Here Ye! Here Ye! Lesbians banned from Xbox Live!

[rknapp]

http://consumerist.com/5160187/identifying...ed-on-xbox-live

 

Interesting that HRC lists Microsoft as a GLBT friendly company, then this happens.

 

Having said that, I have to wonder if she contacted M$, or Live. There's a difference. Xbox Live is more or less a subsidiary organization of the Microsoft Games Studio. If she contacted Microsoft directly, then tisk tisk. If not, then perhaps getting the parent company pissed off is the route she should be taking.

 

Turning to something only sort of on topic: I was surprised that all these guys are chasing lesbians away. I wasn't shocked at all of gay men being chased off, but I always thought Xbox Live was loaded with macho Halo and Gears players who beat off to lesbian porn. Then again, many of them could be geeks who are already frightened of women. Lesbians probably put them in arms, lol.

[clumber]

I was just about to link to this myself lol.

 

 

From what I can gather its because a lot of the rules for things such as offensive language are either mostly automated or possibly even entirely handled by Bots.

 

However, the main problem is about the whole "pffensive language" issue... Why are we letting words such as "gay" and "lesbian" count as offensive? If people use them as insults, well then thats their problem. However, should we really be sitting back and letting our sexual orientation be considered "offensive"? If organisations supporting gay rights continue to follow that policy then it just means that their attitude towards us is just patronising.

 

 

Oh, and Microsoft have refused to back down on their decision- you are banned for using words such as gay or lesbian. They are also claiming to take this position towards straight people as well but I doubt any women have been banned for using the words "husband" or "boyfriend".

 

(They also refused to back down on another case which has been brought up in relation to this when a user put his surname as "Gaywood"... they banned him and refuse to back down despite the fact that it is his actual name.

 

 

Martin

[Adrian Michaels]

It's interesting, because this thing has been going on for a while.

 

On one hand, I can see the point. Xbox Live civility is ridiculous. There are tons of youtube videos were all of the players yell, "homo this" and "queer that". Perhaps MS just thinks that not allowing names like that will lessen the problem? Why add wood to the fire?

 

On the OTHER hand, people who are out and proud should be able to put that in their user names, and then just frag the crap out of all the haters.

[Daisy]

thing with her though was it wasn't just in her name, she says she had the info listed on her profile. so that's a bit different?

I don't play it so no idea what the profile looks like. can see the issue with the names and wanting to avoid all trouble, but in the profile, banning her on the basis of that if that is what happened is harsh.

[JamesSavik]

there's always a way around stupid rules.

 

Why not sign in as

 

Rainbow Warrior

FudgePacker

CaptianTwink

PappaBear

SargentDicipline

DieselChick

[wildone]

Not knowing the first thing about gaming, I am curious about XBox Live's policy and if there was a name such as "Straightshooter", would this be allowed?

 

All in all, it seems like what they are saying is if you have a name that might cause you harassment, then we're going to ban it cause we don't really want to deal with the harassment.

 

Pretty sad.

Edited February 27, 2009 by wildone

[clumber]

there's always a way around stupid rules.

 

Why not sign in as

 

Rainbow Warrior

FudgePacker

CaptianTwink

PappaBear

SargentDicipline

DieselChick

 

 

 

The problem wasn't that it was in her username.

 

The problem was that it was in the "About Me" section of her profile page. Essentially, they are saying that you are allowed to talk about yourself unless you want to mention that you are gay/bi/lesbian in case it "offends people". Also, this is coming from a company who have been rated highly on their support for the gay community...

 

 

Martin

[JamesSavik]

The problem wasn't that it was in her username.

 

The problem was that it was in the "About Me" section of her profile page. Essentially, they are saying that you are allowed to talk about yourself unless you want to mention that you are gay/bi/lesbian in case it "offends people". Also, this is coming from a company who have been rated highly on their support for the gay community...

 

 

Martin

 

 

In that case they are out of line but that's Microsquat for you: they are all about gay rights until its in their own back yard.

 

Just say no to the dark side or forever it will be in your pocket. hehehehehe

[Kurt]

You people kind of have this wrong. Here is another link, with Microsoft's statement: Here.

 

"As stated in the Xbox Live Terms of Use, a member may not create a gamertag or use text in other profile fields that include comments that look, sound like, stand for, hint at, abbreviate, or insinuate content of a potentially sexual nature. Profiles that do are asked to change the language and suspended until changes are made. In regards to sexual orientation, for gamertags or profiles we do not allow expression of any type of orientation, be that hetero or other. Players can, however, self identify in voice communication where context is more easily explained to all players involved.

 

"Harassment of any kind is not condoned and is taken very seriously; we strongly encourage Xbox Live members to immediately report inappropriate behavior through the compliant tools in the service so that it can be investigated and the appropriate action taken."

 

"The Xbox Live community grows daily, and we continue to explore methods and levels of enforcement to enhance the ways our members connect and have fun, while adhering to a code of conduct that encourages respect and keeps the service safe and fun for all our members."

 

I play Xbox Live. There is no need for someone to know your sexuality while playing a game. This isn't a Social Networking thing. It is game playing.

 

Was it a big deal that she had 'lesbian' in her profile? Probably not. However, it is MS's policy that nothing of a sexual nature (including orientation) be included in your gamertag or your profile.

 

If she was asked to change her profile, and she failed to do so, then they had a right to ban her.

 

This was clearly causing an issue. It brought on harassment that could have easily been avoided if she would not have had 'lesbian' in her profile.

 

This is clearly NOT an anti-gay decision from MS. It is just a way to avoid unnecessary behavior in a gaming environment.

 

Big deal, she is a lesbian, when I am playing a game I do not care, hell in real life I do not care. People get angry when others make a big deal out of their orientation, but then they themselves have to go and make a big deal out of it.

[Tiger]

I'm not surprised. Even my cousin yells "faggot" when he's playing. It pisses me off. She should sue their pants off.

[rknapp]

Kurt has a good point. If those are the rules, then she violated them. Is M$ right to have those rules? Yes and no. They aren't right to have those rules simply because it can be discriminatory. They are right because it is a service they provide and therefore have total authority over how it is used, and as it happens, references to sexual orientation have a tendency raise hell. Banning such references takes a lot of moderating hassle away.

 

Do they have the right to ban her? Yes. Have they done all they can? Unless all of the players whom were chasing her because of her sexual orientation were all banned as well, then M$ is full of shit and clearly doesn't believe in their own rules IN WHICH CASE she should be allowed to return to the service and should be allowed to identify herself as a lesbian in her profile. Why? Their rules clearly state that players should report anyone harassing them in order to properly settle the issue. Obviously the only way to really settle this issue is ban all the people harassing her, which it seems M$ failed to do when she so clearly reported the harassment and abuse to proper M$ and Xbox Live authorities.

[Mark Arbour]

Microsoft Apology

 

 

Microsoft apologized. I think we should forgive them for this. Now Vista..I'm not ready to forgive them for that yet.

[rknapp]

Well at least they're working to correct the problem. The language of that policy is indeed horrendous.

[AFriendlyFace]

However, the main problem is about the whole "pffensive language" issue... Why are we letting words such as "gay" and "lesbian" count as offensive? If people use them as insults, well then thats their problem. However, should we really be sitting back and letting our sexual orientation be considered "offensive"? If organisations supporting gay rights continue to follow that policy then it just means that their attitude towards us is just patronising.

I totally agree!

 

On one hand, I can see the point. Xbox Live civility is ridiculous. There are tons of youtube videos were all of the players yell, "homo this" and "queer that". Perhaps MS just thinks that not allowing names like that will lessen the problem? Why add wood to the fire?

Or "wood" to the "gay" (clearly that gets you banned as well).

 

 

Do they have the right to ban her? Yes. Have they done all they can? Unless all of the players whom were chasing her because of her sexual orientation were all banned as well, then M$ is full of shit and clearly doesn't believe in their own rules IN WHICH CASE she should be allowed to return to the service and should be allowed to identify herself as a lesbian in her profile. Why? Their rules clearly state that players should report anyone harassing them in order to properly settle the issue. Obviously the only way to really settle this issue is ban all the people harassing her, which it seems M$ failed to do when she so clearly reported the harassment and abuse to proper M$ and Xbox Live authorities.

I agree with Robbie. They have the right to ban her because it's in their rules and they have the right to make those rules. However, it sounds like the rules are stupid and unfair.

 

Microsoft Apology

 

 

Microsoft apologized. I think we should forgive them for this. Now Vista..I'm not ready to forgive them for that yet.

Woo hoo!!!

 

 

Here's a great example of when taking a stance can make a powerful difference!

 

I'm delighted and glad that Microsoft has the sense and humility to rethink their policy.

 

-Kevin

Edited March 13, 2009 by AFriendlyFace