WikiQueer is Here LGBT resources meet the world of wiki
WikiQueer, an online resource for all things LGBT, celebrates it’s inauguration this week after more than a year of soft launches. Now, the non-profit wiki project allows global LGBT communities to document and edit their own collective knowledge on LGBT topics – everything from history and political timelines to people and projects.
The Aequalitas Project, a pilot partner of this project, helps get WikiQueer out of its concept phase and onto the web as a non-profit, free-content encyclopedia and resource project based on the openly editable model we’ve all come to love (and sometimes hate – but only somtimes). What makes this wiki different from all the others out there right now is it’s specifically for and by the LGBT community.
“I’d been developing the idea for a queer-specific wiki for a few years,” says WikiQueer founder and lead administrator Gregory Varnum. ”I’ve helped with dozens of pages and projects on Wikipedia and helped start a number of wikis designed for queer-related projects. However, I consistently came back to the need for a wiki by and for the queer community free of any organization politics or turf wars.”
And like Wikipedia, WikiQueer is written collaboratively by volunteers. Anyone with Internet access can write and make changes to WikiQueer articles – except in certain cases where editing is restricted to prevent disruption or vandalism. However, unlike the main Wikipedia, users can also include dynamic content from existing online LGBT and wiki projects, content geared towards activism around issues, and in-depth information on the LGBT communities which may not presently meet Wikipedia’s notability standards. Read More
