Last week, the LGBT women’s site SheWired published a listicle of “11 Young Queer Activists You Need to Know.” The only problem? The outlet didn’t actually bother to check with the activists to see if they were queer or not.
Ferguson-based #BlackLivesMatter activist Netta Elzie tweeted about discovering herself on the list and being surprised to see herself identified as queer.
So today @zellieimani texted me and asked me was I queer b/c he didn’t know. My answer? I didn’t know either. @SheWired
— Johnetta Elzie (@Nettaaaaaaaa) June 2, 2015
I’m asking @zellieimani why did he even ask me that and he sends me a link to @shewired‘s article http://t.co/Q4y3FZydFQ
— Johnetta Elzie (@Nettaaaaaaaa) June 2, 2015
I didn’t even know what @shewired was until now. I’ve never spoken to the writer Stuart Mcdonald… http://t.co/Q4y3FZydFQ
— Johnetta Elzie (@Nettaaaaaaaa) June 2, 2015
She also discovered that an entry for two other St. Louis-based activists, Brittany Ferrel and Alexis Templeton, had incorrect information.
So not only should I NOT be in this article, the information for @bdoulaoblongata & @keenblackgirl is incorrect. @SheWired FACT CHECK MUCH?
— Johnetta Elzie (@Nettaaaaaaaa) June 2, 2015
As it turns out, the author of the SheWired post had not reached out to the activists listed to confirm whether they identified as queer.
Editors at SheWired—a site run by the same Here Media company that owns Out and The Advocate—apologized to Elzie and removed her picture from the post, adding a correction under her name.
We apologize to @Nettaaaaaaaa for the confusion surrounding her wrongful inclusion in our ’11 Queer Activists’ piece. (cont’d)
— SheWired (@SheWired) June 2, 2015
But Elzie said that wasn’t enough, and demanded that she be removed from the article entirely. SheWired has since taken down the entire article, but it a cached version can be viewed here.
Photo via Ted Eytan/Flickr (CC BY ND 2.0)
