This article must adhere to the biographies of living persons (BLP) policy, even if it is not a biography, because it contains material about living persons. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourcedmust be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentially libellous. If such material is repeatedly inserted, or if you have other concerns, please report the issue to this noticeboard.If you are a subject of this article, or acting on behalf of one, and you need help, please see this help page.
This article is rated Start-class on Wikipedia's content assessment scale. It is of interest to the following WikiProjects:
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Biography, a collaborative effort to create, develop and organize Wikipedia's articles about people. All interested editors are invited to join the project and contribute to the discussion. For instructions on how to use this banner, please refer to the documentation.BiographyWikipedia:WikiProject BiographyTemplate:WikiProject Biographybiography articles
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Politics of the United Kingdom, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Politics of the United Kingdom on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.Politics of the United KingdomWikipedia:WikiProject Politics of the United KingdomTemplate:WikiProject Politics of the United KingdomPolitics of the United Kingdom articles
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Socialism, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of socialism on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.SocialismWikipedia:WikiProject SocialismTemplate:WikiProject Socialismsocialism articles
This article is within the scope of the Military history WikiProject. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the project and see a list of open tasks. To use this banner, please see the full instructions.Military historyWikipedia:WikiProject Military historyTemplate:WikiProject Military historymilitary history articles
This article has been checked against the following criteria for B-class status:
This article is within the scope of WikiProject United Kingdom, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of the United Kingdom on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.United KingdomWikipedia:WikiProject United KingdomTemplate:WikiProject United KingdomUnited Kingdom articles
This article is of interest to WikiProject LGBTQ+ studies, which tries to ensure comprehensive and factual coverage of all LGBTQ-related issues on Wikipedia. For more information, or to get involved, please visit the project page or contribute to the discussion.LGBTQ+ studiesWikipedia:WikiProject LGBTQ+ studiesTemplate:WikiProject LGBTQ+ studiesLGBTQ+ studies articles
Latest comment: 7 years ago5 comments2 people in discussion
The history of trans councillors in the UK and Rachael Webb in particular is well documented - e.g. this report from the University of North Carolina, a popular science book, (Searchable online) and more academic publications (Also searchable online). If you have access to newspaper archives online, Webb wrote a letter to The Guardian which was printed on Oct 2, 1990 on p22 and in which she makes multiple references to being trans, and signs off as Councillor Webb. There's also a brief exchange in the Pink News comment thread of the article you linked to between Anwen Muston and Rosalind Mitchell, who was a Labour councillor 1997-1999 who transitioned in office. Unfortunately, erroneous or mistaken reporting of easily disprovable "firsts" is common - claims in 2015 that Emily Brothers was the first trans parliamentary candidate in the UK were debunked within minutes of publication. (She wasn't even the first trans candidate to be selected in that election) ~Excesses~ (talk) 17:54, 14 August 2017 (UTC)Reply
Rachael Webb probably needs an article in that case, if there's enough materiel to write one. This article now says that Pink News reported Muston as the first transgender woman to be elected to represent Labour, so perhaps another source can counter that statement. Less notable events like this are very difficult to verify pre-1996 or so since less materiel is retained online so you've done well to find that Guardian letter. Sadly can't check it because I don't have access, but perhaps someone else will. This is Paul (talk) 18:10, 14 August 2017 (UTC)Reply
The risk is ending end up with over half the first paragraph discussing an article that's immediately then dismissed as inaccurate - that seems wildly disproportionate for an article that's already struggling to meet WP:NOTABILITY. Suggestions on the best way of approaching this welcome, but I can't see a way of including the article that makes sense.
Without reading these links, I wonder was Rachael Webb a Labour councillor? There are a number of transgender councillors who predate Muston, such as Jenny Bailey. If she isn't Labour then the article isn't incorrect in naming her as the first elected Labour councillor. If not then obviously they ought to be doing better research. There's also, of course, Nikki Sinclaire, who was the first transgender MEP, even though nobody knew was transgender till she came out. This is Paul (talk) 23:04, 14 August 2017 (UTC)Reply
.svg){kind=small}
.svg)
