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== Revisiting balance: transgender-related content in the body ==
== Restored material ==

Given the ] regarding summarizing trans-related content in the lead, which, afaic, was successfully resolved with Roxy's ], do we want to now look at the content in section {{slink|Lesbian erasure|In relation to transgender women|nopage=yes}} as possibly overly detailed and in need of pruning, or is it fine as is?

Recently ( 11:22, 17 April), brand new editor {{user|Antimoany}} removed 6kb from section {{slink|Lesbian erasure|In relation to transgender women|nopage=yes}} (]), likely in response to an {{tl|overly detailed}} tag placed atop that section by newish editor {{user|Computer-ergonomics}} a day before (]). This was followed by a revert to status quo ante by {{u|Crossroads}}, and further tit-for-tat reverts by Computer-ergonomics and Mathglot, leaving the current state of the article as it was before the "Overly detailed" banner was added. User Computer-ergonomic then asked about this at my Talk page (]). I offered the best advice I could, mainly to come here and discuss, and possibly to relate the "Overly detailed" banner as being related to ]; I'm bringing it here on {{their|Computer-ergonomics}} behalf.

To place this in context, which the newer editors may not have been aware of, the issue of trans-related content has been discussed previously, at {{slink||Summarizing transgender-related discourse in the lead}}, and resulted in ] adjusting the lead on 7 July 2022 in ] with the summary, "''Per Pyxis's advice on talk, rewrite this first section (now subsection) into a more condensed summary with fewer UNDUE OVERQUOTEs, without significantly disrupting the balance. My summary of Gilreath's 2011 POV is commented out, as it's not clear whether this represents a "significant minority viewpoint" relevant for inclusion here. Plan to tackle the trans women section eventually.''" (See history around this edit in time: <span class="plainlinks"></span>). That discussion also included {{ping|Pyxis Solitary}}. Do we want to expand the issue to trans content in the body, or put another way, should that section be pruned? Thanks, ] (]) 18:42, 19 April 2023 (UTC)

:Thanks for opening the conversation @]; I actually will be tapping out of this discussion from here as I feel like I should not have gotten involved with reverting it. I hope the conversations that this opens are fruitful. ] (]) 19:09, 19 April 2023 (UTC)
:: Fair enough; best of luck on anything you choose to work on. ] (]) 20:42, 19 April 2023 (UTC)
: My own thoughts about this are as follows. Clearly, we need to follow ], and with respect to this section of the article, ]. So the question, is, what is the appropriate amount of weight to assign to the subtopic of lesbian erasure which concerns trans-related issues? In general, per ], it should be roughly proportionate to the coverage in ], ] sources. And here, I believe, is the locus for disagreement about this issue, because there may be a mismatch between the importance/relevance of trans issues (which I would judge as minor to very minor) within the larger topic of lesbian erasure on the one hand, and the proportion of reliable source coverage of the latter with respect to the former, on the other. This leads to a situation in which the article seems to devote too much attention to what is not a major part of the story taken from a more scientific, or lived-experience point of view. This happens sometimes when some culture war issue arises from a tiny corner of a larger topic, and more coverage appears in the media about what is not really a major part of the larger topic, or at least, was not a major part until some issue–usually a conflict, because that sells newspapers–hits the fan and starts taking up a lot of the oxygen in the room.
: In the ] topic, trans-related issues were quite minor, until a conflict arose, and grabbed all the attention, and now reporting about the trans aspect is a much bigger proportion of coverage of the larger erasure issue than it once was—at least in news and popular media, but, importantly, not as much in scholarly media, so there's a disconnect or mismatch there now. Trying to navigate ] in an environment like that is not easy. Let's take ] and a (formerly) minor subtopic of it as an analogy: transgender rights is a huge topic with many aspects, covered in the main article and in multiple ]. And then, within the last ten years, a U.S. state passes a so-called "]" about what public rest room a transgender individual is allowed use, and then the formerly very minor issue blows up into a political and culture war issue, somewhat overwhelming all the many medical and societal subtopics around transgender rights, and sucking up lots of the coverage because that's what the media do, they cover conflicts. But here again, there's a mismatch now between the proportion of coverage in news and popular media, and in the proportion in scholarly publications. (I chose this example precisely because it's a mirror-image case, in the sense that within the topic of lesbian erasure, trans-related issues occupy, or at least occupied, a minor part of the whole; whereas in the second example, it's the other way around, where the trans issue *is* the major issue, within which a (formerly) very minor-to-nonexistent issue has now expanded greatly in coverage.)
: A situation where an erstwhile minor issue has grabbed more attention recently (especially in news/popular media) than was previously the case, makes figuring out how to navigate ] difficult, especially where non-news sources remain closer to where they were before; and that's where I think our attention ought to be focused. ] (]) 20:52, 19 April 2023 (UTC)
::I think your detailed post here, {{u|Mathglot}}, is very well-reasoned. True there seems to be a significant lack of high-quality (academic) source material, yet despite that, it has grown into a very large section. ]&#xFF5F;]&nbsp;]&#xFF60; 22:04, 24 April 2023 (UTC)
:::The other sections heavily rely on non-academic sources and there no talk of them being "overly detailed" despite their far greater length length. And now this section, but for one small paragraph, is dedicated to the criticism of the the subject of the topic in question, with only single individuals as the sources for 2 of the 3 paragraphs (dedicated to dismissing the concept). NPOV this section is not, and held to a far different standard than the rest of the sections. ] (]) 22:30, 22 August 2023 (UTC)
:A lot of this content about trans women is just editorials, which are generally garbage sources that should rarely be cited by Misplaced Pages and only when the author has relevant, specific expertise, such as academic qualifications. If you axe all the editorials from the article and replace by quality print sources the dispute will go away. (] &#183; ]) ''']''' 20:01, 24 April 2023 (UTC)
::Yeah, looking at the quality of the sources (striving to cite quality sources), and looking at how much weight various facets are given in reliable sources overall, would make this section better. Right off the bat, I'm struck by how repetitive and relatively weakly sourced many parts of the section are, e.g. the first three paragraphs are repeating that butch/tomboy women are said to be pressured to transition, using just two sources over and over, one a random fringe-looking opinion with no evidence it's due weight, which is weirdly interpolated ''in between'' two paragraphs which—although both about the same Katie Herzog article—feel as if they were written by different people who had some...different ideas of what the article was saying. Who wants to take a(nother) crack at bringing this into a more encyclopedic and policy-compliant state? I will see if I can whip the first three paragraphs into a better shape, but don't have time to do the rest yet. ] (]) 01:40, 25 April 2023 (UTC)

::"{{tq|garbage sources that should rarely be cited by Misplaced Pages and only when the author has relevant, specific expertise, such as academic qualifications.}}" Based on Misplaced Pages content guideline for citing sources, this is strictly your personal viewpoint. '']'' and '']'' newspapers, '']'' website, and '']'' newsmagazine are not "garbage sources" — they have all been in publication for many years, have Misplaced Pages articles created many years ago, and do not appear in ''']''' as "Generally unreliable" or "Deprecated". Misplaced Pages states in ''']''': (1) '']''; (2) '']'' And if they're biased opinions: '']'' ] ]. <span style="font-family:Papyrus; color:black">Ol' homo.</span> 11:12, 26 April 2023 (UTC)
:::Editorials are often reliable sources for the opinions of their authors, but not authoritative for general reporting. I think that's the main point. They are of questionable value for establishing the basic facts about a subject. ] (]) 12:12, 29 April 2023 (UTC)
::::No argument with your comment. However, there are subjects that exist but for which you will not find a trove of scholarly articles published about them. ] ]. <span style="font-family:Papyrus; color:black">Ol' homo.</span> 10:24, 30 April 2023 (UTC)

BTW, another article which crossed my watchlist with similar issues is ], which similarly includes a mix of historically important info sourced to academic sources, recent controversies sourced to news or opinions, and news sourced to instagram (or nowhere; people seem to come along and add cities where they heard there was a march, with or without sources). It's in a better state now than it was (for a time, news took up half the article) and than this section is, but if anyone has time to also look ''it'' over from a weight perspective, it wouldn't hurt. ] (]) 14:45, 28 April 2023 (UTC)

I've revised things some more. I tentatively reordered the section about trans women so it ''opens'' with the statements that make the connection to lesbian erasure, and then the more common position that trans women are not lesbian erasure (the old version had weirdly buried both of those things). I cut some of the worst WEIGHT violations. The section on "language" has similar issues, btw (in several directions; on the face of it I notice not just how much of the section is taken up by blow-by-blow about ''queer'', but also how much is quoting Keating). ] (]) 14:13, 29 April 2023 (UTC)

:"I tentatively reordered the section about trans women so it opens with the statements that make the connection to lesbian erasure"
:That is your POV and not NPOV. Agter your edit the section is almost entirely a criticism of the eponymous subject instead of being a detailed accounting on what the proponents of this part of lesbian erasure believe is happening with Transgenderism. ] (]) 22:35, 22 August 2023 (UTC)
:: Misplaced Pages is not about "what the proponents of this part of lesbian erasure believe". That's the whole point of NPOV: it's not what '''pro'''ponents or '''op'''ponents believe about anything; it's about what the majority of reliable sources say. ] (]) 00:17, 23 August 2023 (UTC)


=== First-person accounts ===
I restored all of . And this is why: A bit of material was removed as ] or as though it's not on-topic when it is. The material is on-topic and falls under the definition of lesbian erasure, depending on how it is being defined by sources. I have interpreted ] very strictly in the past, but I've also considered the other side of that debate. WP:Synthesis has been debated times before as not meaning that things that obviously fall under the definition of a topic should be excluded because the exact phrasing is not mentioned in the source. Matters like these are a case-by-case thing. In the case of homosexuality, for example, we don't exclude material that is clearly about homosexuality from the ] article because the source doesn't use the term ''homosexuality'' or ''homosexual.'' If the material is about same-sex attraction, it may or may not be included depending on how ] it is.


Looks to me like things are getting better. I wanted to also raise the subtopic here of first-person accounts, and how we want to deal with them in the article. For example, in section {{slink|Lesbian erasure|Butch lesbians and transgender men|nopage=yes}}, we have the Charlie Kiss piece from The Economist: this is clearly a first-person account, and besides any caveats adhering to opinion pieces in general, it is also ]. The ] checks that box, but I'm wondering about ]; if we use this account, it should be because it is the prevailing view among secondary sources; or if not, an intro sentence perhaps should be added, cited to a secondary (or even ]) source than can provide the reader an idea about how to interpret this personal account in the context of other views. Next up is Ruth Hunt's piece in The Independent, which is a bit of a hybrid: on the one hand, it's mostly an opinion piece about how the apparent support of butch lesbians by voices on the right invoking "erasure" is in reality nothing of the kind, and merely a cynical attempt to hide their real objective, which is to garner support for their transphobic opinions; but on the other hand, it's partly (though minimally) a first-person account due to Hunt's self-description as a butch lesbian, and how she sees through the transphobes' divide-and-conquer strategy, and calls for support for trans equality.
The "not sexually attracted to trans women means you're transphobic" aspect is a part of the topic of lesbian erasure, as noted in sources. is speaking on the "not sexually attracted to trans women means you're transphobic" aspect and is providing her take on it from a transgender perspective.


I'm not opposed to including both of these sources, but it would be better if there were a brief lead-in based on one or more secondary sources to put them in context. As is, it's a bit too ] and feels unmoored. ] (]) 20:49, 30 April 2023 (UTC)
Regarding edit? The "In relation to butch lesbians and transgender men" text is not just about trans men; it is also about butch lesbians. So if anything, the title should be "Butch lesbians and transgender men." Also, "In relation to" perhaps sounds less POV than just titling the sections "Trans men" and "Trans women."


:I share your reservations about Kiss; I was about to add to my comment above that "Frankly we could cut also the second half of the Kiss quote; and once we have a more comprehensive / 'due' section, we might even cut the whole Kiss quote, though at the moment that would only worsen the current weight skew." To the extent Hunt is / was speaking as head of Stonewall, the sentences about her statement(s) are more appropriate, although there too, once the article is more balanced it should be possible to condense or cut the latter part of her remarks. ] (]) 22:08, 30 April 2023 (UTC)
Regarding ? No, the "''A number of lesbians note that they were ]s or experienced ]. Some younger lesbians report having felt conflicted about whether to transition or that they felt pressured to transition and later ]ed.''" piece is not WP:Undue. It is directly relevant to that paragraph and corresponds to the argument against destransitioners being proof of anything in the Katie Herzog paragraph. We aren't going to include Herzog's argument without including this aspect. Many lesbians point to the fact that they felt that they should have been boys growing up. Relevant.


=== DUE, by the numbers ===
Regarding removal of "conversion therapy" and the Miranda Yardley source? The Turner source clearly speaks on conversion therapy. And in any case, it's simple enough to find another source asserting the conversion therapy argument. Yardley is clearly speaking on an aspect that has been argued to fall under the topic of lesbian erasure. The very "" source by Yardley was protested against by the eight lesbian publications mentioned in the trans woman section as being against the notion of lesbian erasure with regard transgender activism. The "" letter has been by '']'' as commenting on lesbian erasure with regard to articles such as the "Girl Dick, the Cotton Ceiling and the Cultural War on Lesbians" one produced by ]. Yardley clearly states things such as "''Here, in the United Kingdom, we have in Stonewall's Ruth Hunt and Diva Magazine's Linda Riley two women who '''are willing to compromise the integrity of what it means to be a homosexual human female, a lesbian'''.''" Furthermore, the Yardley source is used to support the related "cotton ceiling" aspect in the article. I could have easily quoted Yardley in the article, with commentary from ''The Advocate'' or a similar source about lesbian erasure, but I did not. Yardley is only used as a reference in the article.


I'd like to approach this from a different angle, namely the ] issue by the numbers. I've added the {{tl|section sizes}} banner to the talk header banners at the top, to help with this issue. If you notice, at 16kb, the section {{slink|Lesbian erasure|In relation to transgender women|nopage=yes}} is the largest section in the article, and it's only a subsection. Second largest, is the top-level section {{slink|Lesbian erasure|Language and lesbian spaces|nopage=yes}} at 13kb; and other than those two sections, the remainder of the body is 9kb, making {{slink|Lesbian erasure|In relation to transgender women|nopage=yes}} about 40% of the body of the article. I haven't sampled the sources, but is this really a fair representation of the entire theme of lesbian erasure in the literature? ] (]) 00:50, 28 June 2023 (UTC)
Regarding ? Author Morgan Lev Edward Holleb's commentary is clearly related to the topic, which speaks on trans exclusionary radical feminists' thoughts with regard to lesbian erasure, including the argument of erasing biological differences. When Holleb , Holleb is speaking on all of that. Holleb is speaking on trans exclusionary radical feminists, lesbian sexual attraction, and the notion that transgender people are erasing cisgender people. ] (]) 20:20, 27 January 2020 (UTC) <small> Updated post. ] (]) 20:35, 27 January 2020 (UTC) </small>
* '''Support inclusion''' - to get out in front of whatever may happen next, and regardless of the conflicts I have had with Flyer 22 over various issues in the past, I '''strongly support''' the inclusion of all of these topics within the article as being aspects of "lesbian erasure" and as being, by and large, DUE in terms of what the available reliable sources as a whole have to say about the topic. ] (]) 22:10, 27 January 2020 (UTC)


:As I said in 2019, , but some editors turned it into what you see today. With fewer personal agendas and activist editing, it may be possible to make it more about lesbian erasure, and less everything but the kitchen sink. ] ]. <span style="font-family:Papyrus; color:black">Ol' homo.</span> 10:30, 28 June 2023 (UTC)
*'''Support restoration with one exception''' Wow, after a weeklong talkpage war over relatively minor edits...people are back for more, in a big way. Guess it's because page protection was lifted? As to the content of the edits and reversions: I agree with *reverting* all edits made by Pyxis and Wanda today, '''except for''' the removal of the Yardley source and the "conversion therapy" phrasing. The Holleb and Curlew sources are both directly relevant and relatively high-quality. The (paraphrasing) "I was vaguely masculine back in my day, I bet I would've been forced/pressured to transition if I were a kid today!!!!" point associated with Herzog's citation is '''at best''' a weak canard used to fight against allowing young trans people to transition. But in this case, after the giant talk page war above, in this case I think it's best to choose battles and not contest its restoration. The Yardley source, however, is particularly low-quality (even among the other various transphobic authors cited in the page), and is just a noxious screed against trans lesbians with no real salient points. The claim about "conversion therapy" is objectively false: neither trans lesbians nor anyone advocating for them is practicing '''actual conversion therapy''' on cis lesbians. https://en.wikipedia.org/Conversion_therapy Arguments about how our society's institutional transphobia affects dating preferences and blanket dating exclusions of minority groups, or even the few like McKinnon who extend that to "genital preference," ''do not even come close'' to the horrors inflicted on LGBT+ youth by conversion therapists (think electroshock, drugs, lobotomy, "corrective" rape, and religious abuse used under the pretense of "therapy"). What makes this claim/comparison particularly offensive is that '''many''' trans people have had actual conversion therapy inflicted upon them, which has caused unspeakable harm. And it's just painfully ironic that some of the same people who advance this noxious argument '''actually support conversion therapy on trans kids''' https://www.salon.com/2019/07/28/the-heritage-foundation-has-been-promoting-discredited-and-harmful-conversion-therapy-for-years_partner/ ] (]) 22:38, 27 January 2020 (UTC)
:: That would be an improvement. ] (]) 10:34, 28 June 2023 (UTC)
*'''Oppose inclusion''', obviously, as the person who was doing the snipping. Yes, I am concerned about ] here. If you start saying, "well this source doesn't *directly* talk about lesbian erasure, but..." where will it end? Is the article going to start talking about Ray Blanchard and brain scan studies?
:::Would it be okay if I removed the two last paragraphs of ]? To me, it almost certainly looks like an issue of ], and I've explained my reasoning for why I initially removed them in my edit summaries:
:I especially oppose the inclusion of this sentence, where the article suddenly shifts from relaying opinions to giving a one-sided statement in Wikivoice about the complex subject of detransition: {{tq|some younger lesbians report having felt conflicted about whether to transition or that they felt pressured to transition and later detransitioned.}} Nowhere else is an opinion statement backed up by a Wikivoice statement-of-fact like this. ] (]) 00:49, 28 January 2020 (UTC)
:::"''Removed the paragraphs beginning with the alleged “conversion therapy” claims onward, as this most likely would not meet'' ] ''guidelines''" and "''These beliefs are already noted as not being a majority opinion within the LGBT community, so having 2 entire paragraphs of not-very-prominent people explaining their support for a fringe position is very clearly undue, even if it does not use Wikivoice''." ] (]) 08:04, 11 August 2023 (UTC)
*'''Support inclusion of all''' per Flyer22 Frozen and Newimpartial. Sources do not need to use the ''exact phrase'' "lesbian erasure", as long as they are about the ''topic''. These sources are. As an example, the Curlew (Vice) source is rebutting the claim that there is an {{tq|assault on the rights of lesbians and cis-women, an attack on the lesbian community}}, which is clearly on topic. Yes, it takes editorial discretion to determine which sources are on topic, and which are irrelevant such that their use is synthesis; but this is no different from needing editorial discretion to determine which sources are reliable or due. I see no need to remove the "conversion therapy" bit or the Yardley piece. We are reporting, not endorsing, these POVs, and it is ] not to report them. As for the phrase that WanderingWanda objects to, I don't see the issue with Wikivoice. The sources comment on it, so it is due, and some lesbians are ''reporting'' this. That they are reporting that is not contested anywhere that I can see. Note that WanderingWanda's bit about "where will it end?" is just a case of the ] fallacy. I also note that their out-of-the-blue mentioning of Blanchard and of brain studies appears to be a snipe at Flyer22 Frozen and her talking about that with the IP in the previous section. However, she did say that stuff was not really related to the article anyway. ] (]) 01:49, 28 January 2020 (UTC)


*'''Comment'''. This is what used to be the "In the LGBT community" section that existed: on . This is what it became with the Flyer22 Reborn/Frozen edit of . This is what that former section is . <br /> This article is not about lesbians and transgender women, and the trans material has sucked the oxygen out of the room. The overload of trans-related content dwarfs everything else about lesbian erasure. At this point, the article has become ], and any ] has become "permit needed". Where this article stands now, not only will new editors with different ideas find themselves hitting an editing wall, but readers are probably wondering what this article is really about. Support or oppose ... it doesn't really matter because that bus went off the cliff long ago. ] ]. ''L not Q''. 14:42, 28 January 2020 (UTC) ::::Regarding : what in the text and sources has relevance with ''lesbian erasure''? You appear to be adding willy-nilly content and sources. Furthermore, the trans content already overwhelms the page and the whole article is now out of kilter. ] ]. <span style="font-family:Papyrus; color:black">Ol' homo.</span> 08:38, 13 August 2023 (UTC)
:::::For a very important reason. I point to my where I first added it:
:: The article is supposed to reflect the discussion on lesbian erasure out there in the world. I suppose one could make the argument that the current version of the article is a bit presentist and that more 1970s and 90s material should be added for BALANCE, but I don't think anyone has cause to dispute that issues related to Trans men and Trans women are at the forefront of "lesbian erasure" discussions over the last two decades. ] (]) 15:35, 28 January 2020 (UTC)
:::::''"added info about a recent YouGov poll showing that 75% of cisgender LGB Britons had positive views of trans people '''(including 84% of cisgender lesbians who said the same)'''."'' ] (]) 08:42, 13 August 2023 (UTC)
::::::The YouGov poll is irrelevant. It's not about '''lesbian erasure'''. It would be different if it was a poll about lesbians and lesbian erasure. Right now you're stacking the deck with irrelevant content. ] ]. <span style="font-family:Papyrus; color:black">Ol' homo.</span> 08:50, 13 August 2023 (UTC)
::::::If polls like these (and the additional sources in the article, ''particularly in the context they were placed in'') show that most lesbians do not feel threatened about transgender people in women's spaces, and that fear of trans people erasing lesbians is, in fact, '''''not'' a major opinion''' '''''among lesbians''''', then it stands to reason that having significant portions of the article dedicated to POV that is not a majority viewpoint is a case of ] weight. Having these views represented is fine, ''if given the proper weight'', but as it's not a majority view, then it shouldn't be made to appear as if it were. ] (]) 09:01, 13 August 2023 (UTC)
:::::::I tend to agree, with the main concern simply being that it's important to not misrepresent a minority or fringe view as a majority view. The section has not put these views into context or given the most common views proper weight according to ]. If lesbians are talking about trans women as women, and trans lesbians as lesbians, then the concept of lesbian erasure may not be invoked. However, if lesbians are presuming that trans women are not women, and trans lesbians are not lesbians, then the concept of lesbian erasure may be invoked. It's up to us as editors to make sure that articles are not misrepresenting views and misleading readers, so providing larger context may be important. ] (]) 15:59, 13 August 2023 (UTC)
::::::::I think that the issue is that the first paragraph of the {{tq|In relation to transgender women}} section gives undue weight to a single relatively small obscure group and a single opinion piece - in fact, it's mostly cited to a single random opinion piece by Wild! In response to that, the rest of the section has become bloated with responses. We can't address the second problem without addressing the first one - the solution is to cut the first paragraph down to a single sentence cited to non-opinion sources, noting, in absolute bare-minimum terms, that that usage of the term exists (without spotlighting groups, opinion pieces, or quotes like it does now and without delving into justifications for it) - something like {{tq|The term lesbian erasure has been used by some radical feminists to argue that the expansion of transgender rights erases lesbians}} then a few more sentences summarizing its broad rejection and making it clear that it's a minority view. With that it could be gotten down to a single paragraph fairly easily and possibly de-sectioned. The purpose of the section should not be to present all the various back-and-forth arguments to try and convince the reader of what the various people we're citing are saying; the purpose should be to briefly note that people exist who take this perspective. (Also, the section above it is just a disconnected ] and should be removed as part of this.) Possibly it could even be merged with the paragraph that currently quotes Keating and Cauterucci, who are really talking about the same topic; this would let us put them first to avoid putting undue weight on a minority viewpoint. --] (]) 20:21, 13 August 2023 (UTC)


== AfterEllen ==
::As seen at ] and ], Pyxis Solitary has been responded to before on their "too much trans material" argument. I'm not going to significantly repeat myself on that, but I will again note that I am looking at the few academic sources that address lesbian erasure and am looking to add non-trans material. I'm not going to rush myself. And because most of the sources for this topic are media sources (opinion pieces and such), editing this article isn't like when I edit a rich academic article or a medical article (which is also why I'm caught up on quoting authors). And I am always reassessing, which includes thinking about what to cut and what not to cut. For this topic, there aren't a lot of quality sources to choose from. So if cutting means cutting content that should be included and can't be replaced with one or more better sources, I am cautious of that. This is an article to be very cautious at.


Would like to note that 10 of the current References use '']'' as a source. They're not an especially high profile website, and since 2016, they've apparently published a number of op/eds that feature claims that are very polarizing and/or unpopular within both feminist and LGBT circles. That seems like an issue of ] for me, personally. ] (]) 08:26, 11 August 2023 (UTC)
::As is clear, I also expanded the "Language and lesbian spaces" section, which doesn't just consist of trans material. Yes, it includes trans material, but that's because sources focus on it. And as seen , , and , I obviously disagree with the WP:OWN accusation. That I expanded the article significantly more than others thus far does not equate to "owning." Neither does me having reverted a few times. shows how many times I've reverted and what I reverted. The reverts are barely more than the number of times . Pyxis Solitary has also reverted a few times, and Until this latest revert, my reverts consisted of fixing the lead, reverting an instance of ], and other relatively minor issues. In this latest case, because what I reverted is not a minor matter, I took the matter to the talk page, which is what we are supposed to do. This is echoed by Pyxis Solitary an IP and stating, "Discuss in Talk page." This contrasts me reverting Pyxis Solitary on a formatting disagreement and stating, "Revert. Discus on the talk page. The language material mainly concerns the LGBT community." and Pyxis Solitary , "Nope. No discussion from me. This article has been manipulated by the need to assuage snowflake editors." Editing with others doesn't mean agreeing with everything they add, remove, or otherwise change, obviously. Abiding by WP:OWN doesn't mean "Agree with edits others' make. If you don't agree, just ignore the matter." As is clear by ] and ], we revert and/or bring matters to the talk page to discuss if we'd rather not just ignore what we disagree with. We are supposed to avoid ], and that goes double for an article that falls under ]...such as this one. If I hadn't reverted the edits being discussed in this section, someone else would have, as is clear by this discussion. But maybe I should have let someone else revert and then replied afterward. ] (]) 20:56, 28 January 2020 (UTC)


:''AfterEllen'' is a lesbian-centric website. In was determined in a ] discussion in July '''2020''' that . Since the subject of this article relates to lesbians, the circumstances of the topic make ''AfterEllen'' acceptable as a source. <br /> As for your opinion that "{{tq|
:::"{{tq|I will again note that I am looking at the few academic sources that address lesbian erasure and am looking to add non-trans material. I'm not going to rush myself.}}" Since when are editors expected to sit and wait until a singular editor finds time to deal with an article? You stepped in it, you opened the can of worms, you need to finish what you started. <br /> {{tq|Pyxis Solitary reverting an IP and stating, "Discuss in Talk page."}} Yup. Because the edit was , followed by it. It was a disruptive POV edit by IP that included altering a quotation. Nothing you point to changes the record which is that you took over this article and changed the focus to trans-related matters. It's one thing to include coverage of trans men and trans women in relation to lesbian erasure, but 1,106 words (so far) about trans women alone is excessive and careens the article. ] ]. ''L not Q''. 02:42, 31 January 2020 (UTC)
they've apparently published a number of op/eds that feature claims that are very polarizing and/or unpopular within both feminist and LGBT circles.}}" – (a) ] states: "''reliable sources are not required to be neutral, unbiased, or objective. ...Common sources of bias include ... other beliefs. Although a source may be biased, it may be reliable in the specific context'';" (b) "{{tq|10 of the current References}}" — I found '''8''' uses of ''AfterEllen'' as a source, not 10; (c) there is no evidence that ''AfterEllen'' is "{{tq|unpopular within both feminist and LGBT circles}}". I am a feminist and a lesbian and I do not dislike ''AfterEllen'', nor does anyone in my social circle. ] ]. <span style="font-family:Papyrus; color:black">Ol' homo.</span> 08:02, 13 August 2023 (UTC)
::::Oh Pyxis, just save it...my edit was in no way disruptive, it led to '''marked''' improvements in the page, and it at least lessened (though didn't totally remove) the bias towards TERF ideology present in the article. Oh, and you need to stop calling literally every editor and edit you don't personally like an "activist." You fit that bill far more than most people who have commented here thus far.] (]) 03:44, 31 January 2020 (UTC)
::::I don't see the issue with how much of the article is about in relation to trans issues. Most sources are about that as far as I can tell. Apparently this article was once used for a DYK, and that was about the trans aspect as well. Also, I don't think that Flyer was saying we need to wait for her to add stuff on other aspects. If you want to do so now, and have something to add, then fine. ] (]) 05:55, 31 January 2020 (UTC) ::This is just as much an opinion here as my statement, but in fairness, I see your point about ]. There were also still 10 sources at the time I made that comment, for the record, as 2 of those were removed in the most recent edits (as they were the subject of my own comment in the above thread. ] (]) 08:39, 13 August 2023 (UTC)
:::There was a more recent discussion about it ]. An important note is that it changed hands in 2016, after which its entire editorial board was replaced and its coverage ''drastically'' changed direction - most secondary coverage of it as a source after that only really covers it in context of that. And an important aspect of using biased sources is ]; placing excessive weight on a source whose primary reputation comes from the stark POV it adopted after its acquisition is certainly something to be avoided. A more important issue IMHO is that it mixes fact and opinion without differentiating them, which is sufficient reason to avoid ever using it without attribution; it can only really be used via ], and only when its opinion is due. And, of course, ] requires attribution anyway - not just the name of the source but the nature of its bias; we can't cite it for eg. anything trans-related without unambiguously noting its bias on trans issues in some way. --] (]) 20:26, 13 August 2023 (UTC)
::::This seems like a fair rationale to me. Given all of this, post-2016 AE being cited without qualification most likely wouldn't benefit this article, and especially not if they take up a substantial proportion of it. ] (]) 03:16, 14 August 2023 (UTC)
:*There was a more recent discussion, but even going by the 2020 discussion, "context" there means "with attribution noting its biases", not "it can be used in this subject." That's a basic part of ] - if you concede that it is biased with regards to LGBT people, then we have to note that bias and the nature of that bias via its attribution every time we cite it. And it certainly does have a well-recognized bias - every Misplaced Pages editor has their own perspective and group of friends and the like, but based on , the stark reversal the site underwent after it was acquired in 2016 and its editorial board was replaced is the main thing it is notable for, and the context established by the related bias needs to be part of its requisite in-text attribution whenever it is cited. (In fact, that event in 2016 is the main thing we say about it in ''this'' article.) --] (]) 20:28, 13 August 2023 (UTC)
:Just to note, the more recent of the discussions on AfterEllen was formally closed after the most recent reply here. The source is now considered {{tq|generally unreliable, especially relating to queer reporting and biographies of living persons}} for articles published post-2016, and those published pre-2016 {{tq|may be used on a case-by-case basis with context to cite uncontroversial claims}}. Looking at the AfterEllen citations in the article, all were published after the editorial team change in 2016.
:There's almost certainly content that we need to change in the article because of this, and some parts may need to be removed if reliable sourcing cannot be found for it. ] (]) 15:52, 16 August 2023 (UTC)
::Searched for it, and can confirm that this is true (]). Guess that means we need to start looking for other sources. ] (]) 22:46, 17 August 2023 (UTC)
:::Though, it should be noted that while we're citing it several ''times'' in the article, it's only being cited for a few ''things''. The one thing that we might want to consider removing or replacing is the half-paragraph cited to Julia Diana Robertson. It's also cited several times in the merged references for "queer", but we have several other sources there, so it would be easy to swap which one we're focusing on (the fact that it was cited three times in a bundle is already weird; citing the same source three times for the same statement doesn't really add anything, reliability aside.) And finally, it's being cited as a primary source for stuff related to the events in 2016, which is probably fine as long as we also have a secondary source. --] (]) 23:09, 17 August 2023 (UTC)
::::Alright, it's done. ] (]) 23:56, 17 August 2023 (UTC)


==Wiki Education assignment: Gender and Technoculture 320-01==
::::You make it sound like I took over the article by being the one to significantly expand it. I didn't. I've already addressed your WP:Own claims, but, sure, I'll state more: I'm not stating that editors have to wait for me to do anything. My point on "not going to rush myself" is that I've been expanding aspects at my own pace. I'm under no obligation to expand non-trans material at the same time. I wonder what "can of worms" I am supposed to have opened when I'm not the one who created the article and ] (at least it being created without first trying to expand the ] article). At that time, I stated that "the primary focus of the lead and overall article should not be on transgender women. Keep ] in mind." But back then, I was more optimistic about the literature speaking more on non-trans aspects than it actually does. And while the trans material is not just about trans women (but also about trans men and non-binary people), sources on this topic are still mostly covering trans material. I wonder what it is I supposedly "need to finish." Adding more non-trans material? As has been stated by me and others, the vast majority of the sources on the topic are about "trans-related matters." The focus of the article was trans-related from the beginning, including at the time of the "Did you know?" listing. That the literature is like this is a fact and is out of my control. Misplaced Pages articles are supposed to reflect the literature with WP:Due weight. And I'm not going to half-ass an article because someone wants to keep the transgender material to a minimum. In fact, going by your comments seen at ], it seems you would prefer we cover no transgender content. And, well, that's just not going to happen. ] (]) 22:54, 31 January 2020 (UTC) <small> Updated post. ] (]) 23:15, 31 January 2020 (UTC) </small>
{{dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment | course = Misplaced Pages:Wiki_Ed/California_State_University_Fullerton/Gender_and_Technoculture_320-01_(Fall_2023) | assignments = ] | reviewers = ] | start_date = 2023-08-21 | end_date = 2023-12-08 }}


<span class="wikied-assignment" style="font-size:85%;">— Assignment last updated by ] (]) 16:18, 10 October 2023 (UTC)</span>
:::::"{{tq|going by your comments seen at Talk:Lesbian erasure/Archive 1#Enough with the trans this and trans that, it seems you would prefer we cover no transgender content.}}" You keep bringing up my comment from 12 November 2019. But since you're stuck in time, and now can't seem to see the forest for the trees, I repeat what I said on <big>31 January 2020</big>: "{{tq|It's one thing to include coverage of trans men and trans women in relation to lesbian erasure, but 1,106 words (so far) about trans women alone is excessive and careens the article.}}" So, the sum of your statement "{{tq|''it seems you would prefer we cover no transgender content''}}" is complete nonsense. Don't forget that I know the motive for overloading the trans-related section. ] ]. ''L not Q''. 02:55, 3 February 2020 (UTC)
::::::I keep bringing it up because it's relevant. You state that I "can't seem to see the forest for the trees", but I think that applies to you because you are so caught up in wanting to keep the transgender material to a minimum, which would leave out important detail that should be covered. Given what you've stated, I fail to see how commenting that "it seems you would prefer we cover no transgender content" is complete nonsense. Whether one feels you would rather that be the case or not, it would do this article a disservice by not covering trans material at all. It's simple: Most of the literature on lesbian erasure at this point in time is about the transgender aspect, including discussion of the decline of lesbian spaces and the word ''lesbian'' being used less because of inclusivity. Non-binary people fall under the transgender umbrella; they are part of the inclusivity debate. So, yes, the article is going to be significantly/mostly about lesbian erasure in relation to trans people. To repeat: "Misplaced Pages articles are supposed to reflect the literature with WP:Due weight." Yes, I'm aware that my expanding the article with transgender material the way I have is due to a "need to assuage snowflake editors." And that belief is incorrect. Making sure that material that is considered anti-trans by some editors doesn't unduly occupy more space than material that is considered pro-trans by some editors is a matter of considering balance. I've expanded the material the way I have because it is WP:Due. As seen in ] and ] discussion, it is clear that I wasn't even considering adding much material on trans men. But having looked further into the topic, I saw that a section about butch lesbians and trans men was needed/is WP:Due. There has been no overloading of trans-related material. The sections cover all of the relevant points. We had ] when I was clear that the way that researchers and lesbian-identified people use the term ''lesbian'' is not consistent and that some trans women also use the label, and it is due to cover that material in the Lesbian article. I am always like this -- covering what is WP:Due. I also stated back then, "Regardless of how one personally feels about the subject, we do have to follow the literature and with WP:Due weight." I see no need for us to keep sniping at each other or how that helps anything. And, yes, we have been sniping at each other in this section. ] (]) 20:37, 3 February 2020 (UTC)
*'''Comment''' There are a ''lot'' of books that seem to mention "lesbian erasure" on Google books, a great many of them predating the current trans trend. I think the thing to do here is balance the article according to that and fill out the non-trans-related sections accordingly. I do think it is important to keep ] weighting here and we should prefer published books to any news sources. I have only given a basic examination of the "In relation to transgender women" section but it ''seems'' on topic and well-sourced. I disagree that it dwarfs the rest of the article, and again, we need to determine what is DUE here by looking at the sources - as {{u|Flyer22 Frozen}} and {{u|Newimpartial}} indicate, I would rather see the rest of the article expanded than this section diminished. On the question of SYNTH, I have not looked closely at all of the particular sources or statements that are in dispute, but I see what {{u|WanderingWanda}} is saying about that sources that do not mention "lesbian erasure" ''may'' be tangential to this article. However, there are limits to this interpretation of SYNTH. If a source speaks to a topic mentioned by another source that does specifically mention lesbian erasure, and does not draw any inferences other than reporting that another RS has a view on the topic, I don't think this is SYNTH by my understanding. As far as the section headings I think "in relation to" is implicit and do prefer the shorter versions. This is hardly worth disputing either way though. ] (]) 05:15, 3 February 2020 (UTC)
::I always look on Google Books. I've looked there, and there isn't as much material on lesbian erasure (predating the current trend or commenting on it) as it might seem. A lot of or most of it equates to passing mentions. And a good portion of what is there is already currently addressed in the article. But like I stated, I am looking to expand those sections as well. ] (]) 20:37, 3 February 2020 (UTC)

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A fact from Lesbian erasure appeared on Misplaced Pages's Main Page in the Did you know column on 28 July 2019 (check views). The text of the entry was as follows:
  • Did you know... that some LGBTQ activists have opposed the use of the term "lesbian erasure", because it has sometimes been used in opposition to transgender rights?
A record of the entry may be seen at Misplaced Pages:Recent additions/2019/July. The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/Lesbian erasure.
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The following references may be useful when improving this article in the future:
Section sizes
Section size for Lesbian erasure (16 sections)
Section name Byte
count
Section
total
(Top) 1,599 1,599
In advertising 1,191 1,191
In history 6,805 6,805
In literature 1,686 1,686
In music 726 726
In popular media 1,219 1,219
In television 1,255 1,255
In scholarship 1,524 1,524
Lesbian identification 4,934 4,934
In relation to transgender people 89 16,030
Butch lesbians and transgender men 3,136 3,136
In relation to transgender women 12,805 12,805
See also 122 122
Notes 26 26
References 30 30
Further reading 10,209 10,209
Total 47,356 47,356

Revisiting balance: transgender-related content in the body

Given the previous Talk page discussion regarding summarizing trans-related content in the lead, which, afaic, was successfully resolved with Roxy's 7 July edit, do we want to now look at the content in section § In relation to transgender women as possibly overly detailed and in need of pruning, or is it fine as is?

Recently ( 11:22, 17 April), brand new editor Antimoany (talk · contribs) removed 6kb from section § In relation to transgender women (diff), likely in response to an {{overly detailed}} tag placed atop that section by newish editor Computer-ergonomics (talk · contribs) a day before (diff). This was followed by a revert to status quo ante by Crossroads, and further tit-for-tat reverts by Computer-ergonomics and Mathglot, leaving the current state of the article as it was before the "Overly detailed" banner was added. User Computer-ergonomic then asked about this at my Talk page (here). I offered the best advice I could, mainly to come here and discuss, and possibly to relate the "Overly detailed" banner as being related to WP:DUE WEIGHT; I'm bringing it here on his behalf.

To place this in context, which the newer editors may not have been aware of, the issue of trans-related content has been discussed previously, at § Summarizing transgender-related discourse in the lead, and resulted in User:RoxySaunders adjusting the lead on 7 July 2022 in this edit with the summary, "Per Pyxis's advice on talk, rewrite this first section (now subsection) into a more condensed summary with fewer UNDUE OVERQUOTEs, without significantly disrupting the balance. My summary of Gilreath's 2011 POV is commented out, as it's not clear whether this represents a "significant minority viewpoint" relevant for inclusion here. Plan to tackle the trans women section eventually." (See history around this edit in time: 15 Jan – 15 Aug 2022). That discussion also included @Pyxis Solitary:. Do we want to expand the issue to trans content in the body, or put another way, should that section be pruned? Thanks, Mathglot (talk) 18:42, 19 April 2023 (UTC)

Thanks for opening the conversation @Mathglot; I actually will be tapping out of this discussion from here as I feel like I should not have gotten involved with reverting it. I hope the conversations that this opens are fruitful. Computer-ergonomics (talk) 19:09, 19 April 2023 (UTC)
Fair enough; best of luck on anything you choose to work on. Mathglot (talk) 20:42, 19 April 2023 (UTC)
My own thoughts about this are as follows. Clearly, we need to follow WP:NPOV, and with respect to this section of the article, WP:DUE. So the question, is, what is the appropriate amount of weight to assign to the subtopic of lesbian erasure which concerns trans-related issues? In general, per WP:DUE, it should be roughly proportionate to the coverage in reliable, secondary sources. And here, I believe, is the locus for disagreement about this issue, because there may be a mismatch between the importance/relevance of trans issues (which I would judge as minor to very minor) within the larger topic of lesbian erasure on the one hand, and the proportion of reliable source coverage of the latter with respect to the former, on the other. This leads to a situation in which the article seems to devote too much attention to what is not a major part of the story taken from a more scientific, or lived-experience point of view. This happens sometimes when some culture war issue arises from a tiny corner of a larger topic, and more coverage appears in the media about what is not really a major part of the larger topic, or at least, was not a major part until some issue–usually a conflict, because that sells newspapers–hits the fan and starts taking up a lot of the oxygen in the room.
In the Lesbian erasure topic, trans-related issues were quite minor, until a conflict arose, and grabbed all the attention, and now reporting about the trans aspect is a much bigger proportion of coverage of the larger erasure issue than it once was—at least in news and popular media, but, importantly, not as much in scholarly media, so there's a disconnect or mismatch there now. Trying to navigate WP:DUE WEIGHT in an environment like that is not easy. Let's take Transgender rights and a (formerly) minor subtopic of it as an analogy: transgender rights is a huge topic with many aspects, covered in the main article and in multiple child articles. And then, within the last ten years, a U.S. state passes a so-called "bathroom bill" about what public rest room a transgender individual is allowed use, and then the formerly very minor issue blows up into a political and culture war issue, somewhat overwhelming all the many medical and societal subtopics around transgender rights, and sucking up lots of the coverage because that's what the media do, they cover conflicts. But here again, there's a mismatch now between the proportion of coverage in news and popular media, and in the proportion in scholarly publications. (I chose this example precisely because it's a mirror-image case, in the sense that within the topic of lesbian erasure, trans-related issues occupy, or at least occupied, a minor part of the whole; whereas in the second example, it's the other way around, where the trans issue *is* the major issue, within which a (formerly) very minor-to-nonexistent issue has now expanded greatly in coverage.)
A situation where an erstwhile minor issue has grabbed more attention recently (especially in news/popular media) than was previously the case, makes figuring out how to navigate WP:DUE WEIGHT difficult, especially where non-news sources remain closer to where they were before; and that's where I think our attention ought to be focused. Mathglot (talk) 20:52, 19 April 2023 (UTC)
I think your detailed post here, Mathglot, is very well-reasoned. True there seems to be a significant lack of high-quality (academic) source material, yet despite that, it has grown into a very large section. ~Gwennie🐈💬 📋22:04, 24 April 2023 (UTC)
The other sections heavily rely on non-academic sources and there no talk of them being "overly detailed" despite their far greater length length. And now this section, but for one small paragraph, is dedicated to the criticism of the the subject of the topic in question, with only single individuals as the sources for 2 of the 3 paragraphs (dedicated to dismissing the concept). NPOV this section is not, and held to a far different standard than the rest of the sections. 99.75.147.243 (talk) 22:30, 22 August 2023 (UTC)
A lot of this content about trans women is just editorials, which are generally garbage sources that should rarely be cited by Misplaced Pages and only when the author has relevant, specific expertise, such as academic qualifications. If you axe all the editorials from the article and replace by quality print sources the dispute will go away. (t · c) buidhe 20:01, 24 April 2023 (UTC)
Yeah, looking at the quality of the sources (striving to cite quality sources), and looking at how much weight various facets are given in reliable sources overall, would make this section better. Right off the bat, I'm struck by how repetitive and relatively weakly sourced many parts of the section are, e.g. the first three paragraphs are repeating that butch/tomboy women are said to be pressured to transition, using just two sources over and over, one a random fringe-looking opinion with no evidence it's due weight, which is weirdly interpolated in between two paragraphs which—although both about the same Katie Herzog article—feel as if they were written by different people who had some...different ideas of what the article was saying. Who wants to take a(nother) crack at bringing this into a more encyclopedic and policy-compliant state? I will see if I can whip the first three paragraphs into a better shape, but don't have time to do the rest yet. -sche (talk) 01:40, 25 April 2023 (UTC)
"garbage sources that should rarely be cited by Misplaced Pages and only when the author has relevant, specific expertise, such as academic qualifications." Based on Misplaced Pages content guideline for citing sources, this is strictly your personal viewpoint. The Times and The Scotsman newspapers, AfterEllen website, and New Statesman newsmagazine are not "garbage sources" — they have all been in publication for many years, have Misplaced Pages articles created many years ago, and do not appear in WP:RS/P as "Generally unreliable" or "Deprecated". Misplaced Pages states in WP:RS: (1) Editorial commentary, analysis and opinion pieces, whether written by the editors of the publication (editorials) or outside authors (invited op-eds and letters to the editor from notable figures) are reliable primary sources for statements attributed to that editor or author....If the statement is not authoritative, attribute the opinion to the author in the text of the article and do not represent it as fact.; (2) Some sources may be considered reliable for statements as to their author's opinion...When using them, it is best to clearly attribute the opinions in the text to the author and make it clear to the readers that they are reading an opinion. And if they're biased opinions: reliable sources are not required to be neutral, unbiased, or objective. Pyxis Solitary (yak yak). Ol' homo. 11:12, 26 April 2023 (UTC)
Editorials are often reliable sources for the opinions of their authors, but not authoritative for general reporting. I think that's the main point. They are of questionable value for establishing the basic facts about a subject. Hist9600 (talk) 12:12, 29 April 2023 (UTC)
No argument with your comment. However, there are subjects that exist but for which you will not find a trove of scholarly articles published about them. Pyxis Solitary (yak yak). Ol' homo. 10:24, 30 April 2023 (UTC)

BTW, another article which crossed my watchlist with similar issues is Dyke march, which similarly includes a mix of historically important info sourced to academic sources, recent controversies sourced to news or opinions, and news sourced to instagram (or nowhere; people seem to come along and add cities where they heard there was a march, with or without sources). It's in a better state now than it was (for a time, news took up half the article) and than this section is, but if anyone has time to also look it over from a weight perspective, it wouldn't hurt. -sche (talk) 14:45, 28 April 2023 (UTC)

I've revised things some more. I tentatively reordered the section about trans women so it opens with the statements that make the connection to lesbian erasure, and then the more common position that trans women are not lesbian erasure (the old version had weirdly buried both of those things). I cut some of the worst WEIGHT violations. The section on "language" has similar issues, btw (in several directions; on the face of it I notice not just how much of the section is taken up by blow-by-blow about queer, but also how much is quoting Keating). -sche (talk) 14:13, 29 April 2023 (UTC)

"I tentatively reordered the section about trans women so it opens with the statements that make the connection to lesbian erasure"
That is your POV and not NPOV. Agter your edit the section is almost entirely a criticism of the eponymous subject instead of being a detailed accounting on what the proponents of this part of lesbian erasure believe is happening with Transgenderism. 99.75.147.243 (talk) 22:35, 22 August 2023 (UTC)
Misplaced Pages is not about "what the proponents of this part of lesbian erasure believe". That's the whole point of NPOV: it's not what proponents or opponents believe about anything; it's about what the majority of reliable sources say. Mathglot (talk) 00:17, 23 August 2023 (UTC)

First-person accounts

Looks to me like things are getting better. I wanted to also raise the subtopic here of first-person accounts, and how we want to deal with them in the article. For example, in section § Butch lesbians and transgender men, we have the Charlie Kiss piece from The Economist: this is clearly a first-person account, and besides any caveats adhering to opinion pieces in general, it is also WP:PRIMARY. The in-text attribution checks that box, but I'm wondering about WP:DUE; if we use this account, it should be because it is the prevailing view among secondary sources; or if not, an intro sentence perhaps should be added, cited to a secondary (or even tertiary) source than can provide the reader an idea about how to interpret this personal account in the context of other views. Next up is Ruth Hunt's piece in The Independent, which is a bit of a hybrid: on the one hand, it's mostly an opinion piece about how the apparent support of butch lesbians by voices on the right invoking "erasure" is in reality nothing of the kind, and merely a cynical attempt to hide their real objective, which is to garner support for their transphobic opinions; but on the other hand, it's partly (though minimally) a first-person account due to Hunt's self-description as a butch lesbian, and how she sees through the transphobes' divide-and-conquer strategy, and calls for support for trans equality.

I'm not opposed to including both of these sources, but it would be better if there were a brief lead-in based on one or more secondary sources to put them in context. As is, it's a bit too WP:PRIMARY and feels unmoored. Mathglot (talk) 20:49, 30 April 2023 (UTC)

I share your reservations about Kiss; I was about to add to my comment above that "Frankly we could cut also the second half of the Kiss quote; and once we have a more comprehensive / 'due' section, we might even cut the whole Kiss quote, though at the moment that would only worsen the current weight skew." To the extent Hunt is / was speaking as head of Stonewall, the sentences about her statement(s) are more appropriate, although there too, once the article is more balanced it should be possible to condense or cut the latter part of her remarks. -sche (talk) 22:08, 30 April 2023 (UTC)

DUE, by the numbers

I'd like to approach this from a different angle, namely the WP:DUEWEIGHT issue by the numbers. I've added the {{section sizes}} banner to the talk header banners at the top, to help with this issue. If you notice, at 16kb, the section § In relation to transgender women is the largest section in the article, and it's only a subsection. Second largest, is the top-level section § Language and lesbian spaces at 13kb; and other than those two sections, the remainder of the body is 9kb, making § In relation to transgender women about 40% of the body of the article. I haven't sampled the sources, but is this really a fair representation of the entire theme of lesbian erasure in the literature? Mathglot (talk) 00:50, 28 June 2023 (UTC)

As I said in 2019, "this is not an article about transgender women or men", but some editors turned it into what you see today. With fewer personal agendas and activist editing, it may be possible to make it more about lesbian erasure, and less everything but the kitchen sink. Pyxis Solitary (yak yak). Ol' homo. 10:30, 28 June 2023 (UTC)
That would be an improvement. Mathglot (talk) 10:34, 28 June 2023 (UTC)
Would it be okay if I removed the two last paragraphs of § In relation to transgender women? To me, it almost certainly looks like an issue of WP:UNDUE, and I've explained my reasoning for why I initially removed them in my edit summaries:
"Removed the paragraphs beginning with the alleged “conversion therapy” claims onward, as this most likely would not meet WP:POV guidelines" and "These beliefs are already noted as not being a majority opinion within the LGBT community, so having 2 entire paragraphs of not-very-prominent people explaining their support for a fringe position is very clearly undue, even if it does not use Wikivoice." XTheBedrockX (talk) 08:04, 11 August 2023 (UTC)
Regarding this edit and summary: what in the text and sources has relevance with lesbian erasure? You appear to be adding willy-nilly content and sources. Furthermore, the trans content already overwhelms the page and the whole article is now out of kilter. Pyxis Solitary (yak yak). Ol' homo. 08:38, 13 August 2023 (UTC)
For a very important reason. I point to my edit summary where I first added it:
"added info about a recent YouGov poll showing that 75% of cisgender LGB Britons had positive views of trans people (including 84% of cisgender lesbians who said the same)." XTheBedrockX (talk) 08:42, 13 August 2023 (UTC)
The YouGov poll is irrelevant. It's not about lesbian erasure. It would be different if it was a poll about lesbians and lesbian erasure. Right now you're stacking the deck with irrelevant content. Pyxis Solitary (yak yak). Ol' homo. 08:50, 13 August 2023 (UTC)
If polls like these (and the additional sources in the article, particularly in the context they were placed in) show that most lesbians do not feel threatened about transgender people in women's spaces, and that fear of trans people erasing lesbians is, in fact, not a major opinion among lesbians, then it stands to reason that having significant portions of the article dedicated to POV that is not a majority viewpoint is a case of WP:UNDUE weight. Having these views represented is fine, if given the proper weight, but as it's not a majority view, then it shouldn't be made to appear as if it were. XTheBedrockX (talk) 09:01, 13 August 2023 (UTC)
I tend to agree, with the main concern simply being that it's important to not misrepresent a minority or fringe view as a majority view. The section has not put these views into context or given the most common views proper weight according to WP:DUE. If lesbians are talking about trans women as women, and trans lesbians as lesbians, then the concept of lesbian erasure may not be invoked. However, if lesbians are presuming that trans women are not women, and trans lesbians are not lesbians, then the concept of lesbian erasure may be invoked. It's up to us as editors to make sure that articles are not misrepresenting views and misleading readers, so providing larger context may be important. Hist9600 (talk) 15:59, 13 August 2023 (UTC)
I think that the issue is that the first paragraph of the In relation to transgender women section gives undue weight to a single relatively small obscure group and a single opinion piece - in fact, it's mostly cited to a single random opinion piece by Wild! In response to that, the rest of the section has become bloated with responses. We can't address the second problem without addressing the first one - the solution is to cut the first paragraph down to a single sentence cited to non-opinion sources, noting, in absolute bare-minimum terms, that that usage of the term exists (without spotlighting groups, opinion pieces, or quotes like it does now and without delving into justifications for it) - something like The term lesbian erasure has been used by some radical feminists to argue that the expansion of transgender rights erases lesbians then a few more sentences summarizing its broad rejection and making it clear that it's a minority view. With that it could be gotten down to a single paragraph fairly easily and possibly de-sectioned. The purpose of the section should not be to present all the various back-and-forth arguments to try and convince the reader of what the various people we're citing are saying; the purpose should be to briefly note that people exist who take this perspective. (Also, the section above it is just a disconnected WP:QUOTEFARM and should be removed as part of this.) Possibly it could even be merged with the paragraph that currently quotes Keating and Cauterucci, who are really talking about the same topic; this would let us put them first to avoid putting undue weight on a minority viewpoint. --Aquillion (talk) 20:21, 13 August 2023 (UTC)

AfterEllen

Would like to note that 10 of the current References use AfterEllen as a source. They're not an especially high profile website, and since 2016, they've apparently published a number of op/eds that feature claims that are very polarizing and/or unpopular within both feminist and LGBT circles. That seems like an issue of WP:DUE for me, personally. XTheBedrockX (talk) 08:26, 11 August 2023 (UTC)

AfterEllen is a lesbian-centric website. In was determined in a WP:RS/N discussion in July 2020 that "There is general agreement that AfterEllen is reliable, but that it should be used with context.". Since the subject of this article relates to lesbians, the circumstances of the topic make AfterEllen acceptable as a source.
As for your opinion that "they've apparently published a number of op/eds that feature claims that are very polarizing and/or unpopular within both feminist and LGBT circles." – (a) WP:BIASEDSOURCES states: "reliable sources are not required to be neutral, unbiased, or objective. ...Common sources of bias include ... other beliefs. Although a source may be biased, it may be reliable in the specific context;" (b) "10 of the current References" — I found 8 uses of AfterEllen as a source, not 10; (c) there is no evidence that AfterEllen is "unpopular within both feminist and LGBT circles". I am a feminist and a lesbian and I do not dislike AfterEllen, nor does anyone in my social circle. Pyxis Solitary (yak yak). Ol' homo. 08:02, 13 August 2023 (UTC)
This is just as much an opinion here as my statement, but in fairness, I see your point about WP:BIASEDSOURCES. There were also still 10 sources at the time I made that comment, for the record, as 2 of those were removed in the most recent edits (as they were the subject of my own comment in the above thread. XTheBedrockX (talk) 08:39, 13 August 2023 (UTC)
There was a more recent discussion about it here. An important note is that it changed hands in 2016, after which its entire editorial board was replaced and its coverage drastically changed direction - most secondary coverage of it as a source after that only really covers it in context of that. And an important aspect of using biased sources is WP:DUE; placing excessive weight on a source whose primary reputation comes from the stark POV it adopted after its acquisition is certainly something to be avoided. A more important issue IMHO is that it mixes fact and opinion without differentiating them, which is sufficient reason to avoid ever using it without attribution; it can only really be used via WP:RSOPINION, and only when its opinion is due. And, of course, WP:BIASEDSOURCES requires attribution anyway - not just the name of the source but the nature of its bias; we can't cite it for eg. anything trans-related without unambiguously noting its bias on trans issues in some way. --Aquillion (talk) 20:26, 13 August 2023 (UTC)
This seems like a fair rationale to me. Given all of this, post-2016 AE being cited without qualification most likely wouldn't benefit this article, and especially not if they take up a substantial proportion of it. XTheBedrockX (talk) 03:16, 14 August 2023 (UTC)
  • There was a more recent discussion, but even going by the 2020 discussion, "context" there means "with attribution noting its biases", not "it can be used in this subject." That's a basic part of WP:BIASEDSOURCES - if you concede that it is biased with regards to LGBT people, then we have to note that bias and the nature of that bias via its attribution every time we cite it. And it certainly does have a well-recognized bias - every Misplaced Pages editor has their own perspective and group of friends and the like, but based on coverage, the stark reversal the site underwent after it was acquired in 2016 and its editorial board was replaced is the main thing it is notable for, and the context established by the related bias needs to be part of its requisite in-text attribution whenever it is cited. (In fact, that event in 2016 is the main thing we say about it in this article.) --Aquillion (talk) 20:28, 13 August 2023 (UTC)
Just to note, the more recent of the discussions on AfterEllen was formally closed after the most recent reply here. The source is now considered generally unreliable, especially relating to queer reporting and biographies of living persons for articles published post-2016, and those published pre-2016 may be used on a case-by-case basis with context to cite uncontroversial claims. Looking at the AfterEllen citations in the article, all were published after the editorial team change in 2016.
There's almost certainly content that we need to change in the article because of this, and some parts may need to be removed if reliable sourcing cannot be found for it. Sideswipe9th (talk) 15:52, 16 August 2023 (UTC)
Searched for it, and can confirm that this is true (discussion linked here). Guess that means we need to start looking for other sources. XTheBedrockX (talk) 22:46, 17 August 2023 (UTC)
Though, it should be noted that while we're citing it several times in the article, it's only being cited for a few things. The one thing that we might want to consider removing or replacing is the half-paragraph cited to Julia Diana Robertson. It's also cited several times in the merged references for "queer", but we have several other sources there, so it would be easy to swap which one we're focusing on (the fact that it was cited three times in a bundle is already weird; citing the same source three times for the same statement doesn't really add anything, reliability aside.) And finally, it's being cited as a primary source for stuff related to the events in 2016, which is probably fine as long as we also have a secondary source. --Aquillion (talk) 23:09, 17 August 2023 (UTC)
Alright, it's done. XTheBedrockX (talk) 23:56, 17 August 2023 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: Gender and Technoculture 320-01

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 21 August 2023 and 8 December 2023. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): NatDriesbach (article contribs). Peer reviewers: Slf1702.

— Assignment last updated by ACHorwitz (talk) 16:18, 10 October 2023 (UTC)

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