My First Year at Wikimedia LGBT+

The 4th of April 2026 made it a year that I joined Wikimedia LGBT+ as its first Executive Director, starting a relationship with free knowledge that I never thought I needed in my life. 

My relationship with both the Wikimedia’s platforms and community started many years before that. [For many of you that do not know what Wikimedia LGBT+ is, it is the group of volunteers within the Wikimedia ecosystem that self-identify as LGBTQI+. The group of individuals are mostly responsible for many LGBTQI content you see on Wiki platforms, which includes but not limited to; Wikipedia, WikiCommons and WikiData.]

I had many encounters with Wikipedia prior, especially during my university days while doing research, however it was my second personal encounter with Wikipedia that changed my relationship with the platform.

I was at a fundraising dinner in 2012 where I was a guest speaker, and the host pulled out a piece of paper to introduce me. He started by saying that “our special guest tonight, who actually has a wiki page is..” I was shocked to hear this, and curiosity got the better of me and went looking. 

Having a Wikipedia page is a celebrity status. I mean you have to be notable and should have done something outstanding for someone in their right mind to think you are deserving of a page in the world’s largest online encyclopedia, one that will outlive you.

Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t, but one thing I know for sure is, one day in October of 2004, I sat on the sofa of the most watched television talk show in Nigeria, as a young aspiring actor and said “I am a gay man”, that coming out, sent shock waves through the very fabric of an extremely religious and homophobic country. I guess that was my claim to fame and a Wikipedia page.

After that event of 2012, I started asking questions about what it means for a wikipedia page to exist, what is the significance of it and how powerful is such a thing. I saw that night, the way people related to me, and I felt there is such respect and regards for such honour.

In 2016, I, with a group of friends founded the Bisi Alimi Foundation, with the sole purpose of “accelerating social acceptance of LGBT+ people in Nigeria” and one thing was clear, to do this, archiving the past and the present will be key. 

I was born and raised in Lagos Nigeria, though I am now a British citizen [a citizenship I obtained through refugee status based on threat to my life because of my sexuality and advocacy] and in my birth country, it is a crime to be LGBT and one of the argument has been, homosexuality is unAfrican, and if we are to dismantle such discourse, we will have to create a formidable archive of the past [very challenging as the words we use now to describe sexual orientation and gender identity do not exist then] as well as the present.

In 2020, the foundation in partnership with Wiki for Human Rights Nigeria, started pop up wiki training for queer people in Nigeria. Initially it was a one off, but the result became a game changer, a long list of events, persons, places, words and organisations was created. 

Then the big question was, how do we go from idea to reality? How do we create this content on Wikipedia when notability driven by sourcing is important, and when we know that intentionally, Nigeria media will not cover LGBT issues unless it is to degrade them?

By 2023, with the support of the Wikimedia Foundation, we created a fellowship program that will train Queer people for a year on how to use Wiki platforms and tasked them with writing at least five articles, upload images on WikiCommons and create entries on WikiData.

The content we were able to create grew astronomical, we were making changes happen, we were writing history, we were in the driver seat of our history, past and present.

Then in 2023, I had the opportunity of attending Queering Wiki conference online [The global gathering of Wikimedians who are LGBTQI+ and their allies] and for the first time, I listened to the work many people were doing around the world to keep queer records and history alive.

So when the job opportunity came, though I knew my knowledge of the community was little, it was a dream job for me. I put in my application and hoped for the best.

A few months later, I got the news that I have been shortlisted for the role. It was the second best news of my life, after getting married to my husband.

Earlier in 2025, I got the news that they want to offer me the job. I was over the moon. The idea that I will be leading the world’s largest queer archive is not just humbling, it marks the beginning of something beyond my thinking.

I started work on the 4th April 2025, the same day as my colleague, Vic Sfriso, and together, we became the first paid staff of the organisation. 

My job was made easy with the mentorship program put in place by the ED group of the Wikimedia ecosystem, this is a group of all the EDs in the movement supporting each other and creating a space, where new ED can learn first hand about leading in the community. A special thanks to Claudia Garad, the ED of Wikimedia Austria and Lucy Crompton-Reid the ED of Wikimedia UK.

Tasked with the responsibility of taking the organisation to the next level. The last 1 year has been a dream come true for me. I have had the opportunity of working with amazing people on the board who are equally passionate about the growth of the organisation as well as online queer archive.

We started off with organising Wiki Loves Pride, our flagship yearly campaign in celebration of the Pride Month. This includes editing, training, picture competition and many more. We had 12 events across the world. Edited over 700 articles on Wikipedia and uploaded over 1100 pictures on WikiCommons.

Of the articles created, 287 were in English, 352 in Spanish and over 150 in French. Community events took place even in the most difficult places in the world including Lagos where I had the opportunity to be part of that experience.

In October 2025, we had the largest virtual Queering Wiki conference with participants from across the world and more than 100 people online at a time. In the last one year, we have seen an increase in the setting up of more local WMLGBT groups and the resuscitation of old groups.

For the first time, from 23-25th October 2026, we will have our Queering Wiki conference, not as virtual, but in-person in Montreal Canada, thanks to the Wikimedia Canada for hosting what will be the largest in-person gathering of Queer Wikimedians in history.

It has not been an easy task. I have seen first hand the homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia that exist even on a platform like Wiki. The dead-naming, the questioning of queerness and the attacks we face as an organisation and community, but in all, it is such a wonderful experience for me to wake up everyday and remember I work for Wikimedia LGBT.

And in the words of one of the board members and something I have found to be true. That I now lead “the most powerful LGBTQI+ organisation in the world” because without us, the history of our movement would have been forgotten.

In the past 12 months, I have experienced what it means to be a Wikimedian, and I feel very honoured for it. However, I am not oblivious to the danger we face as a community either as LGBT people existing within the Wikimedia ecosystem, or as Wikimedians in general existing in a world about to be overrun by AI and dumped down education.

Funding for LGBTQI issues are going down gradually, and this will affect us as an organisation that is working hard to keep memories alive. Also, AI is also becoming a threat to the Wiki community. In all, there is hope, for as long as humans exist, there will also be a need for information, and for as long as there is need for information, there will always be humans who are willing to provide access to everyone free at the point of need and that is what Wikimedia is about.

Here is to more years with the organisation and the community.