Games We Love but Wish We Could Love Playing
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Last week, female Xbox Live user Teresa was banned from using Xbox Live for stating in her profile that she was a lesbian.
Teresa claimed that every time she went online she was harassed by gamers and disgusted parents, and after having numerous complaints put against her, Microsoft eventually banned her from the service.
This isn't the first time Microsoft has angered the gay community, of course. Last year, Xbox Live user theGAYERgamer was also suspended for having an "offensive" gamertag.
Mod edit: Xbox LIVE's Terms of Use currently prohibits expression of sexual orientation of any kind.
The gay gaming community is in uproar this morning after word broke that an Xbox Live user was banned for identifying herself as a lesbian.
Ex-Xbox Live member, Teresa (that's EX member - hold onto your friend requests) says she was harassed by other players and later suspended from the service for noting her sexual preference in her Xbox Live profile.
Apparently, when Teresa appealed to Microsoft, the company told her that other gamers found her sexual orientation "offensive."
"I was harassed by several players, 'chased' to different maps/games to get away from their harassment. They followed me into the games and told all the other players to turn me in because they didn't want to see that crap or their kids to see that crap.
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Most recently commented on by on Mar 2, 2009
Most recently commented on by on Mar 2, 2009
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She included something sexually related in her bio.
She deserved it. Any questions?
(And as an Australian, you should be interested to know that nowhere in the Australian consitution is it explicity stated that we have a right to free speech.)
Gotta love this global society.
I'm not easily offended either......I cuss like a sailor at times, but there are some real creepy bastards out there roaming HOME LOL
Hope she gets reinstated, with some money from a lawsuit to boot
And yeah, She should really sue them for being so stupid.
If I was a parent, I'd be more worried about the assholes who threaten and harass other members who are just trying to play a game and have some fun.
I think it's all the religious extremists or something. They need to stop having kids.
I bet all the parent's kids were playing Rated M Games. I hope the douchebags I talked about trolled all of their kids, too.
So I have no problem with it.
They didn't ban her because she's a lesbian, they banned her for being a righteous idiot who thought people really had to or wanted to know.
As a lesbian myself, I'm not even fazed by this - and I think anyone who finds it offensive is an idiot. She made the choice so now she has to suffer the consequences of that choice, whether she likes it or not.
In which case, the GG headline should be, "Xbox LIVE bans girl for posting about her sexuality."
My disappointment/annoyance isn't so much with Microsoft, to be perfectly honest. They're in a hard position because cases like these get reported, and people will point fingers at MS for discrimination. At the same time, there's a lot of LIVE users who have a problem with homosexuality, and it becomes a question of who MS wants to risk displeasing more. More to the point, I'm frustrated by the way she was treated by other users because of it... though I am not at all surprised.
When I first heard this story a few days ago, my first reaction is, "Why would she post her sexuality on LIVE?" And I wondered if this girl had any idea she was painting a bullseye on herself by mentioning it. Sad fact of life: Women need to watch their backs, not leave themselves open like that. Even online. Maybe she was naive, maybe she was looking for trouble. It's a shitty situation overall.
So it's not just people on XBL who are assholes, it's the managers too. >_>
Then I did some research (which I found out could have been avoided if I had read the comments on the article before looking further into it XD) and realised it's her own fault and that the media are again looking for attention with attempts at controversy (CVG using the gay welsh guy from Little Britain as the image was REALLY *bleep*ing ironic, btw.) by being bias morons.
I don't know how big of a deal they make about not stating sexuality, so perhaps letting her back on with a different account under strict observation (on probation if you will) will be in order, but if they make it blatant and say DON'T DO IT in big letters then let her suffer. If you're going to stick your head in the oven, you're not going to be allowed back in the kitchen
I really don't understand what the world has against same-sex couples. Its a way of life, and over-protective parents need to get over that (as well as the herd of immature addolesence's who still think the word "gay" is funny). Microsoft should issue a statement or something because this is the second time something like this has happened. They may raise some eyebrows if they keep doing this w/o explainations.
Doing this w/o explanation? They've explained it. People have explained it for them. You're not supposed to state your sexual orientation, PERIOD. And this isn't discrimination against gays by Microsoft; they've done the same to people who've stated they're straight.
Yes, there's nothing wrong with being gay. If someone is gay, good for them. But at the end of the day when Microsoft say don't talk about your sexuality on XboxLIVE at all and somebody does they can expect to get punished. Yes, people shouldn't be so ignorant and people shouldn't have hassled her, but that's just the way some people are on there. People are told not to state their sexuality because of this reason, it's for their own protection as well, and if they ignore the warning, do it anyway and get harassed because of it, it's their own self-righteous fault. It's a *bleep*ed up system, but you can't expect them to ban every single person who says something offensive otherwise they would be out of business.
Oh, and the world has nothing against same-sex couples, just a small ignorant part of it does. Stop acting like we're in the dark ages.
I mean shoot, even if it is in the ToS and technically you're supposed to read it before you accept it, who actually does hmmmm?
It isn't something you'd think would be a huge problem.
Possibly, she was just hoping for some attention, and it backfired (she got attention, the wrong sort).
My first point was that banning was a bit excessive (even if it is against the ToS, it really shouldn't be in the first place IMO).
And I KNOW you're supposed to read the ToS (everyone knows that, pretty much), my other point was 'who actually reads that stuff?'. They are often dozens upon dozens of paragraphs long. While you're supposed to read them, and it is your own fault if you get punished for going against it, my point/question is really 'how many people actually read their ToS when signing up to stuff?'.
So I don't see what points you're supposed to be rebutting?
Regardless, apparently she wasn't banned.
It's not because she's a lesbian, it's because she mentions her sexuality in her profile. If someone were to mention they were straight in their profile they would be banned too.
Anyway. I do think banning someone for mentioning their sexual orientation is a bit harsh. They could easily have just asked her to remove it.
She's not banned, she's suspended from the service until she changes it.
If it was her gamertag that was considered offensive MS give the offender a free name change.
Your gamertag is your name, like mine xXxsm0kew33d4LYFxXx. Your profile is details like where you're from, what you're interested in etc.
Like many others have said, it's her fault and Microsoft for their own protection and hers, banned her. After all if they acted on her behalf by banning those harrassing her then Microsoft would lose a huge fanbse and a lot of money. By doing it this way, they have lost one and probably a few more that disagree with Microsoft.
At the end of the day, people go on XBL to game, not to chat people up or find out whether they like men, women or something inbetween. If you want that then go to myspace, facebook or somewhere else other than an online gaming service.
Although it is shame to read about pathetic parents and gamers that can't let people be what they want to be and are ¬_¬
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