Transgender activists have set their sights on film industry database website IMBD.com for publishing the birth names of trans actors. The activists have created a brand new term for it by accusing IMBb of “deadnaming” people with names no longer in use.
At least two trans actors have reportedly demanded that Internet Movie Database (IMDb) remove their original names and replace them with their new name adopted after becoming transgender. But the site has thus far refused to comply, according to Deadline Hollywood.
Activists even claim that IMDb did not change the listings even after the actors’ managers tried to contact the site to request the name changes.
One trans actor claimed that IMDb replied that the information on the site is public information and that they “do this with everyone.” A second actor said it took months for IMDb to add his trans name, but he is upset that his birth name is still in the biography section.
Registered members of IMDb can make certain edits to pages, but not everything on an entry is open for alteration.
For its part, IMDb insisted in a statement that its rules are there for a reason: accuracy
IMDb is committed to being the most authoritative and complete source of film, TV and celebrity information. Our users trust that when they use IMDb, they are receiving comprehensive and accurate biographical information.
IMDb strives to represent an individual’s gender identity while also accurately reflecting cast and crew listings as they appear in a production’s on-screen credits at the time of original release. When we become aware via our standard data contribution methods that an individual has changed their gender and/or name, we use the new gender and/or name on their page and credits. For productions they previously worked on, their credited name is also available in parentheses, in order to accurately reflect what was listed on-screen. This process is applied uniformly, consistently and without bias to preserve the factual historical record. For any individuals who wish to specify their preferred pronouns, these can be recorded as part of their biography section.
Every page on IMDb has an ‘Edit’ button which any registered user can use to submit additions or corrections to IMDb content. Additionally, we have customer support staff to handle any question or request which, for any reason, can’t be communicated via our standard data contribution forms.
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