical articles whose subjects pre-date the widespread public adoption of these identities (roughly before 1970), homosexual can be used as an accurate adjective describing the subject. Generally homosexual should be confined to descriptions of sexual activity or clinical orientation.
Examples from independent style guides:
- The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage (5th ed., 2015, ISBN 9780812963892), "gay (adj.)": "preferred over 'homosexual' in most contexts. Generally confine 'homosexual' to specific references to sexual activity or clinical orientation."
- Emerging Infectious Diseases Journal Editorial Style Guide (CDC, ver. 5.1, 2015), "homosexual, bisexual, gay": "Using these terms as adjectives is acceptable, as in 'gay men,' and dependent on the author's discretion. However, avoid using these terms as nouns as they may too vague or perceived as pejorative. Sometimes the phrase 'men who have sex with men' or MSM is used because some of these men do not label themselves as gay, homosexual, or bisexual."
- Associated Press Style Book (2013, ISBN 9780465082995), "Gay": "Preferred over 'homosexual' except in clinical contexts or references to sexual activity".
- The Canadian Press Stylebook (2013), "Sexuality": "Gay is usually preferred as an alternative for homosexual men and is also commonly used for women, although lesbian is preferred by many women."[1]
- BBC News Radio Newsroom Alphabetical Checklist (2012) "Gay": "some people believe the word "homosexual" has negative overtones, even that it is demeaning. Most homosexual men and women prefer the words 'gay' and 'lesbian'. Either word is acceptable as an alternative to homosexual, but 'gay' should be used only as an adjective."
Significant mass changes of articles from gay to homosexual, or the reverse, require a supporting specific consensus or are likely to be viewed as
See also
- Wikipedia:Manual of Style § Identity
- Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Biographies
References
- ^ Reuters Handbook of Journalism, "transgender": "Do not use transgender as a noun; no one should be referred to as 'a transgender.'"
- ^ GLAAD Media Reference Guide, "Transgender Issues":
"Problematic: 'transgenders,' 'a transgender'
Preferred: transgender people, a transgender person
Transgender should be used as an adjective, not as a noun. Do not say, 'Tony is a transgender,' or 'The parade included many transgenders.' Instead say, 'Tony is a transgender man,' or 'The parade included many transgender people.'" - ^ Dictionary.com, "transgender": "The adjective is more common than the noun; in fact, some people reject the use of transgender as a noun."
- ^ BBC News Style Guide, "Gender/sex": "Do not say 'transsexuals', in the same way we would not talk about 'gays' or 'blacks'."
- ^ Dictionary.com, "transgender": "Some transgender people object to the adjectival variant transgendered, because the –ed suffix could imply that something 'happened' to make the person transgender."
- ^ NPR Ethics Handbook, "'Memmos': Memmott's Missives & Musings, from the Standards & Practices Outbox": "Someone is 'transgender.' Do not write or say 'transgendered.'"
- ^ GLAAD Media Reference Guide, "Transgender Issues": "Problematic: 'transgendered'. Preferred: transgender. The adjective transgender should never have an extraneous '-ed' tacked onto the end. An '-ed' suffix adds unnecessary length to the word and can cause tense confusion and grammatical errors. It also brings transgender into alignment with lesbian, gay, and bisexual. You would not say that Elton John is 'gayed' or Ellen DeGeneres is 'lesbianed,' therefore you would not say Chaz Bono is 'transgendered.'"