Wikimedia CEE Hub/Microgrants/report/Queering the Wikipedia

Status: Approved report

Queering the Wikipedia

By: group of individuals

As a result of the implementation of the micro-grant, the pilot project achieved key objectives, although not all quantitative indicators were met.

More than 10 participants from the LGBTQ+ community in the region were involved in the wiki movement and trained to create and edit articles on LGBTQ+ topics, including working with Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons.
As a result, new, credible and comprehensive articles have been added to one of the language versions of the region's Wikipedia, making LGBTQ+ knowledge more accessible and open.
Participants gained basic skills to contribute to Wikipedia in their own language, learned how to maintain anonymity and security, which is especially important for vulnerable communities.
One of the main achievements of the project is that the project showed the level of motivation of LGBTQ+ people for the wiki movement and for making knowledge about LGBTQ+ topics accessible and open. Moreover, we have seen how ready and open the local Wikipedian community is to these movements, and this will provide valuable information and lessons on how to plan and implement LGBTQ+ related projects in the future in the Wikipedian movement in this region, moreover, the project has made us aware of the possible threats and risks and how to deal with them.

full report...

Three key activities were implementer which were planed:

In the early period of the project, a two-day training on Wikipedia editing was held for 7 participants from the LGBTQ+ community in the region. During the training, participants learned the basics of the Wikipedia movement, how to create and edit articles, how to use reliable sources, and the importance of anonymity and security when working with Wikimedia platforms. At the end of the training, all 7 participants joined the wiki community and started contributing to the development of LGBTQ+ content.
Shortly after the training, a two-week contest for creating and translating articles on LGBTQ+ topics was organized, in which 6 out of 7 participants participated. The competition produced 40 new translated articles, of which a small number were removed due to poor quality, but the winners were awarded cash prizes - the preferred form at the request of participants given the political vulnerability and employment difficulties in the region.
The third event was a photo tour in the mid-project period, organized together with an expert photographer. Participants learned the basics of quality photography and uploaded materials to Wikimedia Commons. Due to high interest, 4 new participants joined the event, bringing the total to 11. In the end, more than 150 photos of natural heritage sites were uploaded to Wikimedia Commons, and participants were able to maintain their anonymity. And all uploaded photos matched the WLE 2025 photo contest in the region and had a chance to take part in local competition and win prizes from the local organizers. At the same time, the challenges of safety and security were followed considering all the points.

Although the quantitative indicators for the first and second activities were not fully met, the third component of the project exceeded expectations. Considering the context - security risks, high level of homophobia and limited resources - the successful completion of the project, involvement of new participants and creation of visible LGBTQ+ content can be considered a significant achievement.

Additional part of the report (Lessons learned)

Lessons learned

During the implementation of the project we came to an important understanding: it is necessary to prepare in advance and more thoroughly - both for the content and technical implementation of the program. This applies to the planning of topics, the choice of format, and coordination between participants. It was especially important to think about quality - to ensure that the results of the work have long-term value and are not just a temporary contribution.
One of the successes of the project was that participants felt safe and were able to remain anonymous. This gave many more freedom and confidence to express their ideas. We were also able to upload a large number of high quality photos to Wikimedia Commons, which significantly gives a sense of what more people are interested in.
But we have encountered problems, some articles have been removed due to quality. However, while the community administrators were previously inactive and there was only one, after we started our initiative they also started actively checking and there were several, which became amazing.
We also realized that we need more time to implement and work out the details. And also - it's crucial to involve more people from the LGBTQ community. If there are more of us, we can influence decision-making processes, advocate for ideas, and support each other. This is the only way to build sustainable and quality projects.

Financial report

Financial report for your project
Type of expense	Description	Amount (EUR)
Food and beverages	2 time lunch, 2 time coffee break for 7 people during two day workshop	220
Service fee	Expert fee for conducting workshop on photography	100
Prize funds	awards	210
Transportation costs	1 time transport for 12 people	170
TOTAL		700

Achieved metrics

We managed to achieve all our target metrics. Main results in the following table:

Achieved Metrics
Metric	Target	Result	Comments
Project team	2	2	coordinator- trainer/mentor, communication specialist + trainer on photo workshop
Participants	10	7	7 people participated in two days Wikipedia workshop
Participants	10	11	11 people took part in photo workshop, Wikimedia Commons and Photo walk to the natural heritage
LGBTQ+ related articles	100	40	Due to the quality of the workshop, and not enough time, the indicators were not achieved.
Wikimedia Commons	20	150	150 photo made from photo walk and uploaded on Wikimedia Commons by 11 participants