User:lp0 on fire/Exhibitionism
This essay on the Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Biography and Wikipedia:Due weight policies is in development. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints—especially since this page is still under construction. |
| This page in a nutshell: Dwelling on details of someone's personal life can constitute undue weight even outside the lead. |

Private characteristics of a person, such as their gender or sexuality, should not be lent undue weight. Many editors have tried to lend undue weight to these characteristics, which has led to MOS:BIO having to specify that someone's sexuality or gender reassignment should not be mentioned in the lead unless related to the person's notability
. A subtler form of undue weight is confining mention of such characteristics to the "Personal life" section or similar, but there giving overly detailed descriptions of issues that should not receive such weight. This is not only undue in many cases, but is also bad writing since it can feel like repeated information, and what information it does impart is often not WP:ENCYCLOPEDIC.
| − | John Doe | + | John Doe is a transgender man. |
Even if every statement in the above paragraph is cited to reliable sources, such sensationalist content is simply not appropriate for Wikipedia. As a rule of thumb, consider what the article would be like if it were a featured article. If it would establish the relevance of details about the subject's personal life to their notability, they can probably be included, but if not they might well be excessive.
Examples
[edit]- Many trans rights campaigners are transgender; being notable for being a trans rights campaigner does not equate to being notable for being transgender any more than being notable as a feminist equates to being notable for being female. Just as it isn't usually helpful to list what age a (female) feminist started menstruating, the age at which someone transitioned is often not relevant information.
- An example of when such a description might be due is when a subject is notable for (semi-)autobiographical works focussing on their gender.
- These examples pertain to gender, but the same principle applies to any other topic which might be lent undue weight.