IMDb changes policy, lets transgender users change birth names

IMDb is a strange website. It’s supposed to be a definitive repository of information about movies and TV shows, but anyone can submit a credit for anyone. Did you know that? IMDb is like Wikipedia but with less oversight. I swear, every year, Michelle Fairley showed up on the IMDb page for Game of Thrones credited as Lady Stoneheart, and every year fans fell for it, and every year it wasn’t true. It’s madness!

That’s why it’s odd to hear that in other ways, IMDb is very strict. For example, if an actor asks the website to take information about their birthdays, the site does not comply. California even tried to pass a law compelling the site to respond to such actor requests, the idea being that it would protect actors from age discrimination, but a federal judge struck it down a while back.

Up until recently, the website also wouldn’t allow transgender actors to change their birth names. But now, Variety reports that IMDb will change its ways after coordinated pressure from groups like the National LGBTQ Task Force, GLAAD, the Transgender Law Center, the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund, Transcend Legal Inc. and Equality Foundation.

An IMDb spokesperson released a statement:

"IMDb now permits the removal of birth names if the birth name is not broadly publicly known and the person no longer voluntarily uses their birth name. To remove a birth name either the person concerned or their professional industry representative simply needs to contact IMDb’s customer support staff to request a birth name removal. Once the IMDb team determines that an individual’s birth name should be removed — subject to this updated process — we will review and remove every occurrence of their birth name within their biographical page on IMDb."

This won’t apply to situations where the person was listed as their birth name in the credits, in which case their birth name will remain in parentheses. “This is in order to continue providing IMDb’s hundreds of millions of customers worldwide with comprehensive information about film and TV credits, thereby preserving the factual historical record by accurately reflecting what is listed on-screen,” the spokesperson said.

For some, like GLAAD Director of Transgender Media Nick Adams, IMDb’s move doesn’t go far enough. “Revealing a transgender person’s birth name without permission is an invasion of privacy that can put them at risk for discrimination,” he said. “IMDb’s new policy is a step in the right direction and gives some transgender professionals in the entertainment industry the dignity and respect that they’ve long deserved – however, it remains imperfect. Trans people with credits under their old name for work in front of or behind the camera will still be affected by IMDb’s determination to publish outdated information.”

"The platform still has a long way to go in maintaining the privacy of all the entertainment industry professionals listed on the site. GLAAD and SAG-AFTRA, along with trans people working in Hollywood, will continue to advocate that IMDb create policies that respect everyone’s privacy and safety."

SAG-AFTRA, which was also involved in the push that got IMDb to act, was unsatisfied, as well, and called the step a “half-measure.”

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h/t The A.V. Club