Talk:Wikimedia LGBT+/Archive 4

August 7: Wikimania LGBT Meetup with AffCom liaisons

Here is a link to the etherpad for the August 7 LGBT meetup with AffCom liaisons:

• http://etherpad.wikimedia.org/p/Wikimania_LGBT_Meetup

Notes
Wikimania 2014 - London, United Kingdom August 7, 2014 - Barbican Conservatory Attendees: Jason, Dorothy, Tanvir, Kirill, James Hare, Fae Several group members met with AffCom liasons Tanvir and and Kirill We discussed possible group names. Wiki User Group LGBT is emerging as the preferred name. We discussed user group status vs. thematic chapter status, and future goals. User groups do not require formal membership. At the moment, there is no real need for chapter status. This would require additinal overhead and reporting requirements. Benefits of user group status include: formal affiliation, appropriate use of logo, branding. We will continue to focus on LGBT-related projects and content development. TO DO: Determine which two people will sign the user group agreement. Vote on the user group name at Saturday afternoon's meetup. James shared that Wikimedia DC is happy to fund LGBT-related projects in the US, when possible and appropriate. We discussed/reviewed the inaugural Wiki Loves Pride campaign, including challenges, successes and future ideas.

(This is separate from the LGBT meetup(s) scheduled for Saturday, August 8.) --Another Believer (talk) 11:25, 7 August 2014 (UTC)

Thanks for posting this. I would never rule out Wikimedia LGBT becoming a thematic organization, since it has its own benefits, but I think making one step at a time would be best. We should first establish ourselves, find our niche and make it work. CT Cooper · talk 20:02, 10 August 2014 (UTC)

Indeed. Perhaps my wording was a bit ambiguous, but I agree with your sentiment. --Another Believer (talk) 20:10, 10 August 2014 (UTC)

August 8: LGBT Meetup

• LGBT Meetup, 6:30pm at Frobisher 6; evening meet and greet to follow!
• http://etherpad.wikimedia.org/p/Wikimania_2014_LGBT_Meetup

Notes from the meeting posted above, in case the etherpad disappears. Feel free to expand/edit. Also, a request to page watchers to please indicate support or opposition to the name Wikimedia LGBT+ User Group in the above section. Thanks! --Another Believer (talk) 20:58, 10 August 2014 (UTC)

Based on the meet-up, as I'm active on OTRS, I'm happy to take an action to follow-up on an "official" email address for LGBT+ User Group related Wikimedia enquiries (such as LGBTwikimedia.org). I'll raise this as a possible new OTRS queue which would be confidential and only readable by those approved to the queue using the normal OTRS procedure. The work will be defining its scope and creating starting materials for "standard" enquiries and advice for OTRS volunteers as to when enquiries are out of bounds, such as credible legal issues or when a correspondent is asking for the sort of help that ought to be given by professional bodies (e.g. "I'm 16 and live in Indonesia, where can I meet other gay people?").

The OTRS queue may or may not be part of our response to concerns about LGBT+ related hounding or harassment, how exactly it is used can be refined downstream depending on how many volunteers are interested in helping out and what we can measure as a level of need.

It is possible to have email redirects if we have a web domain registered. I suggest we defer discussing whether we need this sort of thing until the User Group is fully formal and we are confident that the name is finalized. --Fæ (talk) 13:22, 11 August 2014 (UTC)

Page started at Wikimedia LGBT/OTRS

It looks like a good time was had by all, and I'm sorry I was unable to join the group at Wikimania, though I suspect the pub crawl would have been too much for my weary limbs.

The question on harassment and discrimination raises a more general community issue, WRT hounding etc. It is far from clear to me that either community or foundation support for non-public assistance in the face of bad treatment on-wiki are easily accessible to an average editor.

Based on personal experience, Community support is inconsistent and, I'm sad to say, depending on the project, if you go to a notice board or similar things might actually get worse or result in actions against the complainant account (refer to the classic "fuck off with your queer agenda" case, where both telling someone to fuck off and having a queer agenda were considered acceptably civil, but saying this looks like homophobia is likely to get you blocked or spend the next month in an Arbcom case). Many do not realize that the Foundation do not offer support on these issues, even where there is criminal harassment you would be better advised to go to the police and then approach the Foundation for data rather than other types of support.

The concept for the LGBT+ OTRS channel is to provide a 'safe space' for the person who feels harassed or hounded to discuss their experience. We discussed how this might work on OTRS in the past, I just need to get some time to pen it down (I'm in Cornwall for a long weekend, so in a few days I'll probably get to it). In the same way as many gay helplines work, we might agree a basic flow-chart for enquiries, to make it easier to keep in mind our scope; legal threats have to go to legal, criminal threats ought to be a matter for immediate action such as Oversight and advice to go to the police, those with general LGBT+ questions can be pointed to information on help groups in their country, etc.

There would probably be two main types of enquiry, people asking for LGBT+ information and we point to or provide what we can, and people involved in an incident (which may include those accused of LGBT related harassment) who may be upset and will want to express that and we can listen. In the first camp may be people confused about what we stand for, or are presuming we have a political agenda (such as promoting gay marriage) and we should be able to direct even the most contentious correspondent to our FAQ on meta (which we need to build up).

If we establish our presence and are known to have a wide group of active volunteers, we might also be in a position to give an opinion on LGBT+ matters for projects that are interested on what ought to be best practice, such as civility and some issues for content. This is more true for projects that do not already have their own local WikiProject LGBT groups, which we do not intend to duplicate or supersede. --Fæ (talk) 04:16, 13 August 2014 (UTC)

I am slightly disappointed, given the proposed scope of the group, that there are no proposals to measure or boost QUILTBAG content.

I think it would also be useful to give some thought to demographics of oppression, and demographics of ignorance, particularly by understanding the geographies (which are not hard), and converting to a linguistic basis. (This latter part is what I attempted to do in a rather crude way with sub-Saharan Africa.) This would indicate the best wikis to deliver assistive content.

Rich Farmbrough 19:36 12 August 2014 (GMT).

The research side of this sounds like an interesting project that could fall under our umbrella. Perhaps you could think of writing it up as a proposal? P.S. to avoid confusion, LGBT+ is intended to cover a range of other terms, including QUILTBAG, but there is no judgement on which terms are better to use, the consensus to stay with LGBT was based on it probably being more widely understood by the international community than any other wording. --Fæ (talk) 04:16, 13 August 2014 (UTC)

Oh! I wasn't speaking too the name LGBT+ is a good improvement. I'll have a think about the demographics bit. Rich Farmbrough 03:25 14 August 2014 (GMT).

I think the name is fantastic, am glad to see Wikimedia included in it, and think it allows us to keep using the Wikimedia LGBT brand when we feel it is helpful to do so.  :) Will weigh in on other items if I have anything else to add to what others have already said. --Varnent (talk)^(COI) 01:40, 13 August 2014 (UTC)

Updated artwork

I have updated the logo on Commons and requested a file name change to reflect the new name (yay!). The wording order is not one that we worked with WMF Comm on (go figure) - so I will need to run it past them as well just to be sure. However, I think it matches the new logo best practices and WMF logo guidelines. That said, it's a custom logo, so we have more leeway, but still... --Varnent (talk)^(COI) 01:53, 13 August 2014 (UTC)

Looks great! Thanks for sharing. Glad you are pleased with the name. Also, once confirmed by AffCom, we may need to move project pages to reflect the new name. --Another Believer (talk) 03:28, 13 August 2014 (UTC)

Done moved on Commons. Note anyone can move the pages on meta once we get the official all clear. --Fæ (talk) 03:38, 13 August 2014 (UTC)

Programmes proposal for WM-LGBT 2014/15

Context

Hi, as we move to being recognized as a formal User Group, this is a good time to layout what our activities are likely to look like in the coming year, and to have a think about how to ensure volunteers feel empowered to have a go at creating new projects and no individual feels stressed by being responsible for driving everything themselves. Based on various discussions and recognizing the success of our Wiki Loves Pride campaign, I propose the following structure of top level programmes under which may be multiple projects in that area. For example the Wiki Loves Pride programme might include planned projects in the USA, South Africa and other countries, with each project potentially having difference groups of people interested and different needs in terms of support and funding. Being open to running projects in different ways is a healthy thing, as folks neither need to ask permission or need to feel bound to any special bureaucracy. --Fæ (talk) 10:25, 15 August 2014 (UTC)

Proposed programmes

1. Wiki Loves Pride

• Running as multiple projects every year spanning many countries, possibly with a contest and fun prizes on Wikimedia Commons, though there could be potential for prizes for related article improvement. I see this as having an enthusiastic programme team with a bit of funding for the competition.

2. LGBT "help desk"

• Through direct email, group email list, IRC - this is an ongoing feature of what we do, but we should think about attracting volunteers who are interested in hanging out in these different channels to help with questions. No specific funding needed, but we might need to ensure enough volunteers stay interested and we might consider if there is value in training depending on what issues arise.
• The scope for help that we might offer is limited, this is expanded on at Wikimedia LGBT/email.

3. LGBT+ Education

• This programme is an umbrella for LGBT+ in the education sector, so would include projects with Universities, and projects aimed at creating new educational resources supported by Wikimedia projects, such as targeted images, video and texts so that the public have authoritative resources better to understand LGBT+ issues and answer questions such as "what is LGBT?", "what is gay sex?", "what is a transsexual?", and "why do we need special LGBT rights?"
• There are channels for advocacy for LGBT+ educational access, and we must remain clear that this is advocacy for neutral and quality knowledge, not any political bent. This would be for those passionately interested in tackling topics where access or content are problematic due to interference. One might think of China, Turkey and Russia internet restrictions, but also access to LGBT information and educational resources in schools or countries with religious governance and censorship. In many countries LGBT+ education is likely to be treated as homosexual lobbying even when the information has no specifically sexual content. It would be great if in a year's time WM-LGBT were seen as a reference group for Wikimedia projects to canvas an authoritative opinion from. There may be reasons to fund travel or conference scholarships and projects to create needed educational resources may need funding.
• The It Gets Better project is a global initiative to create videos aimed at LGBT youth who may be experiencing harassment or discrimination, showing that it gets better. Originally started by Dan Savage in the USA, the project was created after several LGBT related suicides with significant news coverage. The initiative has an affiliates and a legal programme, both of which may be relevant for WM-LGBT as part of our education programme.

4. LGBT+ research

• Richard F. has given an example relating to content creation, but we need much better quality information on the international experience of LGBT+ Wikimedia editors. I believe it would be straightforward to obtain research grants in this area, if anyone were to spend time developing proposals.

5. LGBT+ History and culture - including GLAM partnerships

• This programme encompasses projects to increase both awareness of LGBT+ history from the third sex in ancient history, through to gay rights campaigns and documenting contemporary culture (interviews with rollerskating nuns anyone?). Around the world there are LGBT+ archives which would benefit from more use and improved access and the LGBT+ User Group could help ensure that the importance of virtual access is emphasized and becomes part of projects for GLAM improvements in 2015.
• The LGBT Free Media Collective is a collaborative effort by LGBT organizations and Wikimedia projects to collect, archive and make available media files related to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities. Goals for upcoming year could include more intentional outreach to new content partners and development of on-wiki marketing materials and documentation for on-wiki participants (right now a lot of it is based on GLAM outreach language designed for communication with potential outreach partners). Also - should we do a rename to reflect the "+"?

6. Wikidata:Wikidata:WikiProject LGBT

• Assist with WikiProject LGBT on WikiData to improve LGBT-related content on Wikidata.

7. LGBT + Health and Medicine

• Develop partnership with Wikipedia:WikiProject Medicine, Wikipedia:WikiProject Pharmacology, and other health and medicine related Wikipedia projects to set goals in improving the coverage of LGBT health Wikipedia articles within these WikiProjects, and to enliven the discussion about LGBT health articles on Wikipedia.

Please do chip in with your thoughts or feel free to add or extend to the above. --Fæ (talk) 10:25, 15 August 2014 (UTC)

This is great. Thanks for fleshing out your ideas, Fae. I am sure these fit into one of the above categories, but I didn't specifically see the Education Program or GLAM mentioned. I think it would be great if we partnered with existing programs and supported LGBT-related projects at universities and cultural institutions. LGBT+GLAM! (Artwork, anyone?) :) --Another Believer (talk) 14:25, 15 August 2014 (UTC)

I'm definitely willing to help specially in the LGBT help desk, I'm in OTRS queue of Persian and English so It's easier for me to help that part. Also I think it'll be good if we work on Wikimedia LGBT/It Gets Better, if you think it's not good idea let's put it aside and focus on other things Amir (talk) 07:19, 16 August 2014 (UTC)

Excellent pointers. AB, I'm thinking that Education does need highlighting and I'll re-write 3 later today as it is probably a similar vein. I'll add another programme for LGBT+ History and GLAM partnerships. Though we do not want to duplicate any existing WikiProject on LGBT studies, we probably do have the capabilities to be more proactive on working with archives and institutions that are themselves interested in helping shine a light on LGBT culture and history.

Amir, do have a crack at improving the OTRS proposal, it will be helped by your language skills and perspective as to what is a priority. I'll probably try taking it forward next week. IGB is an interesting proposal, presumably we can wrap into the existing IGB global project, just providing resources for Wikimedians to share their experience. It is a positive way of addressing cyberbullying, or the fear of it, and might be part of 2 above or an Education project as part of 3. I'll ponder how to include it this evening.

Done --Fæ (talk) 09:46, 17 August 2014 (UTC)

I've just added #6 and #7 to the list as additional projects of interest! OR drohowa (talk) 14:57, 18 August 2014 (UTC)

Thanks. I'm unsure what projects under #6 would look like. If you have something in mind, such as pulling on a LGBT related database from elsewhere, it might be an idea to describe it. --Fæ (talk) 10:11, 19 August 2014 (UTC)

Or, perhaps we have one program section to specifically focus efforts on Wikimedia projects. Here is where we could list all WikiProjects such as the LGBT task force at Wikidata, WikiProject LGBT studies at ENWP and their equivalents at Wikipedias of other languages, LGBT Free Media Collective at Commons, LGBT Expedition at Wikivoyage, etc. --Another Believer (talk) 14:10, 19 August 2014 (UTC)

What is being described is probably fairly technical, so a LGBT geek interest programme that might be fitting. Lumping Wikimedia projects into one programme would not work as other programmes have Wikimedia project outcomes, for example Wiki Loves Pride is entirely focussed on creating Wikimedia Commons content. --Fæ (talk) 14:19, 19 August 2014 (UTC)

"Gregory Varnum's LGBT Encyclopedia Picks Up Where Wikipedia Ends" (The Advocate)

• http://www.advocate.com/40-under-40-emerging-voices/2014/08/18/40-under-40-gregory-varnums-lgbt-encyclopedia-picks-where

Congrats, Greg. The Wikimedia and LGBT movements are lucky to have you! --Another Believer (talk) 21:24, 18 August 2014 (UTC)

Thanks!  :) --Varnent (talk)^(COI) 03:15, 19 August 2014 (UTC)

Great. Thanks, User:Varnent :) OR drohowa (talk) 19:56, 25 August 2014 (UTC)

Portland, Oregon: Feminist and Queer Art Wikipedia Edit-a-thon, Sept. 13

For anyone wanting to attend in person or support our efforts remotely, there will be a Feminist and Queer Art Wikipedia Edit-a-Thon in Portland, Oregon on Saturday, September 13. --Another Believer (talk) 17:45, 22 August 2014 (UTC)

Awesome, Jason! Wish I could be there. Another time... OR drohowa (talk) 19:55, 25 August 2014 (UTC)

USA Gov Outreach - GLIFAA Office of Gays and Lesbians in Foreign Affairs

Hi everyone, I'd be interested in reaching out to governmental LGBT affairs offices as Wikimedia/Wikipedia has gotten some nice press with recent C-SPAN coverage. Specifically, I think we could have an in with the Gays and Lesbians in Foreign Affairs - GLIFAA office. We could try to reach out and talk to them about Wikipedia and public policy, and the type of information that they may be able to provide to Wikipedia. Ping me if you are interested or have thoughts on pursuing this connection. OR drohowa (talk) 19:49, 25 August 2014 (UTC)

3 thoughts on this that are a bit theoretical and a bit tangential, but I'll put out there, possibly for discussion:

1. My related experience when both establishing a chapter and maintaining government/large organization contacts (in relation to copyright) was that from an unpaid volunteer's perspective it can be time consuming and might be of limited interest to the main body of volunteers on our network. In balance it is a real bonus to have some outreach, which might mean our local WM-LGBT+ volunteers can help with presentations ("Case studies of successful engagement with Wikipedia" etc.), be invited to sit on relevant joint committees, or a known point of contact for timely questions or press contacts. Consequently if there are volunteers happy to be the key points of contact, go for it and remain realistic as to the availability of others on our network. Sustaining involvement might be a long game.
2. Look to invert the point of contact issue. For example when handling early GLAM partnerships that made the UK chapter rather well known on the global GLAM platform, the key to success was to encourage the internal day to day point of contact to be the Wikimedian advocate from the inside. For example, if you can get the internal person to come to some wiki-meets and get more experience as an active Wikimedia project contributor and play with our tool themselves, this becomes a great basis on which to start proposing projects. This approach decreases our reliance on significant time from an unpaid volunteer, as this inversion means that their time is increasingly seen as a valued commodity to plan and book while the project management/relationship management aspects are being pushed along by someone where this has become part of their job.
3. Our WM-LGBT+ network has to mature, we are probably not yet ready for lots of "sub-networks", though there may be enough interest in 2 or 3 (WM-LGBT+GLAM? WM-LGBT+OTRS? WM-LGBT+OUTREACH?). Obviously the US Government could be a massive valuable resource to support our user group with LGBT related materials and guidance, so this is definitely to be pursued. At the same time we need to draw people in to the stuff that is most relevant to Wikimedia volunteers - global content creation projects. This is why Wiki Loves Pride is low hanging fruit for us and now it's running is much easier to sustain. Other things are important but harder, such as offering a confidential OTRS queue devoted to LGBT+ issues on our projects.

--Fæ (talk) 11:22, 26 August 2014 (UTC)

Creating a Translation Task Force

Another idea- I think it could be cool for us to develop a translation task force for LGBT articles, mimicking WikiProject Medicine's lead Wikipedia:TTF. If you are interested in this, let me know, otherwise, add it to the list of potential projects! OR drohowa (talk) 20:07, 25 August 2014 (UTC)

The translation group for medicine is stripped down to be as simple as possible and has had great successes, but has been unable to function properly without paid staff. It is my opinion that any project could have success in translation only with either paid staff or some point person who is as devoted as paid staff. See Grants:IEG/Medicine_Translation_Project_Community_Organizing for the model by which translation is administered on WikiProject Medicine. A lot of people put a lot of energy into finding an entirely volunteer way to manage what we were doing, and after years of trying the logistics were just too tedious to crowdsource. Blue Rasberry (talk) 17:34, 26 August 2014 (UTC)

Hi Lane, Thanks for this feedback. Perhaps we should consider, as the group progresses this year, creating a grant proposal for such a project. It could be cool to seek part-time funding, from the Foundation or elsewhere, for a few people to be translating these articles into a few different languages.OR drohowa (talk) 14:22, 27 August 2014 (UTC)

A video conference on Wikimedia LGBT activities

Hello, After some talks with User:Fæ, We need to pick a date to have a conference on our activities (Wiki Loves Pride, LGBT helpdesk, Wikidata, etc.) please pick a date, Anytime until September 6 is fine with me, after that 15-24 UTC is fine. User:OR drohowa User:Bluerasberry User:Another Believer User:Tom Morris User:Varnent: Please note that this kind of meetings are important for us to continue I have important issues to talk to you. BestAmir (talk) 14:31, 31 August 2014 (UTC)

National Coming Out Day Events!

We have just over a month until National Coming Out Day! Hurrah!

I am in the process of setting up an LGBT+ editathon on Saturday 11th October which is "NCOD", with a lovely old library (the book-stacks are very "Hogwarts") with a fantastic set of gay archives. So, consider this a nudge to everyone who has been thinking about an event to pencil this day in their diary, and have a go at making it happen. --Fæ (talk) 15:42, 4 September 2014 (UTC)

The National Coming Out Day articles seems to need some work as well. I'll start there. ;) OR drohowa (talk) 14:22, 18 September 2014 (UTC)

It's official! Wikimedia LGBT+ User Group approved by Affiliations Committee

• Affiliations Committee/Resolutions/Wikimedia LGBT+ User Group - Liaison approval, September 2014

It's official -- the user group has been approved by the Affiliations Committee. A big thank you to all who have helped to make this become a reality. --Another Believer (talk) 20:32, 15 September 2014 (UTC)

THANK YOU too, Jason. :) OR drohowa (talk) 14:20, 18 September 2014 (UTC)

Hurrah! --Fæ (talk) 07:02, 19 September 2014 (UTC)

Fantastic news. Thank you for all your hard work Jason. CT Cooper · talk 16:18, 19 September 2014 (UTC)

Feeling extremely happy :) thank you Jason Amir (talk) 17:45, 19 September 2014 (UTC)

Fall 2014 Art+Feminism IEG & PEG Grants Notification

Hello All, the Art+Feminism Edit-a-thon organizers have prepared an IEG grant, and a PEG grant this week for the fall Wikimedia Foundation grant scholarships. These grants will fund several NYC training sessions, another major international Edit-a-thon, and the creation of infrastructure to support this year, and years going forward. The project is seeking community comment / discussion and endorsement signatures (section at the bottom of the page) to help complete the grant process. We encourage you to take a look at these grants, and offer your feedback and/or your endorsement signature if you feel the project worthy. On behalf of the other organizers. --Theredproject (talk) 01:14, 1 October 2014 (UTC)

Intersex person

What is with the intersex people and their problems in everyday life. Where are the inhuman medical interventions in childhood and the problems in only 2 sex society and whose prosecution addressed? --Fiver, der Hellseher (talk) 16:22, 8 October 2014 (UTC)

Hi Fiver. This talk page is focused on projects related to the WM-LGBT+ user group rather than more general LGBT+ questions. You may find the IRC channel #gaygeeks a helpful place to chat about intersex issues.

If I have misunderstood the intended meaning of your question, please feel free to ask in German and I'll ping a native speaker to get back to you. Thanks --Fæ (talk) 16:55, 9 October 2014 (UTC)

Fund a community human resources staff person

User:Bluerasberry has put up a proposal on the IdeaLab (see:Grants:IdeaLab/Fund a community human resources staffperson with the idea of asking the WMF to fund a community human resources staff person to help mediate off-wiki problems occurring as a result of on-wiki volunteering, and other community issues concerning diversity, tolerance, and acceptance. I think this is a great idea, and very applicable to the concerns of this group. Take a look, and endorse if interested! OR drohowa (talk) 16:27, 9 October 2014 (UTC)

"What a dump!", or the big WikiProject LGBT Studies cleanup drive of 2014

Over on English Wikipedia, I've proposed a cleanup drive to try and reduce the number of LGBT topic area articles that have warning templates by roughly half by the end of 2014. Please see the WikiProject talk page on English Wikipedia. —Tom Morris (talk) 06:25, 19 August 2014 (UTC)

I just saw this and will make time to do some work to help you. Thanks for the post. Yours, OR drohowa (talk) 04:53, 2 November 2014 (UTC)

Request for help in German

Re: c:Commons:Help_desk#A_1910_photograph.2C_author_unspecified

If someone understands the Frauen Kultur Archiv, there's a photograph of an Lesbian activist from 1910 to save! --Fæ (talk) 14:53, 21 August 2014 (UTC)

Did you know that the most active cooperative images on Commons are LGBT projects?

c:User:Fæ/SignificantReverts

I happened to come across this fact while looking into possible "image revert wars" on Commons, see the linked report. This shows that of all Commons images, it is LGBT related maps that have the best cooperation between groups of people (look for the LGBT tag, with those highlighted in green as the most stable images with the longest histories). The maps are mostly to illustrate the status of same-sex marriage recognition. A good measurable fact to drop into any discussion about the importance of LGBT projects... --Fæ (talk) 15:23, 13 November 2014 (UTC)

Thanks for sharing. I am definitely impressed by how quickly same-sex marriage maps are updated and the amount of discussion they generate. -Another Believer (talk) 15:39, 13 November 2014 (UTC)

Smithsonian NMAH

Hi everyone. An update on User:Uncommon fritillary, User:Bluerasberry and my meeting with folks at the National Museum of American History on Wednesday November 19th- The three of us met with five Smithsonian staff, including Katherine Ott, and Franklin Robinson, and Dan Gifford, archivists that have been working on the Smithsonian's recent efforts to collect LGBT History materials. (another link). Folks there are excited to host a Wikipedia:Wiki Loves Pride event, and we discussed logistics for that including identifying a good space, and working with Wikimedia D.C. to ensure Wikipedians would be there. They expressed interest in hosting a "preview" event and tour of the collections, for local Wikipedians and those that wanted to attend Wiki Loves Pride, so that future attendees could get a sense of the collection, and identify materials that they would want to come back to, and edit. Beyond Wiki Loves Pride, they would be interested in having a more regular volunteer or resident help document the collections materials on Wikipedia. My suggestion was to sync them up with the Wikipedia Library Interns program, and try to get a student volunteer in such a position, that could then be considered "workstudy." Next steps include them reviving the GLAM pages that were created with the help of User:Dominic (Wikipedia:GLAM/Smithsonian Institution), finding some Wikimedia D.C. volunteers for the event, scheduling, and investigating other opportunities for engagement. Let me know if you have thoughts or questions! I was really happy with our meeting. OR drohowa (talk) 17:33, 8 December 2014 (UTC)

Congratulations and welcome!

Congratulations on your recent recognition as a user group! We wanted to let you know about this tool for Wikimedia organizations (including user groups) that was just recently developed, in case you are interested in participating in the first phase of the project. We are collecting a first round of responses until 21 December: Organizational_effectiveness/Tool. We wanted to let you know about the tool, since as a newer group, we may not have reached out to you yet.

If your group is interested in participating, but has questions, we'd be happy to help you get started. Just contact me on my user page or send me a note at orgeffectiveness at wikimedia dot org. Cheers and welcome, Winifred Olliff (FDC Support Team) talk 19:08, 15 December 2014 (UTC)

Facebook update

The Wikimedia LGBT+ Facebook page has surpassed the 100-*Like* threshold, which isn't too shabby considering posts to the page are infrequent and we don't really have any sort of marketing or social media strategy. I try to add a news update when a major event takes place, but feel free to post here if you think of content to add to the page, status updates, etc. And needless to say, do feel free to join the page and/or invite a friend! -Another Believer (talk) 22:40, 15 December 2014 (UTC)

LGBT History Month (UK)?

February is LGBT History Month in the UK. Any thoughts on something we could do in conjunction? Could be a low-key online edit-a-thon at English Wikipedia, where we identify articles needing improvement and any one may participate remotely, or an organized meetup in the UK? Just throwing the idea out there. -Another Believer (talk) 22:48, 15 December 2014 (UTC)

I have some contacts with key groups, however December is a bust for me and leaving it to January to start arranging things is probably too late. I'm sad to say that after the totally embarrassing way the chapter responded to my simple request to borrow a projector to support the LGBT editathon, I have no intention of being stung for a second time.

For the UK it is probably more realistic to think about planning events in advance of Pride in the summer which require no material support, unless WM-LGBT can arrange some independent funding. --Fæ (talk) 14:38, 16 December 2014 (UTC)

Understood. Physical meetups can require a lot of work. If group members would be interested in some sort of online collaboration/project, feel free to share your thoughts and ideas here. Otherwise, if we would prefer to begin working on the next Wiki Loves Pride campaign, we can get an early start on that... -Another Believer (talk) 15:45, 16 December 2014 (UTC)

Queer History edit-a-thon in Vancouver

The Georgia Straight reports (January 8) that there will be a Queer History in Vancouver editathon in the Bennett Library at Simon Fraser University on January 12:

• http://www.straight.com/blogra/803091/help-share-vancouver-queer-history-wikipedia-edit-thon
• http://workshops.lib.sfu.ca/node/884

-Another Believer (talk) 21:08, 9 January 2015 (UTC)

I created a page for the event at ENWP here. We may also want to include it in the calendar we have here? -Another Believer (talk) 21:28, 9 January 2015 (UTC)

Intro to LGBTQ Wikipedia event in downtown Boston on Jan 20...

• https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1nw7cAurI1ySr9_iG_MVw8qdcEjAbLY9RzxbKXZfEZ9Q/viewform?c=0&w=1 -Another Believer (talk) 18:50, 10 January 2015 (UTC)

Wellcome Library image donation

Project supporters, check out "Wellcome Library donates 100,000 medical images to Wikimedia Commons" on the Wikimedia blog. The post was written by Fae and mentions Wikimedia LGBT+ specifically. Great work, Fae! -Another Believer (talk) 17:30, 21 January 2015 (UTC)

One more thought: Might it be worth creating a page, either here or at Commons, for displaying of gallery of the LGBT-related images specifically? -Another Believer (talk) 17:31, 21 January 2015 (UTC)

Another Believer I think lots of people would make all kinds of galleries if making galleries were encouraged. So far as I know, it never has been, and there is no way for people to browse Wikimedia Commons image galleries or curate their own picture collections.

I support the idea of curating these posters and have thought of doing so myself because of the attention that they could attract. Do you know of any existing model for arranging what you imagine? Blue Rasberry (talk) 18:26, 21 January 2015 (UTC)

I don't know of a model, but it would be nice to be able to curate LGBT-related images, not only because they carry a common theme and could prove educational for someone searching for LGBT images specifically, but it is an opportunity to showcase the work of one of our own project members. In case we need to report on our activities and results, it would be helpful to know the number of LGBT images uploaded, usage statistics, etc. -Another Believer (talk) 18:49, 21 January 2015 (UTC)

Creating galleries is fine on Commons, see c:Commons:Galleries. If a gallery exists, a user need only put that word in the search bar to find it. Examples include c:LGBT activists, c:LGBT protest in Milan, December 10 2008 and c:Homosexuality (pre-modern). So, if you fancy creating a show case for key LGBT images from the Wellcome collection, or indeed elsewhere, give it a go. --Fæ (talk) 18:52, 21 January 2015 (UTC)

So, would commons:Wellcome Library/LGBT be the best location? -Another Believer (talk) 19:04, 21 January 2015 (UTC)

Maybe, if you were to create the parent. --Fæ (talk) 19:16, 21 January 2015 (UTC)

I went ahead and created the page (it can always be moved later). I have no idea how to best go about sifting through 100,000+ images for LGBT-related ones specifically, but I've started browsing from the beginning and added a few to the Commons gallery (including a sub-gallery for a series of "Stop AIDS' campaign posters). Needless to say, I welcome others to assist with this task, especially if you know how to find/isolate images specific to the gallery's purpose. -Another Believer (talk) 19:27, 21 January 2015 (UTC)

You can play around with incategory searches like this. For example typing "AIDS incategory:Files_from_Wellcome_Images" in the Commons search bar returns 2,782 images. --Fæ (talk) 19:34, 21 January 2015 (UTC)

Indeed, I remember adding some very educational images on it.wiki from this batch. AIDS prevention seems to get worse pretty much everywhere in the world, so there is a lot to inform in this area. --Nemo 11:24, 22 January 2015 (UTC)

Wiki Loves Pride 2015

Pinging project members!
@OR drohowa, Tom Morris, Shujenchang, Varnent, Wikitanvir, Bluerasberry, and Raystorm: @DerFussi, PinkAmpersand, Ladsgroup, RachelWex, Cleeder, Wing, and Maximilianklein: @SPQRobin, MRG90, Roblespepe, Gobbler, SatyrTN, Dungodung, and Keilana: @Thelmadatter, Figure4jack, Gobonobo, Verdy p, Ktr101, Zellfaze, and Mozucat: @Netha Hussain, Heteroglossia, Mooeypoo, Hypotactic, Rabimba, Orderinchaos, and Lenyado: @Sou Boyy, Airon90, Hahc21, Gobbler, SatyrTN, Dungodung, and Samirluther: @Cleeder, Undead q, Mijotoba, Geekdiva, M.O.X, Chase me ladies, I'm the Cavalry, and CT Cooper:

Are project members interested in hosting another Wiki Loves Pride campaign for 2015? Last year, the campaign was mostly held in the U.S. in June (in conjunction with Pride Month, and because Dorothy and I both live there), though some events were held in India and photo galleries were created for newly-uploaded images in Austria, Canada, Poland and South Korea. For an inaugural campaign, I thought it was successful, but certainly there is room for improvement. What would we like to do differently? Who wants to be involved? Is there a better time of year or region(s) we should focus on?

Based on last year's experience, I think the sooner we can encourage people and affiliates to consider an LGBT-related event in June, the better. Organizing events late in the game is hard, especially when many chapters already have calendars and budgets established. We could encourage in-person meetups, try to form partnerships with LGBT-related institutions, or even ask that people attend and document/photograph LGBT events such as pride parades. It might also help if we had a dedicated volunteer to distribute a press release to LGBT publications, local or national, to spread the word about the purpose of Wiki Loves Pride. The Art+Feminism project has been very successful in this regard. Maybe there could also be a dedicated volunteer for reaching out to chapters and other affiliates, requesting their participation. The 2014 campaign also saw a collaboration with Wikimedia Commons in the form of a photo contest. It would be nice if we could replicate this and/or also collaborate with other Wikimedia communities such as Wikivoyage, Wikisource, Wikidata, Wikinews, etc. Similarly, is there a volunteer who would like to invite Wikipedias in other languages to participate?

Thoughts? Concerns? Volunteers? I am really just thinking out loud at this point, but I'd like to gauge the level of interest and give others the opportunity to provide input about this group's goals for the year. Keep in mind, we don't have to do the same Wiki Loves Pride campaign we did last year. Who knows... maybe this group will be most productive by doing collaborative projects remotely instead of trying to coordinate in-person meetups around the world. All ideas and goals are welcome. -Another Believer (talk) 17:23, 17 January 2015 (UTC)

• There are organizations hosting meetups in NYC and Washington DC in the United States. Details are not public yet but in my opinion there is good support in those two places. Blue Rasberry (talk) 22:22, 17 January 2015 (UTC)

Re: User:Bluerasberry's comments - we have been talking to institutions about hosting meetups in NYC and Washington DC and these places seem fairly sure that they will host events. OR drohowa (talk) 20:16, 31 January 2015 (UTC)

• I certainly think we could arrange something for here in the UK. Wikimedia UK has said they would be happy to fund an LGBT related event if one was to be arranged, and I would be happy to get that organised. I'm not exactly sure what and where yet, but London events tend to have good turn outs. CT Cooper · talk 20:48, 23 January 2015 (UTC)

Wikimania 2015, Mexico City

Wikimania 2015?

Never too early to start making plans for LGBT representation at Wikimania 2015, Mexico City. I'm not certain I will be attend, but I went ahead and created an LGBT Meetup page because I hope there can be at least one LGBT+ meet and greet during the conference. This could be for official Wikimedia LGBT+ User Group business and/or a casual meet and greet (we had both in London--fun times!). Also, here is an opportunity to discuss other ways to participate in the conference, such as proposed sessions/panels/presentations or LGBT+ handout distribution, etc. All thoughts welcome. -Another Believer (talk) 20:30, 14 January 2015 (UTC)

I'm definitely going to be there, barring extreme circumstances, and I'm happy to do my bit to ensure the meetup happens. I think the formal session followed by something less formal worked well last time and we could do that again. I had initially ruled out doing a presentation or session for Wikimania 2015, but given this opportunity to showcase Wikimedia LGBT+, I'm going to re-consider. I've run a session for Wikimania before, and I'll happily do it again, though I'd welcome doing a joint one with one or more other volunteers. That said, I think our top priority should be to have something in the Community Village, presuming this will on again for Wikimania 2015. CT Cooper · talk 15:21, 15 January 2015 (UTC)

Glad to know we have at least one project member with confirmed plans to attend and ensure an LGBT+meetup! -Another Believer (talk) 18:10, 15 January 2015 (UTC)

I will be there. I will support. Blue Rasberry (talk) 19:10, 15 January 2015 (UTC)

I will be there and would be happy to help preparing the presentation or the meetup or both Amir (talk) 13:55, 16 January 2015 (UTC)

User:Bluerasberry and I have discussed with many community members, stakeholders, and 3rd party organizations, the possibility of creating a grant-funded position for a HR staff person to handle harassment reports on Wikipedia, and also on Tor, and possibly other like-minded projects. I think this would be a great project for us (perhaps Lane and I, and others if they want to join) to present on and gather support, on behalf of Wikimedia LGBT, at Wikimania 2015. Grants:IdeaLab/Fund a community human resources staffperson. 24.47.170.130 03:26, 17 January 2015 (UTC) (This is Fae, I think. Blue Rasberry (talk) 22:25, 17 January 2015 (UTC)}

I am hoping to go and would like to suggest we consider a fundraiser or something to help possibly raise funds for additional LGBT+ scholarships to future WM conferences. Just a thought. --Varnent (talk)^(COI) 07:05, 17 January 2015 (UTC)

That's certainly something we could consider. The main scholarships programme has limited resources, though they are setting some funding aside explicitly for those doing presentations, and then there's chapter scholarships. CT Cooper · talk 12:34, 17 January 2015 (UTC)

Just a note to remind everyone that the deadline to apply for a WMF scholarship to attend Wikimania is 16 February 2015, so please get an application in soon if you want to do so and haven't yet got round to it. Furthermore, the deadline for making submissions for Wikimania is 28 February 2015, a date which is also coming up fast. Since there has been some interest in submitting an Wikimedia LGBT+ presentation I'm going to take the lead and draft something before the deadline. Myself and others can make amendments and improvements after the deadline, but late submissions are not normally accepted. I'll keep this talk page updated. CT Cooper · talk 17:01, 10 February 2015 (UTC)

Thanks for the reminder and for working on a draft presentation. -Another Believer (talk) 18:24, 10 February 2015 (UTC)

Imagine a world

I was looking for q:Jimmy Wales and found this.

Blue Rasberry (talk) 20:59, 14 April 2015 (UTC)

That's where I live. --Fæ (talk) 21:16, 14 April 2015 (UTC)

:) -Another Believer (talk) 02:55, 15 April 2015 (UTC)

LOL. CT Cooper · talk 13:38, 15 April 2015 (UTC)

:P Orderinchaos (talk) 13:40, 15 April 2015 (UTC)

Nominations are being accepted for 2015 Wikimedia Foundation elections

This is a message from the 2015 Wikimedia Foundation Elections Committee. Translations are available.

Greetings,

I am pleased to announce that nominations are now being accepted for the 2015 Wikimedia Foundation Elections. This year the Board and the FDC Staff are looking for a diverse set of candidates from regions and projects that are traditionally under-represented on the board and in the movement as well as candidates with experience in technology, product or finance. To this end they have published letters describing what they think is needed and, recognizing that those who know the community the best are the community themselves, the election committee is accepting nominations for community members you think should run and will reach out to those nominated to provide them with information about the job and the election process.

This year, elections are being held for the following roles:

Board of Trustees
The Board of Trustees is the decision-making body that is ultimately responsible for the long term sustainability of the Foundation, so we value wide input into its selection. There are three positions being filled. More information about this role can be found at the board elections page.

Funds Dissemination Committee (FDC)
The Funds Dissemination Committee (FDC) makes recommendations about how to allocate Wikimedia movement funds to eligible entities. There are five positions being filled. More information about this role can be found at the FDC elections page.

Funds Dissemination Committee (FDC) Ombud
The FDC Ombud receives complaints and feedback about the FDC process, investigates complaints at the request of the Board of Trustees, and summarizes the investigations and feedback for the Board of Trustees on an annual basis. One position is being filled. More information about this role can be found at the FDC Ombudsperson elections page.

The candidacy submission phase lasts from 00:00 UTC April 20 to 23:59 UTC May 5 for the Board and from 00:00 UTCApril 20 to 23:59 UTC April 30 for the FDC and FDC Ombudsperson. This year, we are accepting both self-nominations and nominations of others. More information on this election and the nomination process can be found on the 2015 Wikimedia elections page on Meta-Wiki.

Please feel free to post a note about the election on your project's village pump. Any questions related to the election can be posted on the talk page on Meta, or sent to the election committee's mailing list, board-elections -at- wikimedia.org

On behalf of the Elections Committee,
-Gregory Varnum (User:Varnent)
Coordinator, 2015 Wikimedia Foundation Elections Committee

Posted by the MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of the 2015 Wikimedia Foundation Elections Committee, 04:56, 21 April 2015 (UTC) • Translate • Get help

Queers Online, "Queering Wikipedia"

Hello. I coauthored a chapter in a book which mentions this group and some Wikipedians. I asked that the book be mentioned in The Signpost on English Wikipedia. Please see en:Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/Newsroom/Suggestions#Queers_Online this week only or anytime in this archival link.

Names mentioned are Fae, Tom Morris, Varnent, Another Believer, OR drohowa, Ladsgroup, and our absent supporter Wadewitz.

I am cross posting this to the wiki-LGBT+ mailing list. Blue Rasberry (talk) 21:09, 16 April 2015 (UTC)

Thanks for the heads up and link, Lane. -Another Believer (talk) 22:09, 16 April 2015 (UTC)

It's awesome, Thank you Lane Amir (talk) 08:52, 17 April 2015 (UTC)

A great and important read! OR drohowa (talk) 02:44, 22 April 2015 (UTC)

Community discussion on harassment reporting

There are many current proposals as part of the 2015 Inspire Campaign related to harassment management. I’ve created a page, Grants:IdeaLab/Community discussion on harassment reporting meant to serve as a central space where the various stakeholders in these proposals and other community members can discuss which methods might serve our community best so that we can unify our ideas into collective action. I encourage you to join the conversation and contribute your ideas! OR drohowa (talk) 02:44, 22 April 2015 (UTC)

Requests for comments on Wikimedia user groups approval process and agreements

This is an update from the Wikimedia Affiliations Committee. Translations are available.

The Wikimedia Affiliations Committee is requesting comments on the approval process and agreements for Wikimedia user groups.

Wikimedia user groups are groups of Wikimedia users who support and promote the Wikimedia projects in the offline world by organizing meetups and other projects. The Wikimedia Affiliations Committee's responsibilities include approval of new Wikimedia user groups.

The committee will seek community input until Friday, May 1, 2015. The committee will then review the community's input, and publish the new process and agreements on Meta-Wiki. The committee will again seek community input approximately six months after any changes are adopted to gauge effectiveness and if any additional changes are necessary.

Please see the RFC page on Meta-Wiki for more information and to provide feedback.

Thank you - Wikimedia Affiliations Committee

Posted by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of the Affiliations Committee, 04:26, 24 April 2015 (UTC) • Translate • Get help • Subscribe or unsubscribe.

Wikimedia Foundation Funds Dissemination Committee elections 2015

This is a message from the 2015 Wikimedia Foundation Elections Committee. Translations are available.

Voting has begun for eligible voters in the 2015 elections for the Funds Dissemination Committee (FDC) and FDC Ombudsperson. Questions and discussion with the candidates for the Funds Dissemination Committee (FDC) and FDC Ombudsperson will continue during the voting. Nominations for the Board of Trustees will be accepted until 23:59 UTC May 5.

The Funds Dissemination Committee (FDC) makes recommendations about how to allocate Wikimedia movement funds to eligible entities. There are five positions on the committee being filled.

The FDC Ombudsperson receives complaints and feedback about the FDC process, investigates complaints at the request of the Board of Trustees, and summarizes the investigations and feedback for the Board of Trustees on an annual basis. One position is being filled.

The voting phase lasts from 00:00 UTC May 3 to 23:59 UTC May 10. Click here to vote. Questions and discussion with the candidates will continue during that time. Click here to ask the FDC candidates a question. Click here to ask the FDC Ombudsperson candidates a question. More information on the candidates and the elections can be found on the 2015 FDC election page, the 2015 FDC Ombudsperson election page, and the 2015 Board election page on Meta-Wiki.

On behalf of the Elections Committee,
-Gregory Varnum (User:Varnent)
Volunteer Coordinator, 2015 Wikimedia Foundation Elections Committee

Posted by the MediaWiki message delivery 03:40, 4 May 2015 (UTC) • Translate • Get help

Draft submission for Wikimania 2015, Mexico City

Per earlier discussion at #Wikimania 2015, Mexico City, I have completed a draft submission on our user group for Wikimania, which can be found at wm2015:Submissions/Wikimedia LGBT+. What I currently have in mind is a presentation which reviews and promotes Wikimedia LGBT+ to a wider audience. I've gone for the default time allocation of 30 minutes, as I think this should be enough for us and time comes at a premium at Wikimania. I've drafted an outline of what the presentation will cover, though I've avoided going into too much detail as this is probably best decided later, particularly as we still have over five months until the conference and a lot can happen in that time. In the meantime, I welcome feedback on the overall plan and how the submission is currently presented. I'm happy to put together the presentation and present it on my own when the time comes, though I'd also be pleased to work with any volunteers. CT Cooper · talk 18:12, 15 February 2015 (UTC)

Thank you for putting this together, CT Cooper. It is a solid draft and I'd be happy to assist in any capacity, from simply attending to participating, if helpful and if I am able to attend the conference. I proposed a similar presentation last year, which was commended but ultimately not accepted, but I hope your attempt is successful. The feedback I got was that presentations should not only illustrate impact within the Wikimedia movement but also illustrate how take-aways from the presentation can be replicated additionally in the future, or elsewhere in the world. I hope other project members will express their support and provide feedback of their own. -Another Believer (talk) 19:10, 15 February 2015 (UTC)

Thank you for your support. Interesting feedback you got there and I'm going to keep it mind. CT Cooper · talk 19:16, 15 February 2015 (UTC)

I will probably be there (depends on scholarship) and I offer my help anyway I can help even for organizing the LGBT meetup Amir (talk) 08:13, 20 February 2015 (UTC)

Since the deadline for submissions is tomorrow I've given it a further run through and added more detail – including proposing some audience participation and making the intended outcomes clearer. Since the abstract is now past 500 words, I don't think lack of detail will be a problem. As always, feedback is welcome, and edits can be made after the deadline. CT Cooper · talk 20:11, 27 February 2015 (UTC)

Unfortunately, I'm not overly confident that the score we've gotten at Submission Review, while good, will be high enough to get us through with the heavy competition this year. If it doesn't work out, then there are plenty of other options. CT Cooper · talk 14:19, 9 April 2015 (UTC)

Agreed re: other options, though I wouldn't count it out yet as the scores are not too low. Unfortunately, I've not been awarded a scholarship to Wikimania this year, so currently I am not sure I will be attending. Bummer--I was looking forward to another night crawl! :p -Another Believer (talk) 14:33, 9 April 2015 (UTC)

I'm sorry to hear that – competition was fierce this year. I hope you can make it anyhow. CT Cooper · talk 15:00, 9 April 2015 (UTC)

Unfortunately, it has now been confirmed that the presentation proposal was unsuccessful. I'm sure we can work on other things instead though. CT Cooper · talk 21:20, 11 May 2015 (UTC)