Wikimedia Blog/Drafts/Wikimedia LGBT is about to happen

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Building a Wikimedia thematic organization for LGBT issues

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Members of the Wikimedia community have begun planning a Wikimedia thematic organization for LGBT issues to promote the expansion of content on Wikimedia projects that is of particular interest to LGBT communities. By encouraging and facilitating the greater LGBT community to contribute high quality content, we hope to amass a reliable and open access resource of LGBT related material in as many languages as possible.

The proposal to develop the thematic organization was announced at Wikimania 2012 in Washington DC, where we expanded on the principles of open culture and free knowledge that form the mission and vision of the group.

The mission is:

1. To encourage LGBT cultural organizations to use Wikimedia projects and to adopt the values of free culture and open access.
2. Promote Wikimedia projects as a tool for strengthening LGBT communities.
3. Create and expand content of interest to LGBT communities on Wikimedia projects and to increase the overall quality of such content in all languages.

We also hope to improve the editing experience for all contributors by “ensuring that LGBT related harassment is dealt with by simple policies in a prompt manner regardless of sexuality.” We will work to provide enforcement of non-discrimination policies and provide support networks for the LGBT community and allies. We aim to create a safer and more open environment for anyone who might not feel inclined to participate as Wikipedians due to harassment related issues.

There are many courses of action we intend to pursue. We want to provide training to organizations and individuals so that they can contribute content to Wikimedia projects. We will create, collect, process, present and interpret metrics that describe usage statistics and quality of content of LGBT interests on Wikimedia projects, as well as conduct community building and outreach programs through LGBT events, Wikimania and other Wikimedia events.

We’ve already begun working on an anti-harassment and anti-discrimination policy to be enforced on Wikimedia projects. Ideas and criticism are welcome on the talk page of the proposal page. We intend to create a “safe space” environment for the LGBT community within the Wiki sphere.

Some members of the organization are planning to make videos with participation of Wikimedians to support initiatives like "It Gets Better" and “The Trevor Project,” which are dedicated to the fight against suicide among LGBT youth. You can find more information on their Wikipedia article or their official website. If you are a prominent contributor in Wikimedia projects and would like to share your story in this video, please contact User:Ladsgroup.

We are also collaborating to improve LGBT-related content in projects such as the LGBT Free Media Collective, GLAM, and Wiki Loves Pride. If you want to participate and have content about LGBT, such as images of LGBT pride events that you have photographed or books that you hold copyright to, and you want these materials to be used in Wikimedia projects, the best place to start is on the talk page on Meta.

We are currently in the discussion phase to become a recognized Wikimedia thematic organization, a process organized with the Wikimedia Affiliations Committee. As of 22 November 2013, 37 individuals have signed on to participate in, or support, this group's efforts. Anyone, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, is free to join. We encourage anyone to contact the board of advisors through their talk page, Facebook, and email discussion list at: LGBT@lists.wikimedia.org.

If you want to help us, you can contribute to our activities or share your ideas on the talk page of on Meta. You can start by subscribing to our mailing list and adding your name to the participants/supporters list. We encourage you to participate and help make Wikimedia projects more inclusive and welcoming to LGBT participants.

Amir Ladsgroup (User:Ladsgroup)

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Wikimedia LGBT is about to happen!

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Wikimedia LGBT logo

Being bullied is one of the most unpleasant experiences for any LGBT person. Every one who belongs to a minority can be a target of bullying with LGBT people a target through the ignorance of others, which has seen a high proportion of suicide among LGBT youth. Bullying happens online, a simple comment on Facebook or YouTube can have a devastating effect on a teenager. Wikipedia is no exception.

The good news is that the Wikimedia community wants to stand up and take action by establishing an affiliate named "Wikimedia LGBT" that focuses on LGBT issues in Wikimedia projects. Our mission is not limited to just anti-cyberbullying; we want to collaborate with other LGBT-related associations in order to improve content and knowledge about LGBT issues. Wikipedia is a great place to provide accurate and verifiable information about LGBT people and history. Prejudice is because of ignorance and lack of knowledge, isn't it? In other words, the mission of Wikimedia LGBT includes

• Encouraging LGBT cultural organizations to contribute to Wikimedia projects and to adopt the values of free culture and open access
• Promoting Wikimedia projects as a tool for strengthening LGBT communities.
• Creating and expanding content of interest to LGBT communities on Wikimedia projects and to increase the overall quality of such content in all languages.

In order to achieve these goals, several activities have been done. Some of them are pretty amazing, like:

• Working on an anti-harassment and anti-discrimination policy and making sure to be enforced in Wikimedia projects. Ideas and criticism are welcome at talk page of the proposal page.
• Making video on behalf of Wikimedia for projects like "It Gets Better" and "The Trevor Project". In case you don't know what they are, these projects are dedicated to the fight against suicide among LGBT youth by elders telling them "It Gets Better." You can find more information in Wikipedia article or their official website. If you are a prominent contributor in Wikimedia projects and would like to share your story in this video, please contact User:Ladsgroup in here.
• Collaboration for improving LGBT-related content in projects such as LGBT Free Media Collective, GLAM, and Wiki Loves Pride. If you want to participate and have content about LGBT e.g. images of LGBT pride events that you have photographed (or you're owner of them) or books that you're copyright holder and you want these material to be used in Wikimedia project, the best place to start is Wikimedia LGBT, just leave a message in the talk page

If you want to help us, you can contribute in our activities or share your ideas on the talk page of Wikimedia LGBT. You can start by subscribing to our mailing list and adding your name to the participants / supporters list. I suggest you to check out list of goals of Wikimedia LGBT.