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Being a lesbian is a bannable offense on XBL

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I read through the big story on this on Slashdot. As far as I know, there are no sources cited, and no details listed.

Microsoft is apparently a very gay/lesbian-friendly company. There's even a Wikipedia article on Microsoft and gay employees, I believe.

What's more, there's a chance of 4chan types trolling her or reporting her account (if the story is true) "for the lulz", and getting her banned by some sort of automated system. I don't know how Microsoft handles that.

So basically, proof plz, then we'll talk. =.=
 
I'm sure Microsoft didn't actively ban the gamertag. It was likely homophobes abusing the complaint system and Microsoft not doing their due diligence when it comes to reviewing the complaints.
 
Felix Lighter said:
I'm sure Microsoft didn't actively ban the gamertag. It was likely homophobes abusing the complaint system and Microsoft not doing their due diligence when it comes to reviewing the complaints.
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The thing is, this isn't really a valid criticism of the story. When RichardGaywood got banned, there as a bit of a storm in the press, and Microsoft had a response saying "nope, won't allow it".
 
Mamesj said:
ummm, the top selling games on the console are rated M.

Is there something wrong with kids being aware of the existence of sexual orientation? mommy and daddy didn't buy them at wal-mart.
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not at all. I have a lot of gay relatives . one that is married and has adopted children.


Im saying its not about sexual orientation. its about one sidedness. its a blog. WHat did she have in her comments? was it vulgar?

lifes not fair. people use gay in a demeaning way all the time. " you are so gay" " that was gay" " stop being so gay "
 
fernoca said:
It depends on the wording I guess...and since that wasn't mentioned in the article it's hard to tell.
I've seen numerous profiles of Xbox Live (and PSN) games talking about how they "love girls", and "bang women"..in their profiles..
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Once again not defending the banning of the person but those people would be banned too if enough people reported them. The easy fix for this is too simply institute a check on the list of banned names or comments by a real person to see if they are indeed offensive.

We've had this thread before about another gay gamer that was banned. The issue still hasn't been resolved meaning that the fix for a real person to double check apparently hasn't been made.

EDIT: Gaywood. I see Microsoft had an official statement about that one.
 
JonathanEx said:
The thing is, this isn't really a valid criticism of the story. When RichardGaywood got banned, there as a bit of a storm in the press, and Microsoft had a response saying "nope, won't allow it".
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Link and press response from MS, please.
 
This is even worse than Richard Gaywood and theGAYERgamer, since this apparently isn't in her name, just her profile. That means someone has to actually look into her profile to see it, which destroys Microsoft's terrible reasoning for keeping those other two banned.
 
This is pretty shameful no matter how it went down.

Given that Microsoft has historically been an extremely gay-friendly company, it seems unlikely to me that this is actually a written institutional policy; these kinds of problems seem to come up increasingly often lately when a few people at a company's customer service wing take matters into their own hands.

If someone at MS has any sense at all, they'll have a PR out by tomorrow apologizing for the whole thing, reaffirming their support of LGBT people, giving free Gold 4 Lyfe to this person, etc. etc.
 
Zeliard said:
This is even worse than Richard Gaywood and theGAYERgamer, since this apparently isn't in her name, just her profile. That means someone has to actually look into her profile to see it, which destroys Microsoft's terrible reasoning for keeping those other two banned.
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meh. I don't see the difference whether its in her profile or in her gamertag. That being said arguably it is worse unless Microsoft specifically has a policy about advertising sexual orientation because lesbian is not an offensive term.
 
Stoney Mason said:
Once again not defending the banning of the person but those people would be banned too if enough people reported them. The easy fix for this is too simply institute a check on the list of banned names or comments by a real person to see if they are indeed offensive.

We've had this thread before about another gay gamer that was banned. The issue still hasn't been resolved meaning that the fix for a real person to double check apparently hasn't been made.

EDIT: Gaywood. I see Microsoft had an official statement about that one.
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But that's the thing..most people just don't care..
But when they see "gay"..the go out and report you as if you just raped them and their families.. :p
The same ones that go around giving bad reviews to anyone that beat them in a game for being "unsporting"..
It sucks that Microsoft doesn't double check profiles at least.
 
JonathanEx said:
http://kotaku.com/5010324/microsoft-explains-gaywood-ban
followup
http://consumerist.com/5010527/micr...d-is-an-offensive-surname-mr-gaywood-responds
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Checked the response, and the agreement:

(thou shalt not...)
Create a Gamertag , avatar or use text in other profile fields that may offend other members. This includes comments that look, sound like, stand for, hint at, abbreviate, or insinuate or relate to any of the following: profane words/phrases, topics or content of a sexual nature, hate speech (including but not limited to racial, ethnic, or religious slurs), illegal drugs/controlled substances, or illegal activities;
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I think someone mentioned you also couldn't CREATE a gamertag that contains the letters "spik" in it. This was mentioned by someone who tried to make the tag "Spike". So you could claim your real life name was "IKillN****RS", but it'd be against their rules (seems to relate to a racial slur) and probably caught by a word filter. Saying "you're gay" as an insult is kinda denigrating to homosexuals, wouldn't you say? At any rate, as far as I can tell using "gay" and "wood" in the same tag was considered to be hinting at a topic of a sexual nature, and thus wasn't allowed.
 
Wasnt really ok that they banned her, but why would you put your sexual orientation in your XBL profile in the first place?

I mean unless it was some kinda clan for lesbian gamers or something.
 
sprocket said:
not at all. I have a lot of gay relatives . one that is married and has adopted children.


Im saying its not about sexual orientation. its about one sidedness. its a blog. WHat did she have in her comments? was it vulgar?

lifes not fair. people use gay in a demeaning way all the time. " you are so gay" " that was gay" " stop being so gay "
Click to expand...


Good point. If she had "I'm totally out to munch some carpet and squeeze boobies because I'm a lesbian" that would be a different story.

I'm assuming it's closer to the RichardGaywood incident, in that a vocal group of XBL users are racist, homophobic assholes and made a huge stink to MS, and MS sided with them.
 
Apparently with XBL is if enough people find it offensive they will ban you over it.

SUCKS. >_<



Would like to see bans on those annoying kids that play.
 
Blizzard said:
I think someone mentioned you also couldn't CREATE a gamertag that contains the letters "spik" in it. This was mentioned by someone who tried to make the tag "Spike". So you could claim your real life name was "IKillN****RS", but it'd be against their rules (seems to relate to a racial slur) and probably caught by a word filter. Saying "you're gay" as an insult is kinda denigrating to homosexuals, wouldn't you say? At any rate, as far as I can tell using "gay" and "wood" in the same tag was considered to be hinting at a topic of a sexual nature, and thus wasn't allowed.
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He could prove that his name was Gaywood. He tried Straightwood, and that was allowed. Can't reaallly defend that.
 
teiresias said:
OMG, I'll do it just because, but you apparently feel the need to argue without doing any of your own research that takes a single Google search to do.

http://gaygamer.net/2008/05/xbox_live_gaywood_drama_update.html
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I posted a response above after looking at MS's response and the actual LIVE agreement that everyone agrees to.

I still point out that in this case, there aren't links, supporting details, or a response from Microsoft, and until then saying "they banned her for being lesbian" can't really be supported, unless it was considered to be expressed in such a way that it hints at sexual topics. There will probably be an official response in a few days/weeks, I'm guessing.

*edit*

Gaywood is probably not allowed because "gay" falls under their word filter. At any rate, I'm not sure about the filter, since I think that particular ban was because someone reviewed his account after other players complained.

*edit*

As a further sidenote, there are at least a couple of clans of Halo 3 lesbian gamers, I think. I know one of them.
 
They really just need to make profiles/voicechat unvailable to child accounts and let us do whatever the fuck we please with our profiles.
 
Blizzard said:
Saying "you're gay" as an insult is kinda denigrating to homosexuals, wouldn't you say?
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no?

is saying "you're black" to an african or african-american degrading? No. It's stupid, sure, but noone would consider it offensive.
 
Isn't there an age floor on live? They should have you speak into the mic to verify you're over 13. I cannot count how many high-pitched foul mouthed little brats I've encountered.
 
Teknoman said:
Wasnt really ok that they banned her, but why would you put your sexual orientation in your XBL profile in the first place?

I mean unless it was some kinda clan for lesbian gamers or something.
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The same way, someone can put "I'm a happily married guy with 500 kids"..and would be ok.. or heck, I've seen profiles saying stuff about pirating games and they hacking your accounts..but "I'm lesbian" ..."OMGOMGOMG someone ban that child of the devil!!!!
 
Blizzard said:
Gaywood is probably not allowed because "gay" falls under their word filter. At any rate, I'm not sure about the filter, since I think that particular ban was because someone reviewed his account after other players complained.
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The point is that even after a manual review, with a backlash in the press, they pretty much went sided with people who complained because they found the word gay offensive.
 
JonathanEx said:
He could prove that his name was Gaywood. He tried Straightwood, and that was allowed. Can't reaallly defend that.
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I honestly hate to be the devil's advocate here, but I can see the logic behind the decision. The term "gay" is used often as a juvenile insult (not that I had to tell you), but the word "straight" never is. If MS is banning any sort of name that could possibly be used as an insult, I don't think they need to be making exceptions for people who are really named Gaywood.

It might not be fair, this is true, but for every legit "Gaywood" there's a hundred "Gaykiller" douchebags trying to circumvent the system with their hateful nicknames.
 
kiruyama said:
no?

is saying "you're black" to an african or african-american degrading? No. It's stupid, sure, but noone would consider it offensive.
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I didn't say calling a homosexual "gay" was denigrating. I'm saying calling a straight guy, a woman, an object, a game, a message board, or anything else that you deem stupid/lame/disgusting "gay" means that you're using "gay" as a negative adjective.
 
So, if I put I'm a lesbian or gay in my profile. I don't have to pay 800 points to change my gamertag?
fingersx.gif




j/k. I like my GT and don't want to change it.
 
fernoca said:
But that's the thing..most people just don't care..
But when they see "gay"..the go out and report you as if you just raped them and their families.. :p
The same ones that go around giving bad reviews to anyone that beat them in a game for being "unsporting"..
It sucks that Microsoft doesn't double check profiles at least.
Click to expand...


I think people do care. As a black dude I'm not fond of the n word being tossed around like candy or some of the female harssement and I do report people but I do know I'm in the minority of people who do. The problem is like anything its a process. You have to remember the gametag then go through the process of reporting when for most people it is probably just easier to quit the game and find another or mute them.
 
Zilch said:
I honestly hate to be the devil's advocate here, but I can see the logic behind the decision. The term "gay" is used often as a juvenile insult (not that I had to tell you), but the word "straight" never is. If MS is banning any sort of name that could possibly be used as an insult, I don't think they need to be making exceptions for people who are really named Gaywood.

It might not be fair, this is true, but for every legit "Gaywood" there's a hundred "Gaykiller" douchebags trying to circumvent the system with their hateful nicknames.
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I understand the worry about it being a juvenile insult, and can understand it being flagged up, but after a manual review? It was clear the system was not trying to be circumvented, and if they have a system that means they effectively are saying that they won't allow people to use the words "gay" or "lesbian" as they might offend, the system is flawed.
 
JonathanEx said:
I understand the worry about it being a juvenile insult, and can understand it being flagged up, but after a manual review? It was clear the system was not trying to be circumvented, and if they have a system that means they effectively are saying that they won't allow people to use the words "gay" or "lesbian" as they might offend, the system is flawed.
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Concerning the story in the OT, if her only "wrongdoing" was that her profile denoted that she was a lesbian then yeah, that is definitely a legitimate problem. I hope MS responds to this tomorrow.
 
fernoca said:
The same way, someone can put "I'm a happily married guy with 500 kids"..and would be ok.. or heck, I've seen profiles saying stuff about pirating games and they hacking your accounts..but "I'm lesbian" ..."OMGOMGOMG someone ban that child of the devil!!!!
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I dont understand why anyone would put that either, then again im a simple profile kinda guy.
 
Not sure if this was posted yet, but here is an earlier reply from one of the MS lawyer types.

http://www.stepto.com/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=434

To summarize the article for those too lazy to click. Note this this was written about TheGayerGamer gametag.

We recieved a complaint on the Gamertag and determined that it did indeed contain sexual innuendo. Now granted, there could be an argument that the text is not pejorative to homosexuality and should therefore be allowed. But there is no context to explain that. Gamertags are visible to everyone and it would be hard for me to defend to a parent of a young child who saw it that the name did not contain content of a sexual nature.

We view these situations objectively during our review under the terms of use. To answer the question another way, yes "TheStraighterGamer" or "TheHeterosexualgamer" would have gotten the same treatment and would have been found to be in violation and forced to be changed. We've actually done that to tags like that before.
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Zilch said:
It might not be fair, this is true, but for every legit "Gaywood" there's a hundred "Gaykiller" douchebags trying to circumvent the system with their hateful nicknames.
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Yeah, but that's were the report/banning process should work; not being just a basic word filter; because in the end why put so much emphasize on that, when you finally connect to their service..to play Halo 3, Gears of War, Street Fighter..is all "gay, gay, gay, gay, you f***ng mexican, you sound like a n***, I kill them"..etcetc.."
 
krypt0nian said:
Coming out is still an important thing for gay people. It helps young kids that aren't out see there is nothing wrong with it.

You are already assumed to be straight.
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XBL is not the place for you to teach other peoples kids what's 'ok'. It's not there for you to make personal or political or religious statements.
 
Cyan said:
Sounds like willful misinterpretation of this:
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Pretty much. People are going overboard here. Sorry, but there's just no reason to have content of a sexual nature on your public gamer card.
 
kiruyama said:
no?

is saying "you're black" to an african or african-american degrading? No. It's stupid, sure, but noone would consider it offensive.
Click to expand...


Maybe in 1950 when being black wasn't socially looked highly upon by whites would this work. Now, no one says "you're black" as a derogatory term. However, people say, "you're gay" all the time as a derogatory term.
 
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