QuoteAccording to a report by The Consumerist, an Xbox 360 gamer had her service suspended after identifying herself as a lesbian in her Xbox Live profile. The woman told the site that she was "harassed by several players" and "chased to different maps/games" once they caught wind of her sexual orientation. After those offended notified Microsoft, the company banned her account.
Gamers were outraged, prompting Microsoft to issue a terse apology by way of Stephen Toulouse, program manager for policy and enforcement on Xbox Live.
Initially intended to curb the derogatory use of words like "gay," Microsoft's sexuality policy empowers the company to suspend any account that includes words related to sexual orientation in an Xbox Live nickname or profile. It's landed the company in hot water before, most recently when it led to the banning of a man simply trying to use his legal name, Richard Gaywood.
And all I can really think in all this (besides why the fuck should anyone feel the need to reveal their sexual orientation in an Xbox game?!) is "poor bastard.. as if he didn't have enough problems already being named Gaywood, they ban him from Xbox too..."
RPGPundit
Man, that guy's parents are assholes. "Dick Gaywood"?
I knew a kid in high school with the last name Gaylord. That's tough duty right there.
Quote from: RPGPundit(besides why the fuck should anyone feel the need to reveal their sexual orientation in an Xbox game?!)
My my thoughts as well. Fuck whoever the hell you want, but you don't need to promote or have an agenda for it.
Quote from: Aos;286534I knew a kid in high school with the last name Gaylord. That's tough duty right there.
You know, we never used the word 'gay' when I was in school. We said 'poof' or 'poofter'.
Quote from: RPGPundit;286517And all I can really think in all this (besides why the fuck should anyone feel the need to reveal their sexual orientation in an Xbox game?!) is "poor bastard.. as if he didn't have enough problems already being named Gaywood, they ban him from Xbox too..."
Quote from: KrakaJak;286568My my thoughts as well. Fuck whoever the hell you want, but you don't need to promote or have an agenda for it.
So, I am married to a woman, I don't think that information needs to be some kind of secret -- any more than my being half-Korean, playing RPGs, having grown up in New York, or a lot of other random personal facts about me. It's not inappropriate to tell kids of any age, and I certainly don't think it's TMI for adults. In many social situations it is perfectly appropriate to make clear, to the point that I continuously wear a visible symbol of it. I've never had anyone get in my face that I was giving inappropriate information by making any of that information clear.
In short, I don't think that I should have to hide my sexual orientation. In a lot of social situations -- including gaming -- which aren't dominated by guys who act like assholes, there is often various chatting, socializing, and flirting. Many people have made friends, dates, or even met their future spouses in games -- online or otherwise. I first got to know my wife when she joined a Champions game I was GMing, and I know of many people who met their future spouses online. So I think there is a useful function to making sexual orientation and marital status clear.
(As an aside, all due sympathy to the guy with the name Gaywood who is undoubtedly teased a lot -- but even more sympathy for the people who are likely to suffer far more serious harassment in their lives by being out.)
Quote from: RPGPundit;286517why the fuck should anyone feel the need to reveal their sexual orientation in an Xbox game?!
I remember reading somewhere that you can now find sexual-orientation-themed guilds on MMO's; all-gay, all-lesbian, all-S&M, that sort of thing.
Maybe posting your sexual orientation on a gaming network has something to do with that.
OTOH I can't figure wtf you'd want to be that exclusive, furthermore when there isn't any online game AFAIK that has sexual preferences as a inherent theme.
I mean, imagine having a WoW Clan made exclusively of Republicans. What would be the point? :confused:
Would I be banned if my gamertag was Heterstraightguy?
Guess so. It does contain sexual orientation references and apparently that is a no-no as far as Xbox Live policies are concerned.
I guess you would be banned even with a gamertag of "CelibateMonk". :D
And the sad thing is, no you wouldn't. Saying you are gay is revealing personal information. Saying you're straight is just confirming that you're a ('scuse me if I spit the word) normal guy. That's the way it works. I mean, I can't confirm it, but I'll bet on it.
And on names, I knew a guy called Benito Camela. In Uruguayan and Argentinian Spanish, it sounds just like "Veni, tocamela", which roughly translates as "Come here, touch it". Honest.
Quote from: droog;286582You know, we never used the word 'gay' when I was in school. We said 'poof' or 'poofter'.
Dear droog,
Go to hell.
Signed,
Richard Pooflord
(:p)
Quote from: Edsan;286678Guess so. It does contain sexual orientation references and apparently that is a no-no as far as Xbox Live policies are concerned.
I guess you would be banned even with a gamertag of "CelibateMonk". :D
As Sunboy pointed out, no, you wouldn't. I'm not Xbox Live, but in comments someone pointed out that there were lots of profiles that proclaimed "ladiesman" and variations.
There's a
LesbianGamers.com post (http://www.lesbiangamers.com/xbox-lives-gaygate-scandal---a-look-at-the-problem-of-context-with-gamertags.html) on the issue with many examples of people's profile names.
Yes, but at least ostensibly, their policy was really intentioned to prevent people from using "gay" pejoratively. I guess it depends whether you want to believe their policy had good intentions.
RPGPundit
Quote from: Edsan;286655I remember reading somewhere that you can now find sexual-orientation-themed guilds on MMO's; all-gay, all-lesbian, all-S&M, that sort of thing.
Maybe posting your sexual orientation on a gaming network has something to do with that.
OTOH I can't figure wtf you'd want to be that exclusive, furthermore when there isn't any online game AFAIK that has sexual preferences as a inherent theme.
I mean, imagine having a WoW Clan made exclusively of Republicans. What would be the point? :confused:
Part of it is the rampant homophobia in the online gaming community. It makes a fair bit of sense that a gay person would want to game with a bunch of people they can be relatively sure aren't going to bust out into a torrent of "Fucking faggots!" or "You cocksucking gaywad!" etc. when their digital avatars are shot in the head or defeated by the dragon, or whatever.
Actually, on a related note there are quite a few clans who use voice chat on the local Resistance 2 servers who seem to be predominantly black. I've heard them verbally berate people with racist names during matches. So the process seems to be going on with a number of different identity groups, not just gays.
Quote from: jhkim;286652So, I am married to a woman, I don't think that information needs to be some kind of secret -- any more than my being half-Korean, playing RPGs, having grown up in New York, or a lot of other random personal facts about me. It's not inappropriate to tell kids of any age, and I certainly don't think it's TMI for adults. In many social situations it is perfectly appropriate to make clear, to the point that I continuously wear a visible symbol of it. I've never had anyone get in my face that I was giving inappropriate information by making any of that information clear.
I have no idea what visible symbol you're talking about.
Quote from: Stuart;286981I have no idea what visible symbol you're talking about.
I meant my wedding ring. Sorry -- didn't mean to be cryptic about that. For that matter, marital status is also often marked in name -- i.e. the prefix Mrs. So I don't think that sexuality and marital status are generally hidden.
Quote from: jhkim;286989I meant my wedding ring. Sorry -- didn't mean to be cryptic about that. For that matter, marital status is also often marked in name -- i.e. the prefix Mrs. So I don't think that sexuality and marital status are generally hidden.
I know women who both wear rings...
I thought you were talking about your pretty pink unicorn shirts. :D
Man, this is weak sauce (http://consumerist.com/5008908/gay-player-name-banned-by-xbox-live). The player had their account blocked because the gammer tag was "thegayergamer". Man, it be like a black having a gammer tag of "NiggerMan" and then complaining he was banned because he told the world he was black.
Picnics are always fucked up by those pesky WASPS. Get in the jam and everything.
This is a self created mess. While the GLBT community is more than happy to self identify as 'Gay' they are equally happy to ban the word as a perjorative.
They want their cake, the eating of same to happen simultaniously with said possession.
Microsoft can hardly be faulted for taking them at their word that they no longer wished to be subjected to the 'Gay-Word' on Live, and subsequently banning it. The 'Law', in this case represented by Microsoft's EULA policies, must have a bright line, it has little room for context.
Quote from: CavScout;287014Man, this is weak sauce (http://consumerist.com/5008908/gay-player-name-banned-by-xbox-live). The player had their account blocked because the gammer tag was "thegayergamer". Man, it be like a black having a gammer tag of "NiggerMan" and then complaining he was banned because he told the world he was black.
For the record, I saw someone running around with the name "killinnigz" on the Playstation Network's Resistance 2 servers a couple weeks ago, and as I said, quite a few folks have similarly racist tags and don't seem to fear punishment for it.
Quote from: Pseudoephedrine;287053For the record, I saw someone running around with the name "killinnigz" on the Playstation Network's Resistance 2 servers a couple weeks ago, and as I said, quite a few folks have similarly racist tags and don't seem to fear punishment for it.
It's not the same platform
and (and this what people forget) is the names have to be reported before they'll get caught.
Did you report them?
Quote from: Spike;287020This is a self created mess. While the GLBT community is more than happy to self identify as 'Gay' they are equally happy to ban the word as a perjorative.
They want their cake, the eating of same to happen simultaniously with said possession.
Microsoft can hardly be faulted for taking them at their word that they no longer wished to be subjected to the 'Gay-Word' on Live, and subsequently banning it. The 'Law', in this case represented by Microsoft's EULA policies, must have a bright line, it has little room for context.
I've never encountered anyone within GLBT who wanted to ban the word gay. Such people probably do exist, but that doesn't mean that they are all hypocritical -- rather than there are differences within the community.
Still, you're implying that the Microsoft ban on the word "gay" in question came about due to GLBT activism on that point. I haven't seen any mention of such in the articles. My impression was that it was Microsoft's own move, most likely motivated by trying to be more "family friendly" rather than being GLBT-friendly. (For example, the American Family Association
banned the word "gay" (http://voices.washingtonpost.com/sleuth/2008/07/christian_sites_ban_on_g_word.html) on their website, with amusing results.)
Quote from: jhkim;287066I've never encountered anyone within GLBT who wanted to ban the word gay. Such people probably do exist, but that doesn't mean that they are all hypocritical -- rather than there are differences within the community.
Still, you're implying that the Microsoft ban on the word "gay" in question came about due to GLBT activism on that point. I haven't seen any mention of such in the articles. My impression was that it was Microsoft's own move, most likely motivated by trying to be more "family friendly" rather than being GLBT-friendly. (For example, the American Family Association banned the word "gay" (http://voices.washingtonpost.com/sleuth/2008/07/christian_sites_ban_on_g_word.html) on their website, with amusing results.)
Your link was fucking hilarious!
However, the question still comes down to whether you really think they'd banned the term "gay" because they were INTENDING to persecute homosexuals or to prevent people from using the term insultingly (whether to protect the feelings of gay players or to protect "family standards" for language, etc.).
When it comes down to it, the people who are complaining are suggesting that the company was intentionally trying to persecute gays, and I don't buy that. I don't think that the company was run by evil mustache-twirling homophobes who's goal was to "drive the fags out of our game" or something like that.
RPGPundit
a) Did you read the first comment? Priceless.
b) Homosexual and Lesbian are o.k. but gay is wrong? I obviously missed a memo.
Quote from: jhkim;287066I've never encountered anyone within GLBT who wanted to ban the word gay. Such people probably do exist, but that doesn't mean that they are all hypocritical -- rather than there are differences within the community.
Then you've got your head in the sand, mano. Anecdotally, I can (or could, Its been a few years since I paid attention) go to, say, RPGnet and in a few minutes of surfing find at least one self proclaimed 'Gay' reporting or dogpiling on someone for using the term. Many self proclaimed 'Gays'... that is people who actually USE the term (as the GBLT community implicitely does, its not the HBLT community after all)... are more than willing to jump on any 'misuse' of the term.
Also anecdotally, just two weeks ago at my regular D&D game our large and in charge flammingly gay player jumped verbally on our young female player for using the term 'thats gay'. Was he wrong? Not really. Overboard maybe, but not wrong. However, it should be noted that he self identifies as 'Gay'. In other words he has no objection to the word, just the use.
There-in lies the problem. Policy set to meet demands, or to get ahead of the demands, of a community can not afford to make the distinction between self identification and perjorative uses. Either a word is good or it is bad. You can see they can't even reliably identify when its actually just part of someone's name!
We can see the problem in the word Nigger as well. Successfully banned as a perjorative insult for many years, and thus a reliable indicator of a racist when used, it then rose to prominance as a self idenification among black youth. This minor bit of hypocracy was harmless enough until young white kids aping the 'cool culture' started using the term as well.
Obviously none of this is world shaking. Unless you happen to be some stupid punk who tries to be cool by saying 'what's up my nigger?' and gets his ass beat for being 'racist'. Ditto the term "Gay". Its not world shaking until your account on Xbox Live is banned because you can't tell everyone you like the cock because some other pole smokers get upset at the excessive use of Gay as a perjorative.
QuoteStill, you're implying that the Microsoft ban on the word "gay" in question came about due to GLBT activism on that point. I haven't seen any mention of such in the articles. My impression was that it was Microsoft's own move, most likely motivated by trying to be more "family friendly" rather than being GLBT-friendly. (For example, the American Family Association banned the word "gay" (http://voices.washingtonpost.com/sleuth/2008/07/christian_sites_ban_on_g_word.html) on their website, with amusing results.)
I love it when people say Implying on the internet. It means so much!
Seriously though: While there may have been no active movement against microsoft due to user abuse of the term, do you think this occured in a vacuum? If enough people complain, in general, about 'wrongdoing', then a saavy business is going to listen even if the complaints aren't directed to them.
But I never implied anything about Microsoft, I simply stated that
the propencity of 'Gay Activists' protesting Mis-use of the term "Gay" has had the unintended, but humorous, consequence of disallowing said activists and other self proclaimed gays from using their own word.If you want to read into that, feel free, but really it stands on its own. Bringing on Microsoft's motivations, or the debate 'raging' in the community over the use of Gay vs. Queer and other amusing threads is hardly relevant.
Quote from: Spike;287140But I never implied anything about Microsoft, I simply stated that the propencity of 'Gay Activists' protesting Mis-use of the term "Gay" has had the unintended, but humorous, consequence of disallowing said activists and other self proclaimed gays from using their own word.
If you want to read into that, feel free, but really it stands on its own.
First of all, I disagree with that statement. I do not think that the American Family Association's ban on the word "gay" was in any way a consequence of GLBT protests -- and the same goes for Microsoft's ban.
Second, you specifically accused GLBT activists of hypocrisy -- suggesting that it was "having your cake and eating it too" to complain about misuse of a word and yet expect to use it themselves.
I consider it perfectly reasonable to complain about misuse of a word and yet expect to be able to use it correctly -- and this applies far more widely than just particular epithets. Lots of words get misused. I think we should be able to complain about misuse without having them banned.
Quote from: CavScout;287057It's not the same platform and (and this what people forget) is the names have to be reported before they'll get caught.
Did you report them?
No. I believe in freedom of speech, and wouldn't want to encourage PS3 /Xbox or anyone else to ban people. The black guys in the clan he was playing against may have though.
Quote from: Pseudoephedrine;287166No. I believe in freedom of speech, and wouldn't want to encourage PS3 /Xbox or anyone else to ban people. The black guys in the clan he was playing against may have though.
I too believe in freedom of speech. I almost want to say their has to be a line that shouldnt be crossed. But thats a slippery slope. That can snowball into, well a place I dont want to be. I recently ran into a asshat of Xbox live playing Soul Caliber IV. His handle was Whit3 Pow3r. I didnt report him (or her) I just denied the connection. Played with a different opponnent. Perhaphs if we all did that it would kill the amount of players these kinds of asshats can play with. Course I'm also a realist and think thats justa pipe dream. But one can dream and strive towards a better ideal eh?
Quote from: Ronin;287710I too believe in freedom of speech. I almost want to say their has to be a line that shouldnt be crossed. But thats a slippery slope. That can snowball into, well a place I dont want to be. I recently ran into a asshat of Xbox live playing Soul Caliber IV. His handle was Whit3 Pow3r. I didnt report him (or her) I just denied the connection. Played with a different opponnent. Perhaphs if we all did that it would kill the amount of players these kinds of asshats can play with. Course I'm also a realist and think thats justa pipe dream. But one can dream and strive towards a better ideal eh?
Or...after beating Whit3 Pow3r, you can say" hey brother, can you spare a Newport?"