Talk:Theresa Sparks

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Pronoun usage

Some of the pronoun usage in the early parts of her life is a bit confusing and somewhat anachronistic, because at the time she lived as a man. For example, saying "She married her first wife in 1971..." might imply that it was a same-gender marriage, but at the time it wasn't seen as such. I can see that using "he" might be controversial, so maybe it'd be better just to avoid pronouns where ambiguous. --Delirium 05:22, 14 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I was using Sparks' preferred gender pronoun in accordance with the Wikipedia Manual of Style entry on Identity, but I see there is now debate there about this very topic. Since this discussion is relevant for all entries on transgender people, it's probably best to have the conversation there. You can see my comments there: I suggested a template at the top of the page to alleviate confusion. Queerudite 19:08, 14 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Hmm, well I took a brief look at that "discussion" (i.e. flamewar), and I think I'm going to pass on wading in. I just thought the article was a bit unclear as worded, but I don't care enough to argue over it with activists on either side. --Delirium 19:55, 14 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Fair enough. Cheers! Queerudite 01:48, 15 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

When was Theresa Sparks born?

Article	Source	Article Date	Age in Article	Year of Birth	Notes
Transgender Pioneer Rises to Powerful Spot	San Francisco Chronicle	May 12, 2007	58	1948-1949
Renne quits Police Commission	San Francisco Chronicle	May 11, 2007	55 (in 2004)	1948-1949
Vote is on for SF Pride Marshals	Bay Area Reporter	March 1, 2007	57	1949-1950
Transgender San Franciscan makes history as Woman of the Year	San Francisco Chronicle	April 4, 2003	53	1949-1950
Transgender Woman Joins Rights Board	San Francisco Chronicle	February 3, 2001	50	1950-1951	I assume this article is wrong because the others agree her birth year is 1949.

Queerudite 07:57, 15 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

So according to this post on Violet Blue's blog, Theresa Sparks' birthday is April 8! This strengthens the validity of the dates above minus the 2001 article. My Google skills are BEAST! Queerudite 00:40, 16 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Transsexual vs. transgender

I'd like to see this article cleaned up to use one term, either "transsexual" or "transgender", consistently. The terms have distinct meanings and it's confusing when articles like this one use them interchangeably. I do not know which term (if either one!) Ms. Sparks uses to describe herself, so I'm not making these edits, but I'm sure it wouldn't be hard to find an RS to confirm one or the other. SparsityProblem (talk) 21:52, 18 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Look at the section above - she is a hero in the transgender community. The lede should reflect this. -- Banjeboi 23:16, 26 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Whether there is any such thing as "the transgender community" is up for debate and certainly not something that WP should take sides on. Besides that, the headlines quoted above tell me nothing about whether Ms. Sparks identifies as transgender, transsexual, both, or neither; since these terms are all solely defined based on personal identity, she is the only source who matters. SparsityProblem (talk) 05:41, 27 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Transexual and transgender are in this interview. The certainly are transgender communities but I'm unclear if that matters too much. I know she was a speaker at some of the Trans marches that happened. -- Banjeboi 12:41, 27 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Vietnam veteran?

The indroduction claims she that she's a veteran of the Vietnam war. In the text its claimed that she served in the military during the war and in the source she's an "Army vet". I'll change the article to reflect the source. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.243.130.73 (talk) 11:18, 6 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

POV language

It says Sparks was "assigned male at birth." Honest English would say that Sparks was born a boy, but this is obviously not an honest article, much less an encyclopedic one. The article's authors or gatekeepers (same difference) also refuse to give Sparks' birth name. Thus, rather than give an honest accounting of Sparks' life, they are trying to hide it.24.90.190.96 (talk) 05:19, 15 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

"Assigned male at birth" is honest and accurate while also being respectful. "Born a boy" conflates gender and sex in a way that is deemed acceptable for the majority of the population (I'd be fine with that descriptor for myself, being cissexual) but would stand out uncomfortably in an article on someone who is trans, where that distinction becomes salient. That's besides it being possibly disrepectful, if that's not enough of a reason to avoid it. -- Phyzome is Tim McCormack 04:49, 1 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

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