I've noticed that in a couple of Wikipedia articles about trans people; the first sentence will refer to them as "formerly known as DeadName." I think the intent is to avoid confusion but I'm not qualified to say whether that makes it okay.
It's an interesting question though. This is an instance of a public figure who was well known before transitioning. I guess the question would be whether historical/academic/whatever literature should entirely avoid using dead names for any reason. My instinct is to say it's not the same thing as talking about people who aren't public figures and should probably have a different set of expectations around it. I'm also highly unqualified here.
I've noticed that in a couple of Wikipedia articles about trans people; the first sentence will refer to them as "formerly known as DeadName." I think the intent is to avoid confusion but I'm not qualified to say whether that makes it okay.
It's an interesting question though. This is an instance of a public figure who was well known before transitioning. I guess the question would be whether historical/academic/whatever literature should entirely avoid using dead names for any reason. My instinct is to say it's not the same thing as talking about people who aren't public figures and should probably have a different set of expectations around it. I'm also highly unqualified here.