Pride Month Madness: Wikipedia Front Page Promotes ‘F*ck Tree’ Gay Cruising Spot

On the front page of Wikipedia last week, the prominent “Did you know” section promoted an article about the “fuck tree” in North London. Reputedly a popular spot gay people use when “cruising” for casual sex, the article on the tree at the time it appeared on the front page included evocative sexual descriptions and explicit mentions of sexual conduct.

Such obscene content has appeared many times on Wikipedia’s front page, including in the “today’s featured article” section, prompting controversy for editors over whether Wikipedia not being “censored” should apply to its front page seen by millions of ordinary readers, including children. The front page has also been used to attack Donald Trump and other conservatives, including by the “fuck tree” article’s author.

The “fuck tree” article was created by editor “No Swan So Fine” in April, who nominated the article days later to appear in the “Did you know” section of the front page. For the “hook” or entry for the “Did you know” section of the front page, the editor provided a line about it being described as a “physical embodiment of desire” quoting an artist who did a recreation of the tree, which was mentioned on the Wikipedia page.

At the time, the article also included prominent mention of several sexual descriptions regarding the tree connected to its use by gay men for sexual conduct. One description from a British satirical magazine referred to the tree’s roots as being splayed “out like a hand clutching a bed sheet” and stated the tree had a “slutty little back arch” along with several glowing remarks about the tree. Mention of the tree from a novel by Armistead Maupin stating it could serve as “a chaise against which you could lean for wanking or bend over to be fucked” was another prominent description at the top of the article.

While these descriptions were later moved down to a “history” section of the article that included mention of protests against pamphlets opposing gay cruising in the area, the mention of the protests was eventually removed, leaving only the sexual descriptions and brief mention of the tree’s alleged long-time use by gay individuals. Another section on the page includes the detail used for the “Did you know” entry and a paragraph regarding an art film about the tree, which mentions the film’s visual effect was from soaking parts of it in female ejaculate and burying it in the garden of an art gallery.

During discussion of the nomination, no one raised concerns about an explicitly-named article with such explicit content appearing on the front page. Former adminPiotr Konieczny approved the page’s appearance on the page, only lamenting the article did not initially include an image, which would allow it to be given the prime spot in the section reserved for entries accompanied by an image of the subject. Thomas Sales, who edits as “Launchballer” on Wikipedia, promoted the article to appear on the front page without mentioning any concerns and, after getting required admin approval,  it appeared on the front page on June 19 receiving tens of thousands of views.

Promotion of explicit content on Wikipedia’s main page is a recurring issue. One former admin raised multiplearticles on the word “fuck” to “featured” status, the highest-quality ranking on Wikipedia, and then had them appear on the site’s front page in its “today’s featured article” section. Similarly, the front page has often featured content related to the adult animated comedy South Park, including a Christmas episode featuring a “singing poo” character, which appeared on the front page a week before Christmas after editors failed to have it appear on Christmas Day itself. Regular Christmas articles have rarely appeared in the “featured article” slot on the holiday.

Wikipedia policy stating the site is “not censored” has been raised in many discussions about obscene content in the “Did you know” section, such as one concerning an entry including profane attacks on then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson or one concerning an entry mentioning orgasm expressions in Japanese manga. Discussions have previously found no agreement on whether Wikipedia’s policy opposing censorship applies to the front page with guidelines only prohibiting “excessively sensational and gratuitous” content in the front page section itself. One essay created by Wikipedia editors expresses opposition to this lenient stance noting millions of regular readers, including minors, could be exposed to shocking content.

Editors have also used the “Did you know” section to advance political agendas as happened in 2020 when Black Lives Matter activist editors promoted content related to law enforcement pushing a left-wing stance. The former admin who got articles about the word “fuck” on the main page, after being banned from editing about political figures, created a new account to push anti-Trump content onto the front page and was later exposed and banned from the site after engaging in a campaign to highlight sexual assault allegations against then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh by creating articles related to people involved and getting them on the front page.

“No Swan So Fine,” the “fuck tree” article author, also pushed biased political content in the “Did you know” section about an unflattering Trump portrait and another regarding Trump’s affair with future wife Marla Maples. The editor also had an article on the Trump Tower penthouse promoted on the front page with an alleged Trump quote implying deceit regarding the number of rooms. Originally mentioned by a former Trump lawyer in a negative Huffington Post article, raising attorney-client privilege concerns, the front page appearance occurred amidst the Democrat-engineered “civil fraud” trial alleging Trump misrepresented property details. Articles about former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton received more favorable nominations.

While Wikipedia’s left-wing bias has been generally criticized by co-founder Larry Sanger, bias on gay and transgender topics is particularly egregious. Editors banned content from profile pages merely expressing the belief marriage is between a man and a woman, prompting outcry from Christian and family groups. One editor was temporarily banned for criticizing use of “tree” as a pronoun in one article and another faced a temporary ban for not using pronouns when referring to someone who demanded use of the singular “they” despite not even claiming to be transgender. A “code of conduct” imposed on Wikipedia by the site’s owners, prohibits “misgendering” and “homophobic” content.

T. D. Adler edited Wikipedia as The Devil’s Advocate. He was banned after privately reporting conflict of interest editing by one of the site’s administrators. Due to previous witch-hunts led by mainstream Wikipedians against their critics, Adler writes under an alias.