He, just a note to say that I deleted your additions to the above article due to the fact that they were in breach of the copyright guidelines on Wikipedia. These additions [1] were taken from this article [2]. Your later additions are OK, and have references, so they are fine from a copyright point of view. Markh (talk) 19:07, 3 October 2008 (UTC)
Hi there. In case you didn't know, when you add content to talk pages and Wikipedia pages that have open discussion, you should sign your posts by typing four tildes ( ~~~~ ) at the end of your comment. If you can't type the tilde character, you should click on the signature button located above the edit window. This will automatically insert a signature with your name and the time you posted the comment. This information is useful because other editors will be able to tell who said what, and when. Thank you! --SineBot (talk) 16:26, 13 May 2008 (UTC)
In England we use the term 'overtones' rather than 'undertones' - it's a term common to the English language, so do spare me the lecture in grammar. Thanks.Contaldo80 —Preceding comment was added at 15:59, 13 May 2008 (UTC)
In case you haven't noticed the article you edited is on an American writer. In America we use the term 'Undertones' rather than 'overtones' - i'ts a term common to the American language. If you want to be spared the lecture "in" grammar then get it right the first time, boy. Thanks and bye. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Melatope (talk • contribs) 16:00, 14 May 2008 (UTC)
Well I'm aware that Melville is an American writer, I wasn't aware though (as far as I know) that contributors to Wikipedia need to post their contributions in American English! Thanks though for the tip old man - and incidentally I had to no idea what you meant by your comment "And I've decided with Wikipedia period"? Makes no sense to me. Perhaps when you have some time you might deign to translate for us simple mortals. Contaldo80 (talk) 17:09, 14 May 2008 (UTC)
Your impertinence is utterly unacceptable. Do not use that tone with your elders, young man. I ought to take you over my knee and give you a good spanking.
By the way, I can give this compliment back for your recent Melville edit. --Cyfal (talk) 18:48, 13 May 2008 (UTC)
Please see my discussion on the Melville talk page. I agree with you that the interpretation of homo-erotic themes in Melville's writings is a valid one but we should not be using references from 1949 and 1950 unless for a specific reason. Within academia doing so is generally avoided. I believe we should still retain some mention of these themes in his writing, but it may be better to do so under the specific novels (i.e., Moby-Dick). --DixitAgna (talk) 13:26, 9 June 2008 (UTC)
Hello, members and friends of WP:LGBT! I'm not one to be writing newsletters, but I miss our cruise director, Miss Julie, and our project is drifting along with a few leaking plugs in the bottom of the boat. Hey, it happens. Every group we join goes through changes. If Wikipedia weren't so interesting it wouldn't also be so frustrating sometimes. And vice versa. More than one Wikiproject has tumbleweeds blowing through it, but this is one that can't afford to let that happen. Even if you pop in to the talk page of the project, you can let us know you're still around.
It wouldn't be a proper gay community without a li'l bit o' drama! That's right. If we aren't arguing about something, then we should be asking if we're still queer. Maybe that's for the best, since we know we're still kicking. Our most recent topic is how far the role of our project should go in dipping our toes into HIV/AIDS articles. The main AIDS article was delisted as a Featured Article last month, sadly. (Sending a swift kick to WP:Medicine.) A spirited discussion is available for your entertainment on the WP:LGBT talk page about just how much of HIV and AIDS should we take on. As ever, we'll take your opinions under advisement. We're going to have to, because it doesn't seem to have been settled.
We have a pretty cool sidebar that identifies core LGBT articles. Its symbol is the iconic gay pride flag, much like other Wikiprojects have iconic symbols denoting the topic is a core subject in a series of articles. However, a question recently arose asking if the symbol itself is not neutral. Should a pride flag show up at the top of the article on Conversion therapy? How else would anyone know the article is about queer issues? Is there another symbol that is as widely recognized and that includes all our many splintered facets? At what point do we stop asking ourselves all these questions and just go have a mint julep on the verandah and stop caring?
For the love of all that is holy, no Kool Aid jokes. However, an editor involved in pioneering San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk's article has included a section about the late supervisor's support of Jim Jones and the People's Temple. While it may be accurate, there is a Request for Comment regarding how much emphasis the section places on Milk's support in light of his overall political influence on the city, and indeed the rest of the United States. Milk's article is a sad one in more ways than one. It lacks the detail and heart that honors its subject. Anyone want to do a barter with me? I'll bring Harvey Milk to featured status (give me a month or two so I can read stuff), if you do something of equal value to WP:LGBT?? Make me an offer...
The established branch of study known as Queer studies was brought up as an category for deletion because an editor was offended by the use of "queer" in the title. It was overwhelmingly rejected mostly by the usernames I see here on our Wikiproject page. (A clue that I know you are out there, hiding...biding your time...) So, I wish I could congratulate you, but now I'm all confused by my sympathy for the editor who was offended. So, if you're reading this, Moni has a short memory and can't remember your username. Don't be put off by our demonstrative pushiness. Join us. We can always use involved editors.
What can you do to help the project out? Be a wiki-fairy, on many levels. There are all kinds of articles that need help. Why, just this morning I removed those ugly wikify and cleanup tags from four articles at random. If you can put [[ ]] around stuff, you can clean up articles. There's a list of articles that need attention at the top of the WP:LGBT talk page. Or you can start with the Lambda Literary Awards, where the goddess of my altar received a pioneering award, and was "reduced to rubble" by Katherine V. Forrest's wonderful speech. The 20th ceremony of the Lambda Literary Awards, which celebrates LGBT literature, took place in West Hollywood on May 29th [3]. The page needs to be updated with the new winners, to be found on the official website [4].
Why on earth would someone want to delete material about homosexuality? 'Tis truly a mystery. But these embattled articles have some random evil gnomes removing information that places these folks under our queer umbrella. Help us keep an eye out for the deletions. Take a peek at the articles, familiarize yourselves with the info, and be handy with the undo function in the article history. If tempers flare, take it to the Hall monitors and let them sort it out. Best solution is to make sure your sources are immaculate.
This is what I get for opening my big fat mouth and suggesting the newsletter should be revived. Here I am writing it. So, to pat self on back (*cough*) Mulholland Dr. became a featured article in May. This is A Good Thing since it is my personal declaration that there is no such thing as lesbian porn. I don't care what Benjiboi says about the video collection at goodvibes. Instead, we have hot women who connect on a deep, personal, soul-touching level, so this film should qualify as some of the skankiest porn available for lesbians. Plus, it's completely confusing and surreal! D'you think Laura Harring would care that the article is featured? I don't think so either... (Call me, Laura!)
Once I saw a harrowing episode of Animal Planet's Animal Cops where this guy had, like, 250 cats in his house and it freaked me right out. I'm drawing a parallel between 250 cats and, well...three, really, templates in articles involving LGBT issues. Can we stick to one, maybe? In the aforementioned Harvey Milk's article there's a core LGBT template, a link to the LGBT portal, and a sidebar for LGBT rights. Jiminy! You'd think we weren't the folk to set industrial grey carpeting and track lighting in vogue. An LGBT footer was designed to link to articles of interest that aren't the aforementioned core articles. What do you think, can we have either an LGBT template for core articles, a footer for LGBT articles that are high profile but not core, or an LGBT rights template? As ever, anything's up for discussion on the WP:LGBT talk page.
Zigzig20s suggests we create an article on The Violet Quill, as it seems such a milestone in the advancement of gay/queer literature. Members of the Quill all have pages of their own (Edmund White, Christopher Cox, Robert Ferro, Michael Grumley, Andrew Holleran, Felice Picano, and George Whitmore). We need to find more info on the Quill per se to reference the page that we create. Perhaps Google Books - and libraries? - can help.
A number of magazines also need articles, perhaps most notably QW, LGNY, and Lesbian Feminist Liberation.
It's June, Pride month. Wear sunscreen, stay hydrated, get a designated driver, then go half-dressed in the streets find a girlfriend or boyfriend, or some homo who's standing there looking lonely and kiss 'em up real good. Remember, it all started 39 years ago when a bunch of drag queens just got fed the f*ck up by the cops raiding the bar and dragging them all out to the pokey again. Rock on, queens! Enjoy your celebrations. My town's is in October, and 200 people attend. I miss Denver.
Hey, I've seen you around! Sorry there seem to be so many—it's been a while. But we welcome you all: Cheezisyum21, Taineyah, Dustihowe, Avesta69, RachelSummers77, Vivekgopinathan, AMK1211, Staffwaterboy , Ted Ted, Joe5150, Leahtwosaints, Robapalooza, Arthomure, Confusionball, Affinity likely, PrinceOfCanada, Yobmod, Npd2983, Neagley, Bvlax2005, Bvlax2005, Rhullsf, Textorus, Kieran.casey, Tyciol, Meojive, Sappho'd, Bookkeeperoftheoccult, Gaywarrior, Aujourd'hui, maman est morte, and Balin42632003.
It looks like we've picked up a lot of talent lately. We have no doubt you'll be making your indelible mark on LGBT knowledge as we know it, here at Wikipedia.
In the immortal words of Miss Julie, "May all your Wiki days be bright, and may your Love Boat never turn into a Poseidon."
We miss you, Miss Julie, as well as all the others who have graced our project and are on wiki-breaks or just got fed up with all the nuttiness and went to live their lives. Get your stupid houses built and hurry up and come back. --Moni3 (talk) 16:52, 9 June 2008 (UTC)
To stop receiving this newsletter, or to receive it in a different format, please let us know here.If you have any news or any announcements to be broadcast, do let Moni3 know.
This newsletter was delivered by §hepBot around 16:02, 11 June 2008 (UTC). ShepBot (talk) 16:13, 11 June 2008 (UTC)
{{WikiProject LGBT|class=B|importance=|nested=yes}} Is that what all this endless debate has really been about? If so, I really think you should have declared your bias/interest. Personally, I don't think it is entirely appropriate to add this project label to the page. On the other hand, you (obviously) do. Could I bother you to explain to me why you think it is appropriate? Thanks, Pdfpdf (talk) 12:50, 1 July 2008 (UTC)
And just as I was about to hit the "save" button, it occurred to me that if I was going to bother you with a request to explain your POV, it obliged me to explain my POV. Mmmm. This isn't particularly well thought out, but here goes anyway. I believe (hope?) you have formed the opinion that, in general, I'm interested in the whole story, and preferably a balanced presentation of it. I did not feel it was useful to remove all mention of Rhodes sexuality. But then again, I also did not feel it was useful to go on and on at great length, and in great detail, about it. Rhodes was not obviously and blatantly gay, nor did he make a point of advertising the fact. But on the other hand, for those who wanted to put two plus two together, it wasn't hard to come to the conclusion that the answer could very well be four. It wasn't obvious, but it wasn't a big step either. On the whole, it really wasn't a big deal. It just "was". Putting the LGBT label on the page seems (to me) to turn it (unnecessarily) into "a big deal", and hence (in my POV), is not really appropriate. Looking forward to your response. Cheers, Pdfpdf (talk) 12:50, 1 July 2008 (UTC)
Molte grazie. Haiduc (talk) 23:30, 21 July 2008 (UTC)
I restored a bunch of deleted material to the Bacon article. It is bound to be reverted by the "owners" of the article, so you might want to have a look and weigh in/keep an eye out. Cheers! Smatprt (talk) 15:19, 22 July 2008 (UTC)
For reasons I don't fully understand, I seem to be responsible for creating a page for this guy. (I blame Freud and my parents - they're all dead, so they're all pretty safe targets.) Do you know anyone who'd have some interest and would like to help, or better still, would like to take over from me? Cheers, Pdfpdf (talk) 12:55, 23 July 2008 (UTC)
Hey Contaldo80,
After seeing your posts on Francis Bacon (kudos), I thought you might be interested in looking at Talk:Conversion therapy and perhaps examining any ownership issues that might be more apparent to someone not involved in editing it.
Cheers,Conor (talk) 13:24, 23 July 2008 (UTC)
Sorry about that. I was just cruising through the recent changes and saw that someone had added something about someone being gay. It instantly registered as vandalism (incorrectly, I hope) in my mind and I reverted it. I went back and put your revision back as a Good Faith edit. I let you guys work it out on the talk page. Sorry for the inconvenience. Ndenison talk 18:24, 23 July 2008 (UTC)
You asked if Mr Arion met Francis Bacon, but he may well think he has. I see he has done many edits to the Ascended Master articles and other Theosophical stuff, under his various incarnations: Alburesz, Arion, and Arion3x3. He has a habit of removing from these articles any edits which show references to debunkers. The user who added the Faked Death stuff has only contributed to the Bacon article and one about an Ascended Master who apparently reincarnated into Bacon.
Those who believe in this stuff say that Bacon literally ascended from Earth as a Master, so presumably they object to anything said about him which in their eyes detract from his perfection! --Straw Cat (talk) 00:23, 27 July 2008 (UTC)
The LGBT studies WikiProject Newsletter! Issue XVI: July 23, 2008
Hello, members and friends of WP:LGBT! Updates about our latest happenings in the gayest corner of Wikipedia.
An unfortunate effect of a group less active than in the past is that our articles lose integrity. This one is at Good Article Review for that reason. The talk page is quite active as a result. You have the opportunity to help. This is the corest of our core articles, and it needs some attention because it gets a lot of controversial input from many sides. If you can spare any time to edit the article, please do what you can.
Soon after we were informed that Homosexuality is being scrutinized, we heard the same for one of our few Featured Articles. As a participant of the Featured Article process, I think this is actually a good thing. The standards for Featured Articles are getting higher with time. But as a member of this project, that means that a few of ours may be de-listed unless someone can swoop in and save them. This one has to do with the designation of homosexuality as a crime in Germany. Most of this article's sources are in German. If anyone has any particular skill in this area, please lend a hand!
I know you folks think I have much experience in a gay bathhouse, and I hate to disappoint you, but I actually do not. I seem like the sort of person who likes to stroll about in a towel. Shocking, no? It appears that Ashleyvh is single-handedly addressing all the problems with this article at its GA Review. While that's pretty impressive, it's also no doubt exhausting. Can anyone help out there?
In what I hope will counter the jolt of re-evaluating three Good or Featured Articles, José Sarria and Janet Jackson as gay icon passed as Good Articles, and Black Cat Bar (famous San Francisco oft-raided gay bar) is nominated, all by Otto4711. Rock on, man. You're a machine. Good luck with your nominations. What is it about women that make them gay icons? And are there lesbian icons that aren't lesbians? How about bisexual icons? Am I the only lesbian who reacts with soul-trembling fear at the sight of Angelina Jolie?
New WP:LGBT studies member Pinkkeith has done this cool thing. If you click on that link, you'll see all the articles, categories, templates, and miscellany up for deletion. They're usually there because they're not considered to be not notable. That can be a relative concept, and sometimes it has to be argued that topics pertaining to gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender issues are notable.
Ha! Made you look! Even the guys are looking. Gay pioneers Kay Lahusen's and Barbara Gittings' collection of photographs are up at the New York Public Library. Want to see images of the first Pride march in 1970 in New York City? How about Sylvia Rivera, drag queen extraordinaire, and Stonewall Riots participant? Or the contact sheet for The Ladder that showed full-face lesbians in print for the first time in US history? Ok I did mention naked women, and it's true. I found naked pictures of Barbara Gittings. But I scrolled through all of them and you'll have to as well. I'm not that mean, though. Here she is in the shower. How cute is she?
It seems a recurring issue which articles to tag, and what to say about a topic that's tagged. Certainly, because an article falls under our scope doesn't necessarily make the person gay. Florida Governor Charlie Crist has been rumored to be gay in some newspaper accounts. Although we all know Fred Phelps is supergay, he won't admit it so instead he does the absolutely awfulest anti-gay things on the planet to deflect suspicion. NAMBLA, the red headed stepchild of the LGBT world, is tagged with an explanation we have yet to decide if we'll keep.
In the lurking I do around and about on Wiki, I've long been astounded at the forbearance Benjiboi has for the utterly insane. Perhaps not so much, since the message on Benji's talk page notes frequent absences due to homophobia and transphobia. But it takes some kind of ... something that I don't have to face the constant anti-gay POV Benji does.
Benjiboi is a a bit of a WikiFaerie, a WikiGnome and also a member of the Article Rescue Squadron in addition to being a LGBT project member. A few of Benjiboi's favorite links for making the wikiverse more fab are:
Becksguy didn’t start actively editing until May 2007. His most frequent tasks on Wiki include reverting vandalism to LGBT articles and creating new project-related articles. He comes from New York state, and to prove not all of us are teenagers (ha! I am so totally 15!) he's in his 60s and retired.
Becksguy considers his biggest triumph on Wikipedia so far was a DYK in December 2007 for the first-ever newspaper report on what became AIDS, in the New York Native. He's also helped save several project-related articles from deletion. His lowest moment here was getting involved in the discussion on a particular terrorism related article, thinking he could help calm the roiled waters on an extremely contentious subject with multiple edit wars and passionate editors.
Here at WP:LGBT, he creates and improves articles that present notable LGBT related subjects in a fair and balanced way, and tries to include more of the significant alternative sexuality related subjects without being an activist, and works to better source project-related articles.
On Wikipedia as a whole, he says, "I think we need to learn better what processes work for a massive collaborative project. Some of what worked well for a more informal small project doesn’t scale up well. Process is not as important when the participants know each other. We need to get more of the current members to be more active. If more members were energized, the project would be able to accomplish more. We should be, in effect, the smaller and included Wikipedia for LGBT related subjects. Overall, I wish we could focus more on content creation and improvement, and less on vandal fighting."
Welcome to all of our new members!: Balin42632003, supposedlydisposable, Axiomdragon, antcjone, Jamesgregg76, Taulapapa, Mushii, Pinkkeith, Gr8lyknow, EricV89, Varnent, Ged_UK, Richie wright1980, Auriel If you have a question about anything, drop your question on our talk page. We'll do our best to answer.
"A Supreme Court decision in 1958 reversed a 1956 ruling by a federal district court that U.S. postal authorities were correct in prohibiting the mailing of the Mattachine Society's ONE magazine. The lower court had ruled that ONE was not protected by the First Amendment because the magazine's contents 'may be vulgar, offensive, and indecent even though not regarded as such by a particular group ... because their own social or moral standards are far below those of the general community ... Social standards are fixed by and for the great majority and not by and for a hardened or weakened minority.'" - Michael Bronski in Pulp Friction, 2003
Thanks for being weak and having lowered standards with me. --Moni3 (talk) 00:10, 24 July 2008 (UTC)
That's helpful information - many thanks for helping clear the debate. Contaldo80 (talk) 17:11, 5 August 2008 (UTC)
Although I am NOT of the Roman Catholic persuasion, I have lived in the immediate area almost all of my life and with some time to spare this afternoon, went looking for the Oratory country house and the graveyard - while I was most impressed by a 'new' walk into the Lickey Hills (I had never realised existed!), I was also amazed by the sheer length of new fencing which now surrounds what must have previously been wide-open land. I cannot blame the RC Church for the planned move for the other reasons cited - but somehow doubt that legally the new fencing can stay in place - without formal planning permission - in what is "green belt" land. Kind regards. "IHS" ps I will try to keep this page updated as the planned move into 'Brum' progresses. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.110.209.65 (talk) 18:11, 5 August 2008 (UTC)
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:John_Henry_Newman"
update 06-08-2008
[[5]]
Oratory planning issue resolved
Nitramrekcap (talk) 13:40, 9 August 2008 (UTC)
'Contaldo80', is this really the correct form - surely it should be punctuated in some way? It reads as though "Cardinal" was one of his three christian names? I would appreciate your input!
[[6]] —Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.110.149.65 (talk) 15:55, 8 August 2008 (UTC)
"IHS" —Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.110.149.65 (talk) 15:50, 8 August 2008 (UTC)
Thanks for your kind comments on my talk page. Maybe I'll return to discuss about Stuart and to writing this article but certainly not in the situation when the one side is not a constructive partner for discussion. It's simply wasting of time. As I've already said in that discussion, my private opinions about homosexualism would probably be not very different from that of Sceptik, but I'm not engaged in wikipedia to conduct any ideological war or to abuse the people who don't agree with me, but to look for a truth and to deliver it to the readers in my articles. When someone has no respect for the truth, is not interested in looking for the truth, and abuses his adversaries, there's no sense to discuss with him. CarlosPn (talk) 19:40, 10 August 2008 (CET)
Is there any chance of your working through the Cellini rticle with appropriate references? Leonardo is under attack from all sides, so I'm rather tied up, and Benno definitely needs attention! Amandajm (talk) 07:12, 12 August 2008 (UTC)
Will do! He pinged across my radar after vandalising a page that was on my watchlist. I only noticed his edits this morning; he seems to have been most active last night... not seen any movement today so far but I will be paying close attention to his future activity. Cheers, OBM | blah blah blah 14:59, 20 August 2008 (UTC)
Why did you delete the below? I was not rude to your or inappropriate. Further, it was not a vandalism. Don't you value intellectual freedom?
"Gays have every right under the law to marry, just as everyone else does. If a gay man wants to marry, he can go marry a woman of his choosing. No one is denied the right to marry."
Sorry if I am not making my comments correctly, or in the proper places.
69.124.185.8 (talk) 20:43, 31 August 2008 (UTC)
Hello again, Contaldo. I noticed your recent diligent reversions on the Henry Benedict Stuart page; I agree with you that this looks like Sceptik's style. I've just noticed a new anonymous addition to User talk:Sceptik, the timing of which is surely not coincidental. The poster writes as though Sceptik is active, although a glance at his contribs page shows that he's not added a thing since his ban. My personal feeling is that someone has been having a root through the sock-drawer. Any thoughts? AlexTiefling (talk) 14:09, 10 September 2008 (UTC)
Thank you for your recent edits to Peter Mullen. Your text includes some details that are not in the Vardy source you provided. Do you have any additional reliable sources, specifically for the dates and the reinstatement? Thanks! Jokestress (talk) 23:20, 7 October 2008 (UTC)
Before you smooth the reader's (and your own) path with a stroke of the pen, what about checking your facts ? You would blunder less and avoid making a fool of yourself. Open any decent, scholarly book on homosexuality in the Bible, and you will see that it is absolutely banned for Israel in Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13 - nobody save for the most extreme devotees of gay theology denies this fact. However, the condemnation itself raises difficult historical issues ; being comparatively late (it is post-Exilitic, ca. 560 BCE), it shall not be deployed against a possible same-sex attachement of David and Jonathan in the late tenth century inasmuch as their story was handled by the redactors of the book of Samuel (whose last revision seems to have been roughly contemporaneous with the redaction of the Holy Code of Lev, where the prohibition of male sexual coupling is contained) and may have preserved age-old traditions about the two characters. In the same way, the personal agenda of a scholar, viz. whether he is openly gay (Boswell, Halperin), openly homophobic (Gagnon), openly gay-friendly (Ackerman) or without commitment (Zehnder, Nardelli), shall not be confined to silence when it shows in their work. This in no way is pulling punches in an ad hominem manner. Last but not least, of course the David and Jonathan entry is less than adequate - the core of the question lies in very subtle shades of meaning in the Hebrew, anthropological and historical probabilities for and against a non-mainstream sexual behaviour, and minutiae of Biblical narratology ; but the article succeeds in providing the reader with a gist of the problem while pointing out where further illumination can be seeked. Is this not the very goal of Wikipedia ? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.69.4.219 (talk) 01:26, 29 October 2008 (UTC)
Hello Contaldo80. You mentioned the Bible not being the word of God and not being written by just one person. Ironically that the Bible was written by 40 different authors, most of whom never met, over about 1500 years, in three different continents, and in three different languages, while still maintaining one central theme and internal consistency, is touted by Christians as evidence to the divine nature of the Bible. You are correct that some things in the Bible are intended symbolically and not literally. That in itself can hardly be a reason to one you doesn't believe the Bible is not divine in origin though. Best Regards.192.88.165.35 (talk) 17:19, 17 December 2008 (UTC)
I have made a comment at Talk:Cecil Rhodes#speculation vs examination. Pdfpdf (talk) 14:37, 29 October 2008 (UTC)
The LGBT studies WikiProject Newsletter! Issue XVII: November 12, 2008
Wake up WP:LGBT! It's time to kick in gear and get some things done!
I say this to myself as much as I say it to all of us. I work a lot by myself or with individual editors who spend time at Featured Article Candidates. It seems on November 5 a fog was lifted off my brain that helped me realize that we have massive potential in this project to get things done. Take this allegory, for instance: On Wednesday, Nov. 5, 1980, my 10th-grade American history teacher started class by unfurling The New York Times. She pointed to its triple banner headline: “Reagan Easily Beats Carter; Republicans Gain in Congress; D’Amato and Dodd are Victors.” “Save this paper,” she told us. “This is the start of a whole new era.” Judith Warner from The New York Times
It definitely seems a start to a whole new era now. If planets align correctly to remind us that whatever advances we may have made in electing what appears to be an extraordinary president in the US, the moons that revolve around those planets also serve to illustrate it's not that simple. Florida, Arizona, and California all appear to have banned same sex marriage. As someone who was married in California and lives in Florida, this is particularly poignant. We seem to be at the juncture of two converging paths. If we maximize our efforts and take the right ones, we might just be able to affect some change for ourselves.
Though what we do is an interesting hobby for some, we have the power to make a difference. California's ballot initiative to ban gay marriage was a fierce fight. It's being challenged right now, but just look at how Wikipedia played a role in that: in October 2008, 360,238 people read its article. On November 5, an astounding 467,000 people read it. I commend the editors who work on that article—both those who support and oppose it. A look at the talk page shows a concerted effort to keep it civil and accurate.
How do you fight ignorance? With information. That's what Wikipedia is for. This project is overwhelming with 8,576 articles in its scope. We can continue to work piecemeal as we have in the past, or we can focus on goals. These are examples of areas we can concentrate on.
There are more than 8,000 articles to work on. Can we build a list of priorities? Can we build enough enthusiasm to work on these? What if we had editors who oversaw progress in these areas and reported to the talk page or in the newsletter? Surely someone here wants to report on the progress of sex articles.
Tony Perkins (irony) from the conservative Family Research Council was heartened by the recent passages of gay marriage bans. The Republican Party is without direction. What's going to take the place of a moderate voice will not be pleasant to our ears. Watching and improving articles of subjects that have opposed gay rights in the past will be of vital importance very soon, I predict.
All we can do is start somewhere. The first step is answering this newsletter on the project talk page. Join in the discussion.
If this was decided long before I was a member, maybe it's time to revisit it. Other WikiProjects, such as WP:Novels determine that some subjects have an importance category: Top, High, Mid, Low, or None (undetermined). If we decide that our most core articles, it might help to organize which articles to address first. Top importance, for example, would be Gay, Homosexual, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Sappho, Oscar Wilde, Stonewall riots, for example. High importance would be Homosexuality and psychology, Harvey Milk, Mattachine Society, Harry Hay, or Daughters of Bilitis, and so on. This can be a matter of discussion, or perhaps we could have someone in charge of determining these levels for all the articles we have tagged.
The editors I have admired in the past, who have done great things alone, and who I think can help us all do extraordinary things now: SatyrTN, Dev920, Aleta, Becksguy, Otto4711, BelovedFreak, Benjiboi, Bookkeeper of the Occult, Queerudite, FisherQueen (I will marry you), PaulB, APK, ZigZig20s, AllStarEcho (I know you're out there), Raystorm, and my very own copy editor, Dank55.
These are the editors I've seen working (and I know I'm forgetting a few). There's more of you out there I haven't seen. Some of you are new. We need all of you. Please help.
Miami, January 18, 1977 after the gay rights ordinance was passed: While Bryant and the others were creating the beginnings of the repeal effort, (gay activists) Basker, Campbell, Kunst, and the other (gay rights) ordinance supporters congratulated themselves on their success and then quickly disbanded... There was no organized recognition or celebration of the victory. As one activist remembered, "We just went home." They had little idea of the battle that was before them. - Fred Fejes in Gay Rights and Moral Panic, 2008
Don't go home yet, please. --Moni3 (talk) 00:10, 24 July 2008 (UTC)
This newsletter was sent by §hepBot (Disable) at 21:05, 12 November 2008 (UTC) by the request of Moni3 (talk)
I notice you've been editing the Del Monte article. You should include info from Creighton Gilbert's "Caravaggio and his Two Cardinals" - in addition to much info on Del Monte himself, it includes material on Caravaggio in Sicily. PiCo (talk) 13:46, 2 December 2008 (UTC)
Have made a useful addition to the article Cowboy. Doubt that it will stand. Visit while it's hot. PiCo (talk) 12:09, 4 December 2008 (UTC)
Contaldo80 - your allegations were deemed to be libellous. Do not pursue to lay such allegations or action will be taken to trace your identity.
Thanks for your interest in this article - but I would appreciate it if you at least gave me two minutes to tidy things before tagging it etc! Contaldo80 (talk) 10:49, 26 November 2008 (UTC)
Your section seems very mature and balanced. Balanced in itself, but it touches on a wider question, which is the cowboy ethos (or do I mean mythos?). I don't think the article treats this at all at the moment, tho I haven't read it closely in a while. But the cowboys were just a specific manifestation of the all-male working societies which are always being created, in all sorts of environments - I'm thinking of the tramps and hobos of the Depression era, the military world throughout the ages, modern-day oilrig workers, the list would be endless. Sex, or sublimated sexual attraction, were/are a part of this, but only a part. It ties in with the "buddy" relationship - did that term first come into use in the West? probably not, but you see what I mean no doubt. And certain values, such as helping strangers (combined with a distrust of strangers also), and certain cultural practices, such as the creation of epics and legends (sit round the campfire at night and sing about the Yellow Rose of Texas, or in an earlier age, about King Arthur). In short, I think it could be simultaneously shortened and lengthened. PiCo (talk) 03:52, 16 January 2009 (UTC)
Please note the Saint Lucy's Day article mentions: "Sweden, Denmark, Estonia, Norway, Finland, Malta, Italy, Bosnia, Iceland, and Croatia" in the intro. Some of these are Scandinavian countries, others are not, therefore I have changed the text in the Saint Lucy article accordingly. The Saint Lucy's Day does need expansion to properly reflect the Southern European tradition of St. Lucy's Day which persists even among Italian-American communities on the East Coast. --Boston (talk) 22:39, 3 February 2009 (UTC)
Thanks - as you can see this fell off my radar!! Only just got round to noticing. Also a bit worried about the text in the main body of the article about sexuality. I thought we had reached consensus amongst ourselves in June last year that we wouldn't go into too much detail but set out the issues as a marker. Comparing text to what we settled on then and what we have now it all looks quite different. There's a lot more repetition for example that says the same thing several times - not conclusive evidence etc. Also reduced the references to Pickering even further. Would appreciate your advice on whether it's worth me trying to argue for a reinstatement of what we had or if you think on balance the thing's not worth pursuing? Many thanks. And here's the June 2008 text below:
Rhodes never married, pleading that "I have too much work on my hands" and saying that he would not be a dutiful husband. However, several writers have suggested that there are convincing reasons to believe Rhodes may have been homosexual, although admittedly the amount of direct evidence is scarce. In particular, in discussing this issue the scholar Richard Brown observed: "there is still the simpler but major problem of the extraordinarily thin evidence on which the conclusions about Rhodes are reached. Rhodes himself left few details... Indeed, Rhodes is a singularly difficult subject... since there exists little intimate material - no diaries and few personal letters."
Brown also comments: "On the issue of Rhodes' sexuality... there is, once again, simply not enough reliable evidence to reach firm, irrefutable conclusions. It is inferred, fairly convincingly (but not proved), that Rhodes was homosexual and it is assumed (but not proved) that his relationships with men were sometimes physical. Neville Pickering is described as Rhodes' lover in spite of the absence of decisive evidence." According to a biography by A. Thomas, the "greatest love of Rhodes' life" was Pickering, also the son of a clergyman, who had moved to South Africa with his family. Rhodes and Pickering lived together in a cottage in what one government official referred to as an "absolutely lover-like friendship".[13] Rhodes’ devotion was evident when he rushed back from important negotiations for Pickering's twenty-fifth birthday in 1882; on that occasion, Rhodes drew up a new will leaving his entire estate to Pickering. Two years later, Pickering suffered a riding accident. Rhodes nursed him faithfully for six weeks, refusing even to answer telegrams concerning his business interests, yet Pickering died in Rhodes' arms; at his funeral, Rhodes wept hysterically.''
Contaldo80 (talk) 14:27, 10 March 2009 (UTC)
Apologies - it's me, I've been very slow in getting around to this!! I really do appreciate your comments though, and will use them to make changes to the Rhodes article. Thanks again for taking the time to look at this - much appreciated. Contaldo80 (talk) 11:12, 1 April 2009 (UTC)
Hi -- I agree with you about the first sentence (I queried the editor who removed it but got no response), but I'm less sure about the second. It seems unlikely that Edward III was actually given a choice in the matter, under the circumstances. Looie496 (talk) 22:22, 30 March 2009 (UTC)
First, I would like to thank you for your constructive and helpful edits on English Wikipedia. I am concerned, however, that a contentious situation is developing between you and User talk:Radi0mania. Please remember that because we all communicate through typewritten text only (also remember that English is a second language for many users), it is easy to misunderstand another user's meaning or to read a different tone or more emotion into another user's comments than were intended. I'd like to ask you both to keep cool and take a moment to review WP:Etiquette and try to find a way to work together. I doubt either of you will go away, and I very seriously doubt either of you will change the other's mind, but if we all focus on improving the article's text and avoid taking a political stand, we may all be able to get along and improve the article by sticking to verifiable information. Wilhelm_meis (talk) 11:20, 2 April 2009 (UTC)
Thank you for this. I'm going to take your sensible advice and avoid rising to the bait, despite unwarranted insults from User talk:Radi0mania. I've made clear that I'm happy to debate the merits for and against category labels on the talk page if that is the wish. Best wishes. Contaldo80 (talk) 13:05, 2 April 2009 (UTC)
Good-O! Let's see how long it lasts unaltered this time! Cheers, Pdfpdf (talk) 14:24, 15 April 2009 (UTC)
Your edits on Edward Heath are sheer hearsay and innuendo. Please stick to wikipedia guidelines. Your desire to discredit a great man have no place in this archive. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.159.132.235 (talk) 17:30, 5 May 2009 (UTC)
Thanks - I do actually know. I was trying in fact to be ironic; and to make clear that I thought the comments made were rather impertinent and over-familiar. Contaldo80 (talk) 15:23, 6 May 2009 (UTC)
"impertinent and over familiar" from an unimportant wikipedia editor who is trying to ruin the reputation of a great man and former Prime Minister? If anyone is being impertinent it is you. Do you have no regard for his family with your scurrilous allegations or are you satisfied with your little piece of the internet? An encyclopedia is based on evidence you dullard. Beleive me you would never fulfill the criteria for a proper editor in a proper encyclopedia. Go back to your PS3.--86.155.105.72 (talk) 21:48, 6 May 2009 (UTC)
Most of his edits are making unfounded accusations of homosexuality against various individuals. How can he be allowed to do this? Answer??--86.157.192.49 (talk) 23:28, 5 May 2009 (UTC)
Ths user's only contributions to Wiki are slanderous accusations of Homosexuality against individuals. Perhaps someone should investigate her/him/it. Possible troll trying to harm the LGBT community. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.170.26.172 (talk) 20:34, 8 May 2009 (UTC)
P.S. (Unrelated) You might want to think about talk page archives. (And then again, you might not.) There are many ways to "skin that cat". From my biassed POV, the easiest solution is to create a sub-page like User talk:Contaldo80/Archive 1 (the standard) or User talk:Contaldo80/Archive 01 (my biassed preference), then with both this page and that one open in edit mode, "Ctrl-X" from this one, and "Crtl-V" to that one. If I'm being obscure, I'm happy to try to be less obscure (i.e. don't be shy about asking me to be less cryptic); also, there are heaps of examples to look at on most people's talk pages, should you feel the need. Cheers, Pdfpdf (talk) 14:40, 15 April 2009 (UTC)
If you want help setting up an archive just ping my talkpage. -- Banjeboi 22:50, 6 May 2009 (UTC)
Despite your disagreements, you and Wiki alf are doing a great job on Cecil - I haven't made an edit since February. Many thanks! Pdfpdf (talk) 12:28, 9 May 2009 (UTC)
Thanks for uploading File:180px-Kard Scipione Borghese.jpg. I noticed that the file's description page currently doesn't specify who created the content, so the copyright status is unclear. If you did not create this file yourself, you will need to specify the owner of the copyright. If you obtained it from a website, then a link to the website from which it was taken, together with a restatement of that website's terms of use of its content, is usually sufficient information. However, if the copyright holder is different from the website's publisher, their copyright should also be acknowledged.
If you have uploaded other files, consider checking that you have specified their source and tagged them, too. You can find a list of files you have uploaded by following this link. Unsourced and untagged images may be deleted one week after they have been tagged, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If the image is copyrighted under a non-free license (per Wikipedia:Fair use) then the image will be deleted 48 hours after 19:53, 9 May 2009 (UTC). If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you. Jastrow (Λέγετε) 19:53, 9 May 2009 (UTC)
