Honey Mahogany

Facebook:  Real Name Policy – Birth name?  True identity?

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock for the past couple weeks—a rock far away from any cell reception or wifi—you’ve probably heard about Facebook’s “real name policy.” For those of you who don’t know the details, Facebook began requiring its members to have their “real” names displayed on their profiles as they appeared on official forms of identification such as a government issued ID or birth certificate. As you can imagine, this policy didn’t sit well with some very important people. And by very important people I mean drag queens.

Drag queens like Sister Roma, Heklina, and Lil’ Miss Hot Mess combined their considerable star-power to rise up against this attack on our personal privacy and freedom of expression. Sister Roma, a member of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, got the ball rolling with the #MyNameIs hashtag, but all three queens spent dozens of hours organizing protests, giving interviews to media outlets, and meeting with Facebook representatives in order to reinstate our ability to choose our own names on Facebook. The actions of these drag queens and many of their friends eventually got Facebook to reconsider their “real names policy.” Facebook updated the language in its terms of service to replace the word real names with authentic identities, or as they define it, the names we use in everyday life.

With the new policy update, and a promise to help change names back for people who were directly affected, it should have been time to celebrate. However, it quickly became clear that the promise of change wasn’t quite what we’d hoped it would be. Some people’s names changed overnight, while others tried to change their names themselves, but were unable to do so. It turns out the only way you can get your name changed back to the way it used to be is if you know someone who is somehow connected to Facebook. That person then has to email their contact at Facebook to try and get the other person’s name changed. It’s a terribly inefficient process. Not only do you make someone who has already been inconvenienced jump through more hoops just to set things right, but you also place the burden of responsibility on non-Facebook employees to play intermediary.

This, quite simply… SUCKS. And I want to make something clear: this isn’t just about drag queens. Drag queens may have been the figureheads that news outlets seized on when covering the story, but many different types of artists, performers, and everyday people have been directly affected by this policy.

Burlesque goddess Dottie Lux was one of the first people I knew to be affected by the “real names” policy. Dottie has been speaking out against this issue for weeks, even before many of the drag queens that have become synonymous with Facebook’s Name-Gate became involved. But Dottie’s name still hasn’t changed back. During a brief online conversation, Dottie mentioned that other Burlesque performers and non-drag queen friends were similarly having difficulty getting their names changed back. In some cases, the individual had their birth names legally changed to their chosen name; however, sometimes even this didn’t seem to help. In the case of World Famous BOB, Facebook denied her the use of her name on their site even after she provided them with a New York State ID confirming her identity.

So what’s the deal, Facebook? I get that a bunch of really fabulous drag queens and burlesque performers raised a ruckus and got you to pay attention, but don’t you think it’s time you put some real effort into shaping a policy (and way of enforcing said policy) that actually makes sense and works?

Love and lipstick,

Honey Mahogany