Jem And The Wikipedia Entry

Published Sun, 08 Mar 2015 13:00:18 -0500

Last updated Sun, 16 Oct 2016 05:51:33 -0500

Announcing to friends, colleagues, the world, that someone is transgender, is just one small part of what can be a very complex process in changing the way the world sees that person, into the way they know themselves.

But does anyone think that changing your Wikipedia entry will be one of the more difficult aspects?

Last week, Jem And The Holograms artist Sophie Campbell posted,

deep breath okay here goes. time to stop hiding, now's the time. i'm transgender and have been transitioning for the past year.

— Sophie Campbell (@mooncalfe1) March 6, 2015

But Wikipedia seemed to want to keep referring to her as Ross Campbell, despite numerous edits and references to her announcement.

(cur | prev) 03:52, 7 March 2015‎ 2602:306:cc43:5710:b0f5:9761:93ae:9a10 (talk)‎ . . (5,855 bytes) (+2)‎ . . (Tag: possible BLP issue or vandalism)

(cur | prev) 03:51, 7 March 2015‎ Materialscientist (talk | contribs)‎ m . . (5,853 bytes) (-111)‎ . . (Reverted edits by 50.14.215.56(talk) to last version by Materialscientist)

(cur | prev) 03:47, 7 March 2015‎ 50.14.215.56 (talk)‎ . . (5,964 bytes) (+111)‎ . . (Undid revision 650236084 by Materialscientist(talk)) (Tag: possible BLP issue or vandalism)

(cur | prev) 02:08, 7 March 2015‎ Materialscientist (talk | contribs)‎ . . (5,853 bytes) (-111)‎ . . (rvt: don't use Twitter as a source)

(cur | prev) 23:46, 6 March 2015‎ 216.232.243.17 (talk)‎ . . (5,964 bytes) (+8)‎

(cur | prev) 22:56, 6 March 2015‎ 69.203.217.156 (talk)‎ . . (5,956 bytes) (+103)‎ . . (Undid revision 650212356 by Materialscientist(talk) This is not vandalism. Campbell has come out as Transgender with a name Sophie Campbell) (Tag: possible BLP issue or vandalism)

(cur | prev) 22:44, 6 March 2015‎ Materialscientist (talk | contribs)‎ . . (5,853 bytes) (-103)‎ . . (Undid revision 650211000 by2602:30A:2CB7:11B0:35C2:5A38:9A68:D6CB (talk) unreliable source)

(cur | prev) 22:33, 6 March 2015‎ 2602:30a:2cb7:11b0:35c2:5a38:9a68:d6cb (talk)‎ . . (5,956 bytes) (+103)‎ . . (Correcting name and pronouns after her coming out as transgender) (Tag: possible BLP issue or vandalism)

(cur | prev) 22:01, 6 March 2015‎ Materialscientist (talk | contribs)‎ . . (5,853 bytes) (-16)‎ . . (restore)

(cur | prev) 21:59, 6 March 2015‎ 98.247.74.183 (talk)‎ . . (5,869 bytes) (0)‎

(cur | prev) 21:42, 6 March 2015‎ 207.164.133.146 (talk)‎ . . (5,869 bytes) (+16)‎ . . (Sophie Campbell is transitioning. Now known as Sophie instead of Ross.) (Tag: possible BLP issue or vandalism)

Back and forth, back and forth… but eventually reason began to rear its head.

According to the Twitter account @mooncalfe1, Ross Campbell is now Sophia Campbell. Per WP:BLPSELFPUB and MOS:IDENTITY, this page should refer to her as "Sophia" if and only if we believe that Campbell owns and is currently in control of @mooncalfe1. I personally have no knowledge of her or her work; @mooncalfe1 seems to be her, but I don't really know. Can anyone suggest a way of proving it? If not, we should really wait for RS confirmation per WP:DEADLINE. FourViolas (talk) 04:23, 7 March 2015 (UTC)

Okay, I guess it's unlikely that her Tumblr and Twitter would be hacked simultaneously. Still, it would be nice to have WP:RS. FourViolas(talk) 04:25, 7 March 2015 (UTC)

That is her twitter account. She had recently changed her username, but her tumblr is at the same address it had been at before, and links to @mooncalfe1. Her tumblr also uses her new name as well, and her deviantart has a "coming out" post. So either it's true, or someone has taken control of her twitter, tumblr and deviantart. —FortMax (talk) 04:29, 7 March 2015 (UTC)

And the listing was changed, Twitter now accepted as a source…

(cur | prev) 04:06, 7 March 2015‎ FortMax (talk | contribs)‎ . . (5,964 bytes) (+111)‎ . . (Reverting. As per WP:BLPSPS andWP:BLPSELFPUB, tweets can be used as a source if they are published by the subject of the article. Cited Twitter link was posted by the subject of the article.)

Hopefully this might make it easier for the next time someone has to do a million of things in transition.