Star Wars‘ Wookieepedia, the most prominent unofficial database of content related to the sci-fi franchise, has agreed to make an amendment to its naming policy. This change will end the deadnaming of transgender individuals, as decided upon by the wiki’s host, Fandom.
Fandom adds new rule to stop Star Wars Wookieepedia deadnaming
Previously, Wookieepedia has stuck to a rigid policy of referring to real-world people by their “credited name in a Star Wars work, whether that be an abbreviation/stage name or pseudonym.” For trans people, this means that even if they had changed their name after working on a Star Wars production, they would always be referred to by their deadname by Wookieepedia.
This was the case for Star Wars artist Robin Pronovost, whose deadname was removed from their Wookieepedia page by their request. After some editors attempted to reinstate the deadname, Wookieepedia put the decision to a community vote, before Fancom intervened and made the decision for the site.
Wookieepedia put the decision up to a community vote, which saw other users chiming into the debate before Fandom intervened and made the decision for the site.
Fandom wrote in a statement:
“Fandom’s company values are simple: We Serve a Global Community, We Build Experiences, and We Bring Joy. By serving a global community, we build connections with fans and creators, including wiki editors, grounded in an active effort of inclusion. By building experiences, we strive to imagine what a great community platform can be, constantly seek to improve upon that, and deliver solutions to our audience for how to be an active part of that. And by bringing joy, we celebrate our fandoms, like Star Wars, which brings with it positive inclusion of all fans.
As part of that, last year we made sure that we were stating a clear commitment to the transgender community by updating our Terms of Use to ban transphobic content and transphobic behavior. This was already something we did if people were outright transphobic, but it was important to codify so we could put a clear stake in the ground. Trans rights are human rights and we have a commitment to make sure that members of the transgender community are treated with compassion, dignity, and respect on Fandom.”
Fandom concluded that knowingly using a deadname in an article title was a violation of its Terms of Use, meaning that deadnaming real-world people will no longer be allowed on Wookieepedia.
Additionally, Fandom noted that it would remove the bans placed on users who previously stood up against the site’s deadnaming. This has seemingly angered some of its admins, with screenshots of their complaints allegedly being taken from the Wookieepedia Discord server. These included an admin saying that Fandom had “ruined 16 years of tradition for no gain,” and other adding: “F*** Fandom and F*** Twitter. That’s my official admin position.”
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