On March 29, Fandom, the host for Star Wars' wiki, Wookieepedia, and several other fan wikis, issued a policy against deadnaming transgender individuals across its fan sites.
Fandom's decision came after a debate emerged on Wookieepedia. Its policy previously stated, "Articles for real-world people, such as actors and authors, shall be titled according to their actual credited name in a Star Wars work, whether that be an abbreviation/stage name or pseudonym." However, its policy didn't address the harm it'd do to deadname transgender creatives who've come out and changed their names since their Star Wars credits.
The issue came to prominence with a back-and-forth editing war on the page of non-binary artist Robin Pronovost, with some editors trying to remove their deadname and others putting it back. Pronovost requested their deadname be removed, leading the policy change to ban deadnaming to be voted on in Wookiepedia's forums.
Before Fandom's deadnaming policy decision, 32 editors voted in support of changing the policy to prohibit deadnaming and 12 voted against the change. The Transformers Wiki also issued a statement in support of Pronovost and the site's policy change. Wookieepedia rules require a two-thirds majority vote to enact policy changes, with limitations on which editors are allowed to vote. Several editors were temporarily banned from the site for alleged "vote farming." The deadline for the vote was to be March 30.
However, Fandom decided to step in and make a call on behalf of its site, nullifying the vote and unbanning the banned editors. The official statement from Fandom Director of Community Safety Tim Quievryn reads, "Having reviewed the situation, and in keeping with the evolving understanding of these issues, Fandom has determined that, while it may not have been the intention, knowingly using a deadname in an article title is a violation of our Terms of Use." Quievryn added, "This is a global determination, meaning it applies to all wikis -- including Wookieepedia."
Quievryn concluded, "Our communities often spend much time debating the nuance of a canon or the particulars of a given content policy, but we must also be willing to engage in challenging conversations about the nuance of external factors surrounding these topics. To that end, when wiki content is talking about real human beings with real needs, they must be respected." Fandom's updated naming policy went into effect immediately across its sites.
Source: Wookieepedia
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