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I changed the pronouns in the article; since this person is still a male both physically and legally, it doesn't seem to make sense to refer to him as a "she/her".
The lede of the article reads "... who is best known for the controversy surrounding her attempts to obtain treatment for her gender identity disorder while in prison." Yet, only 5% of the article speaks to this. Had Kosilek not been in the news for her lawsuits, she certainly would not be notable; she'd just be another convicted murderer. The meat of this article are all the biographical details, details which don't make her notable. I wonder if this article is a pseudo biography. I wonder if it would be more appropriate to have an article which speaks to the notability of Kosilek's lawsuit and the result, but not Kosilek herself. The vast majority of sources talk about her efforts to obtain care for transsexualism, as opposed to being generally about her. I don't think she merits a biographical article. Thoughts? MsFionnuala T L C 01:52, 13 February 2013 (UTC)
So, hello, I am the editor who contributed the bulk of the material to this article (compare before and after I contributed).
The main reason I expanded this article was that another article about Kosilek's attempts to get medical treatment in prison came up in a Boston newspaper, and I found myself thinking: "I keep hearing about this trans woman who murdered her wife, but I never hear anything about the circumstances surrounding the murder. Reporters never discuss the motive, or anything about Kosilek or her wife's personal history; it's all sensationalism over whether the taxpayers should have to pay for a murderer's 'sex change' surgery. What the heck happened here? Who is this person, and why did she kill her wife?" The article content is the result of my search for information.
The reason I included so much material about Kosilek's experiences of transphobic discrimination and violence is that that material makes up the bulk of the sparse biographical information that is available. Kosilek committed the murder nearly 23 years ago, in 1990. Kosilek was in her late 30s or early 40s at the time. The records of what was going on in Kosilek's life in the 70s and 80s are few and far between, and even the coverage of the murder in the 90s is wanting for background information. I did the best I could with what was available. I would certainly support expanding the biography with more details if they can be found (such as where Kosilek got her degree, where she worked, why she went to jail, etc).
I would absolutely be in favor of adding more information about the trial and sentencing; that is why I added the {expand} tag to the section. I found the written material related to the trial to be more difficult to sift through and interpret, as legal cases are not my area of expertise. If anyone with a legal background (or even a general interest in the topic) would be interested to review the court documents related to the case and expand the section on the trial, I encourage them to do so. Several of the court documents are linked in the References section.
I do disagree with the idea that Kosilek is non-notable. The case drew quite a bit of attention at the time, and, indeed, the case continues to receive news coverage today, as Kosilek's attempts to get medical treatment continue. Just Tidying Up ( talk) 02:00, 14 February 2013 (UTC)
Ariadavid, I am a transsexual woman. Transphobic? Not so much. But thanks for playing. Just Tidying Up does understand what my point was, even if (s)he (Sorry, don't know you) doesn't agree with it... that Kosliek in and of herself is not notable. I've suffered a few of the same things as Kosliek did; many of the things that she suffered are typical of transsexual people. There's nothing notable about a transsexual woman suffering abuse as a child. MsFionnuala T L C 00:58, 28 February 2013 (UTC)
Kosilek's defense attorney? Because it reads like a litany of excuses designed to illicit sympathy for a convicted murderer.
The victim blaming is particularly reprehensible. Cheryl McCaul forced Robert Kosilek act like a straight man and he killed her because she provoked him? That's spin, not facts.
Since when is it Wikipedia's policy to advocate for cold-blooded killers? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.188.123.204 ( talk) 01:09, 19 December 2013 (UTC)
![]() | This page is an archive of past discussions. Do not edit the contents of this page. If you wish to start a new discussion or revive an old one, please do so on the current talk page. |
![]() | This page is an archive of past discussions. Do not edit the contents of this page. If you wish to start a new discussion or revive an old one, please do so on the current talk page. |
I changed the pronouns in the article; since this person is still a male both physically and legally, it doesn't seem to make sense to refer to him as a "she/her".
The lede of the article reads "... who is best known for the controversy surrounding her attempts to obtain treatment for her gender identity disorder while in prison." Yet, only 5% of the article speaks to this. Had Kosilek not been in the news for her lawsuits, she certainly would not be notable; she'd just be another convicted murderer. The meat of this article are all the biographical details, details which don't make her notable. I wonder if this article is a pseudo biography. I wonder if it would be more appropriate to have an article which speaks to the notability of Kosilek's lawsuit and the result, but not Kosilek herself. The vast majority of sources talk about her efforts to obtain care for transsexualism, as opposed to being generally about her. I don't think she merits a biographical article. Thoughts? MsFionnuala T L C 01:52, 13 February 2013 (UTC)
So, hello, I am the editor who contributed the bulk of the material to this article (compare before and after I contributed).
The main reason I expanded this article was that another article about Kosilek's attempts to get medical treatment in prison came up in a Boston newspaper, and I found myself thinking: "I keep hearing about this trans woman who murdered her wife, but I never hear anything about the circumstances surrounding the murder. Reporters never discuss the motive, or anything about Kosilek or her wife's personal history; it's all sensationalism over whether the taxpayers should have to pay for a murderer's 'sex change' surgery. What the heck happened here? Who is this person, and why did she kill her wife?" The article content is the result of my search for information.
The reason I included so much material about Kosilek's experiences of transphobic discrimination and violence is that that material makes up the bulk of the sparse biographical information that is available. Kosilek committed the murder nearly 23 years ago, in 1990. Kosilek was in her late 30s or early 40s at the time. The records of what was going on in Kosilek's life in the 70s and 80s are few and far between, and even the coverage of the murder in the 90s is wanting for background information. I did the best I could with what was available. I would certainly support expanding the biography with more details if they can be found (such as where Kosilek got her degree, where she worked, why she went to jail, etc).
I would absolutely be in favor of adding more information about the trial and sentencing; that is why I added the {expand} tag to the section. I found the written material related to the trial to be more difficult to sift through and interpret, as legal cases are not my area of expertise. If anyone with a legal background (or even a general interest in the topic) would be interested to review the court documents related to the case and expand the section on the trial, I encourage them to do so. Several of the court documents are linked in the References section.
I do disagree with the idea that Kosilek is non-notable. The case drew quite a bit of attention at the time, and, indeed, the case continues to receive news coverage today, as Kosilek's attempts to get medical treatment continue. Just Tidying Up ( talk) 02:00, 14 February 2013 (UTC)
Ariadavid, I am a transsexual woman. Transphobic? Not so much. But thanks for playing. Just Tidying Up does understand what my point was, even if (s)he (Sorry, don't know you) doesn't agree with it... that Kosliek in and of herself is not notable. I've suffered a few of the same things as Kosliek did; many of the things that she suffered are typical of transsexual people. There's nothing notable about a transsexual woman suffering abuse as a child. MsFionnuala T L C 00:58, 28 February 2013 (UTC)
Kosilek's defense attorney? Because it reads like a litany of excuses designed to illicit sympathy for a convicted murderer.
The victim blaming is particularly reprehensible. Cheryl McCaul forced Robert Kosilek act like a straight man and he killed her because she provoked him? That's spin, not facts.
Since when is it Wikipedia's policy to advocate for cold-blooded killers? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.188.123.204 ( talk) 01:09, 19 December 2013 (UTC)
![]() | This page is an archive of past discussions. Do not edit the contents of this page. If you wish to start a new discussion or revive an old one, please do so on the current talk page. |