February 26th 2009 9:51 pm PT

“… is from the Gay and *** Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) where they give their…”

Can I assume those stars indicate that you actually censor the L-word on your site Major? Seems sorta ironic all things considered.

…did you just star out lesbian?

It’s in the name itself, and not used offensively. Come on now.

I don’t understand all the fuss. I think the policies are fine, and reasonable.

I think expressing your sexual orientation on any social networking site is inappropriate for any reason other than dating. If I want to play Gears of War, I don’t care what you like to do in your spare time, just help me kill some noobs.

LOL! I love how community server blocks the word Lesbian, but not the word Gay.

Ironic, and considering the subject matter, extremely embarrassing, i’m sure!

I agree with A1337Haxor I don’t really care as long as you can game.

Community Server fixed

Love the irony.

Why would you want to tell someone if you are straight or gay anyway? What relevance does it have when playing games with strangers or friends online?

RetroBob
UK (straight)

I really wish everyone could just grow the heck up and companies like MS wouldn’t have to act as censors and babysitters about everything.

Someone has an offense word in their profile? Ignore them. Calling you offensive names in a Live game? Kick them. Stop playing with them. Ignore them. Marginalize them.

This kind of thing gets so out of hand and this is one of the prime examples of when systems like this have to worry about policing crap because so many people are unable to live in the real world. People out there are idiots (just play any open game of Halo 3 or GTA4). Stop playing with idiots and stop crying about when someone says something you don’t like or agree with. Just block them. Simple as that.
It would also be nice if the people who barely pass as parents today actually did some real parenting instead of expecting MS to do it for them.

To repost my twitter “That’s so spam bots can’t try to get relevancy traffic, but seeing as anonymous posts are now off the filter has been removed”. There is a word filter that comes with a default installation of Community Server, and that happens to be one of the filtered words.

Well, the irony has been well pointed out, so I have nothing to add.

Not trying to be rude but seems like another issue trying to be quickly brushed under the carpet. I don’t think Microsoft’s policy in regards to homosexuals is just. By saying that you can’t state your sexuality for anyone may seem fair but it isn’t. In most cases, it is assumed you are straight unless stated otherwise. That being said, a lot of homosexuals who are proud of their orientation want to state it. You do not see heterosexuals on Xbox Live stating that their straight unless it is in referencing the other gender. I am not sure how such a policy would be revised for the better of all but just disallowing any mention of straight or gay may not be it. I wonder if Xbox Live bans the URL gaygamer.net as well just because of the word “gay” in it.

As for filing a complaint, I find no use because it takes too many steps to do. At times, someone may call me a racial slur while in a game. When I am dead in the game, I try to file a complaint before I respawn. I usually say forget it because you have to file a complaint and avoid the user. Why can’t this be one option or combined in a more intuitive way? Not only that but in Gears 2, the guide will slow down and my person will be standing in spawn because my Guide froze.

I agree with everyone on this one. I think people should be allowed to express their sexuality any way they choose. If someone doesn’t like it than move on instead of insulting them. I personally don’t care if your purple, green or blue as long as you can game.

First off, I agree with IconicSoulJA, and he said it better than I could.

My issue in particular is how easy it is for people throw racial slurs, gender slurs, and slurs regarding sexual preference around in voice chat with NO consequences.

I’m normally in the boat of “not easily offended” but if someone can get suspended for indicating that they are gay or lesbian in their profile, and yet have no punishment for harassing people because of race or sexual preference in voice chat, there’s a poor double standard being kept in place.

i am all for gay and Lesbians..but not sure why they would put it in their profile though,but again as long as they play,who cares….i have a list of computers and consoles i have had since the early 80s in mine

it does make me think however that someone has read this girls profile seen that it says that they are a Lesbian..and made a complaint about it,sounds like the person making the complaint has the issues

i put in complaints if people are being racist or cheating..but they are far and few between

Until I read that a percentage of the Xbox Live community have been lobbying to have their sexual preferences added to their profile, this was a non-story. I don’t know where your preferences lie, but that’s because I don’t care. What the hell has that got to do with playing a game? If you want to discuss things like that, you can use the myriad of social conduits that the Internet offers to do so that are WAY more suitable than a service designed for games.

I had sent Major an email about this one, basically saying that so long as we want to consider xbox live a community and have profiles with bios where we’re encouraged to write about ourselves, things that are part of how we identify should be allowed.

I know most straight people don’t think of themselves as ‘identifying’ straight, but we do (myself included). Orientation, like race or location or age, is part of who we are, and denying a person the ability to claim their identity undermines the whole community aspect.

I, as a white male from the midwest, assume most of the people on Live are white males. Yet, if someone put in their bio they were a black woman, would they be banned? Hardly. This is the same justification for allowing gay or straight, they’re intrinsically part of who we are.

If you have a broadband internet connection then why do you need xbox to express yourself?
my gamertag isn’t a blog.

Halo 3 isn’t the proper place to discuss this or other things such as race and religion.
i mean what’s next,an option to suspend play so we can discuss how we feel and what we belief in?

i mean what right does anyone playing a game online to tell my child (myself,,friend,neighbor,coworker)what to feel,say or act?

so does this mean i have the right now to question why they don’t like men or women?
can i ask them what god they believe in? can i ask them what race they are?

i think this would make xbox live worse and do we really need another way of seperating ourselves from one another? don’t we have enough of this in the world outside gaming?

as a matter of fact even knowing someone’s political affiliation is to much.
did i really need to know that XxXhAcKsTer420XxX was a republician?

let’s stick to what this cmmunity should be fighting about…
nintendo vs sony vs microsoft.

MAJOR NELSON…!!!

FIRST YOU CANCEL GOLDENeye and now you CANCEL GAYS OFF XBOX LIVE???

AND WHY DO i see a man’s junk for 15 seconds in GTA?!?!? I PAYED FOR VIDEO GAMES NOT MENS JUNK!!!!

Perhaps those that wish to put the information in their Bio should enable the privacy settings so that only those on their friends lists can see it?

I don’t think Microsoft acted in an unreasonable fashion. They had numerous complaints about one person’s bio, and they’re forced to act. Given that the person who prompted the consumerist post was only suspended – not banned – it seems pretty clear that they got the most lenient action available.

Its a shame that people have to be so rude to others. I think its sad when people find GLBT offensive, especially online. Even more so in an online game. If one wants to put in his/her sexual orientation in the her/his profile, s/he should be allowed, and not have to be ‘ready for the consequences’ by doing so. Being GLBT isn’t offensive. Just like being AsianBlackWhiteHispanicChristianJewishMuslim isn’t offensive. I purposely didn’t type ‘offensive to me’ because being who you are is not a crime.

My account was banned for a day for having the word “boobs”. Granted it was only a day, but it’s not a dirty word. Microsoft needs to loosen up!

Major, thanks for helping clarify this issue.

I think everyone should actually READ the posts before responding. Of course Microsoft does NOT allow gamertags with race/ gender/ sexual preference “slang” terms…I don’t care who you are, but for every one well meaning person using a word correctly, there will be 50 people using it in a derogatory manner, and a 100 who take offense. Words mean different things in different places (like other names for a cigarette in the UK), and not even Snoop Dog could get a g/t like BaddAss N___ or something like that…too many people would abuse it. Say whatever you want in your bio, as they are NOT edited (I have a friend who puts great stuff in his), and if you want to express yourself in your gamertag, show how “clever” you are by saying it differently (like the guy who is a maid in LV who was in the spotlight a few weeks ago…he even had a female avatar!).

I agree with Tirrandir

If Xbox wants to really create a community of adults and young people then the issue of sexual orientation should be included. This may be unfortunate for some who find this issue uncomfortable but it should be allowed. Community means expression. No one wants a sterile community devoid of all expression.

Personally, I am OK with the use of gay, lesbian, transgendered, etc in bio’s and gamertags. I am also OK with religious themes in bio’s. It was even OK when a fellow gamer tried to convert me to Baptist one night during a game of COD4. It is up to our community to police our members and point out to stepto and his gang when someone does something wrong.

Funny a woman who happens to a lesbian just wants to announce she is (which there is absolutely nothing wrong with saying that she is) And she banned of Xbox Live. You would think in today’s world of “heaven forbid we offend anyone” attitude that probably wouldn’t happen. Which I find she got banned in the first place. I can never go into a game of uno without seeing some guy playing with his junk (making playing with cameras completly stupid now)

And don’t tell me I can just file complaints on them I have done that it’s funny some of the same tags I wrote down to see if they were still on couple weeks later yep still playing on LIVE

So rule of thumb for Xbox Live folks! You can’t say your gay or your a lesbian on your own profile, But you can show your junk over a camera in game!

This is the first time in my two years of using Xbox Live that I have ever been dissapointed or upset with the way that Microsoft have gone about handling something. While I get that some people do not need nor do not wish to know the sexuality of other gamers on Xbox Live, I absolutely do not see the need to ban members that wish to state that they are gay, lesbian or bisexual or whatever on their Profiles. What difference can it make? So, people get offended if they read “I am a gay man.” Fair enough, but don’t you think that we, as openly gay people, might get offended if we CAN’T say that? If we can’t say what we are proud of being? Now, I’ve never had it stated on my profile that I am a gay man, but I swear, I am so tempted to do so now and if Microsoft so much as touched my account, policies or not, I would see fit to take action over them being discriminitive. Might seem a little over the top, right? Well so is banning users over expressing their own sexuality.

“Our current policy for Gamertags and Profiles does not allow expression of sexual orientation under the Terms of Use. That applies to *any* orientation, straight or gay or otherwise. ” Ok so if i write “Im Straight” in my motto or bio i could get suspended to? Thats a load of trash. The word gay and lesbian has negative connotations behind it and we will suffer. Tell me someone who writes straight will get suspended also. Im sorry but, bull.

Im glad i took “Proud Gaymer” out of my motto. Or else i would of been suspended. Sucks i just had to write that.

An optional checkbox system to indicate sex, age group, orientation, skill level, maybe even race should have been included A LONG TIME AGO, along with the ability to match with gamers in your group (say, 30-somethings or women) if you so prefer. Diversity is great, but when playing social matchmaker, shouldn’t it be obvious that people would prefer to match up in groups with others similar to themselves?

Thanks for the links Major. I’m happy you are – or stepto is – working with GLAAD on this. I’m encouraged by the responses from stepto on his twitter and his blog.

@ those who think gay people shouldn’t bring it up on Live:

Straight people don’t realize how often they identify as straight on a daily basis, and yes, on Live. Speaking about your wife, or kids, or that Chun Li is hot or whatever is identifying as straight.

There are dozens if not hundreds of tags using the root of “ladiesman” for example. Search on Bungie.net and you get dozens of hits linked to gamertags. If you want to get really technical, you could argue that’s a proclamation of heterosexuality, which would be against the terms of service, as stepto has explained them, as it references sexuality in the gamertag. Now n one is going to expect all these tags to be banned because it’s harmless. But it technically is a double standard.

I totally get why people would be “encouraged” to change their tag if they had “gay” in it, simply because most of them would be used in an abusive way. Being gay and vocalizing orientation is not about sex to most gay people. Perhaps to a percentage, but it’s so much more than that – just as being married is only partly about sex. (Less so the longer the marriage lasts, often!)

i hope there is a way to identify self-identity through Live in some way.

But thanks, Major, and keep up the good work.

I have no problems with people’s personal sexual preference. But leave that information in the bio and not in the gamertag. We all need to remember that there are people whom don’t agree with the alternative sexual preference and find it offensive. If someone whom has an alternative preference does not want to be suspended then they should also respect that side by not placing that information in the gamertag. I have friends and family members whom have an alternative preference and they also agree that the gamertag should not be used to express that preference. If GLAAD and LGBT wants to be respected then both should respect those who don’t agree with it and find it offensive as well as respect the children that don’t know any better. Fact is there is a terms of use policy for a reason.

XBOX LIVE is for gaming not expressing preferences. If people want to express themselves then there are websites for that. Let’s work on keeping LIVE respectful on both sides.

Facebook group already started http://www.facebook.com/groups/edit.php?gid=65655751833#/group.php?gid=65655751833

ignorant traditionalists in this article

It doesn’t matter to me at all what one’s sexuality is, and if they decide to put it on their bio is their thing. As long as they can play, it doesn’t matter to me. Still, the person shouldn’t have been suspended for something like this. I’ve seen far worse bios in my time on Live than one that simply has the person stating their sexuality.

Since when dig sexuality become so important in gaming… Leisure Suite Larry making a comeback to live????

This is so dumb.

Do I believe that it is right to be gay or lesbian? No, personally I don’t. Scientifically speaking, homosexuality doesn’t compute. Men were meant to be with women, and we can see this by the process of reproduction. Men with men cannot reproduce, as well as women with women. It like trying to fit a square block into a triangular hole. Does it work? Nope, I must have gotten it wrong. Lets try a different combination.

But it’s gotten to the point where I really don’t care anymore. When I go gaming blogs or go on xbox live, I’m not there to listen to people preach about their sexual orientation or religion, I want to discuss games, or make a plan on what we are going to do to win the match, ect.

My friends and I are part of a Philosophy Club with all types of different people attending, and it is great to have intelligent conversations about these topics. But people need to understand that there is a time and place for certain things.

I simply hope that this issue is resolved, in whatever way is fastest.

Many of the commentors here are of the same mind as me. That being, let them express who they are.

I personally have no problem with it. I have a very good friend who is gay. I’ve run two community sites as well and have allowed people to expres themselves in that regards. And yes, I had to do some babysitting due to immature individuals, its the price I was willing to pay to bring a community of different people together under the one thing we all loved, gaming.

No matter what the rules are, people are going to break them. And there must be someone to police them, and that is us. And for those that use the system to attack GLB’s, ban them.

IMO there is no reason to announce your sexual orientation over Xbox Live in your profile. Your sexuality has nothing to do with gaming, this is a place to play video games, you have the internet for announcing your sexual orientation to the world. Keep the drama off Live and Sexuality somewhere more appropriate.

Exactly my words, DesertBear360.

The Consumerist loves to report one-sided stories. (It brings in the traffic I’m sure) The sad part is people tend to take everything they post at face value because everyone thinks businesses “are big and bad.”

To me I have no problems with people being gay and lesbian as long as they don’t pull me away from being straight.

But I agree that Microsoft should not ban people of putting the word GAY and LESBIAN on their bios. I dont see nobody has the problem with that on social networking sites.

Well there is alot of people who used races word on Xbox Live, I hear too many people say the N-Word alot online. Xbox Live is a online gaming community for everybody, it does matter if your black, white, latino, asian, gay or lebian we all played video games.

I don’t really care about someone’s sexual orientation. What matters is how they present themselves on-line. So what if someone has their orientation in their bio? Isn’t that what it is suppose to be used for? Telling other players about yourself?

Why doesn’t the LIVE Team incorporate new Orientation boxes within our Bio’s in which we can select our gender, and sexual preference? This would solve the current problems. If the player wished to hide his/her gender or sexual preference they can. All I’m saying is give the community the option to do so. I understand the need to prevent harassment, but sadly your always going to have those unintelligent people who say “Racist or Harassment” things to everyone. I personally believe that the good members of LIVE will not care whether or not your Gay, Lesbian or Straight. Just my thoughts on how to help LIVE with this matter.

Sexual preference has no place on XBOX LIVE. The only reason someone would put it in their tag or profile is to get attention, which this person has succeeded in doing.

100% agreed with Tamorok.

Also, this banning words thing is just stupid. I wouldn’t get offended if someone said ‘hey straight whitey!’ and I don’t think people should be offended by racial or sexuality words either.
It’s like once happened to a friend of mine, someone called him ‘black fag’, and he just got back saying ‘I’m black, I’m gay and I’m proud of it.’. That’s the kind of attitude people should have, not like ‘oh! you just told me what I am with words that sounded bad, I’m offended!’.

Having a profile to put your name and where you live is one thing, but it’s not an online dating profile, and relationship stuff doesn’t belong there. Even if you decide to put it there, it doesn’t really matter because it’s something you have to choose specifically to see. The gamertag is public and needs to be censored or else it will be exploited and abused by all the little kids out there that think it’s funny to call their friends gay. If they add sexual orientation, then the next step is to add ages and then we can filter all the games to only match those that have similar lifestyles to our own.

I was being sarcastic about that last part, but everyone that is saying to let them do what they want, those are things that many people find offensive, and it’s no different than putting flat out swear words in your gamertag.

It shouldn’t really matter if you’re gay, bi, black, Asian, Buddhist or Muslim, you break the the ToS/ToU/ELUA and you face the consequences.

The world doesn’t need to know this information, mate of mine is gay and he wouldn’t tell anyone over Live, even he says they don’t need to know, if you’re gay fair enough, you don’t have to declare it to the internet, adding it to your profile just encourages discrimination.

If you don’t like people calling you offensive terms then report or mute them them, abuse is part and parcel of online gaming, people get pissed off when they die a lot or lose and will say some nasty things as a result.

MS’s policy is fine as it is, it was made as such to discourage discrimination by not allowing you add anything to your profile that would trigger the abuse in the first place.

Gay, Straight or Alien, I’m still gonna Ultra combo finish you

Lets just leave this kinda topic out of gaming, it’s not needed.

Here’s a thought experiment:

Take everything that has been posted about this, whether a comment, the original complaint or Microsoft’s official position. Now replace “sexual orientation” with “race” and “lesbian” with “black”. Sounds offensive, doesn’t it?

Gay and lesbian are not offensive words and should be allowed in bios and gamertags. If you are offended by that, then that’s your right but that doesn’t entitle you to rain on anybody else’s parade. I also sincerely doubt that your little kid is going to be negatively affected by learning that some boys like other boys and that some girls like other girls.

It really does say something about our society when TheGayGamer would be declined as a gamertag but xXMuRdErMaChInEXx would be ok.

i think what Microsoft did was discusting, banning someone just over their sexual oritation

Sorry if this is offensive but why oh why does every Gay or Lesbian Ive ever gamed with have this need to tell you.
As someone said before I dont care what you do in your spare time. Im straight but don’t feel the need to tell complete strangers.
Maybe in this world we are living in people feel the need to justify themselves all the time, but hey this is gaming leave your life at the door and come play.
Your profile isn’t ment to be a dating tool so why the need to put that kind of information I understand some people might think “well I like to put it so that I can find a common ground with other people of the same sexual orientation”
But we are all gamers thats common ground enough.

Need proof gays want preferential treatment? Here it is!

“Now replace “sexual orientation” with “race” and “lesbian” with “black”. Sounds offensive, doesn’t it?”

No, actually, it doesn’t sound offensive in the slightest.

I don’t go around telling people I’m white, and I doubt other people tell folk their race. It makes no damned difference.

Hmmm,… if Alien you are, then what? hmmmm,….
Game on we must, no time for this yibber yabber we have.

Chop!!

You know, everything can be offensive to somebody. My bio includes the line “I like French Fries”, but I’m sure some people would rather I call them “Freedom Fries”.
.
Let them express who they are, but ONLY in bios. If the statement is “I am gay” or “I am lesbian”, leave it alone. If the statement is an attack, using either or both of THOSE words plus “hate” (or anything else that represents an attack), then it should be addressed on a one-on-one basis.
.
There are a lot of really sick things in bios and in gamertags out there — I’ve seen a lot of really harsh stuff, but I let it go.
.
Another solution? If somebody selects “Underground” as their zone, then they should be allowed to say nearly anything they want in their Gamertags or Bios…but be entirely restricted to that zone.

This kind of stuff has no place in gaming/gaming related arenas. Leave it in the bedroom please!

I think this is an interesting case which highlights more than simply being able to reference your sexuality in your profile/gamertag but also issues around moderation and the outdated “zone” system.

I personally have never felt the need to mention my sexuality in my profile or gamertag, I never identify myself as a gay gamer to those whom I am playing against – it essentially is a non-issue for me, for one very specific reason. I do not play strangers on Live.. Ever.

When I first joined Xbox Live I played 3 games against people I was “matched” with and the abuse (although I have no details of my sexuality/age/ethnic background in my profile) was staggering, homophobic and racist slurs were rampant and although I have a pretty thick skin it shaped my views on Xbox Live and has ensured that I only play against friends whom I know have a common background or maturity.

This, in essence is a failure of Xbox Live to a consumer as I should, in theory be able to pick up a game and play a game against a random person online and have an enjoyable experience, this is not the case and as many others have posted with the same experience all over the internet it seems it is not an isolated issue.

Because of what I have mentioned above I can understand WHY a person would want to mention their sexuality, or even their religion or race in order for them to find people whom are of a similar background or situation and do not want to hear hate slurs relating to such during a game. I can also understand the position that sexuality has no place in gaming to which I somewhat agree but removing homosexuality from the network is not and will not remove homophobia.

It is so complicated to try and find a resolve and I do not envy your position of how to deal with it, I really do not have much in the way of suggestions – the only thing that keeps jumping out at me is the “zones” and how inadequate they are to the current millions strong community, maybe a moderated, unmoderated and family zone would be a good basis of moving forward.

@Tekkie neXt
True to a point, so quite a few people may be cancelling their accounts. Why pay for entertainment when I can drive and be WITH the people I prefer to be around. Also your list “gay, bi, black, Asian, Buddhist or Muslim,” add “ignorant, bigot, harrasser, rude kids..”

@Shiaoran
You have a lot to learn, but I do understand the ‘retaliation’. It’s funny at times.

@CosMick
Here-here!

@xLt STARBUCKx
The point is “connecting with OTHER like-minded”, not sexual orientation. Possibly she wanted to talk about coffee or coffee shops, body piercings, clothing trends. One can get tired of hearing how “gay” something is when the person using that word SHOULD be saying “weird” or “odd”. Or hearing the word ‘f@g’ when the word should be “you’re better than me”, “you prick” or “you pwned me good” (as I’ve heard people use that term so loosely and carelessly). Netflix: Small Town Gay Bar – that’s a ‘gay’ movie and somewhat odd on what some people go through just to have fun. Interesting and sad.

Hmm, wow, this conversation has finally been noticed. The point of putting ‘something’, (the word “gay” or “lesbian”) in your profile is to let others know “Hey, I’m NOT straight and would like other like-minded people to socialize with when playing games.”

Point being, WHY can’t a person put what type of atmosphere they like? She was looking for like-minded friends online.

Social cites do not offer “Hey, I’m a gamer, come play with me.” as most people over 25 do not play games. I myself lost a date f Which is a total lie, but many of us over 30 get ridiculed for playing video games and it is not funny at all. I lost a date for taking a vacation day off to buy Gears of War 2. Ironic or Selfish?

On Xbox Live I’ve experienced the ignorant racism (Halo 3, UNO, Gears of War, Gears of War 2 – mute/block/negative feedback), the sexual harrasser (UNO – block), group harassers; the guys and some girls who suck at some games I can actually beat someone in without trying (UNO, Gearsof War – mute/block/negative feedback), people who smoke weed on camera; show porn on camera; overuse profanity (UNO – mute/block) (on UNO before the NXE avatars). I treat everyone with respect and try to have fun when playing games online and off, but I have gotten some negative feedback for trash talk.

It’s not high, but higher than I’d like it to be at 25% the last time I checked. And with 5 people to replace each person I remove from my friends list, I must be likable (somewhere in there).

Gay gamers have the right to have fun. Gay gamers get tired of ignorant people saying the word “gay”, even if it is an adjective for “cool”. And the f@g word is just over used like it is an ‘epic word’, (and that word “epic” Lord of the Rings movie production was epic – sheesh) get a standard vocabulary. If something is weird, use one more brain cell to say “Man, that’s weird”, not “Man, that’s gay.”

Honestly, what I do hope for MS is to break up the accounts for Location (U.S., U.K., AUS, CHN, etc), Identity Level (Child, Teen, Adult, ALL). With Adult, I can play with adult gamers. Child gamers would NEVER quickmatch with me, nor teens (though that would remove 20% of my friends from my current friends list). Then add a filter to it you can adjust to find what YOU prefer.

“If your intelligence is shown by how you act or speak, do you think people who overuse profanity are just plain stupid really?”

I’m glad censorship is not (always) allowed in art, the Malls or some games, especially GTAIV where you kill a gay boss. I don’t agree with some of it, but I do not have to look at it, buy it, experience it or play it. But you might.

I don’t go around spouting that I am straight online, so I don’t see why anyone else NEEDS to go around telling people their preference. Seems like an attention grab to me. I have gay and lesbian friends, but I don’t want it thrown in my face. These are video game networks and systems. How about we ALL leave our sexual orientation at the door.

There’s a double standard here, and if straight people went around parading the fact that they were straight, they would probably be called out for throwing it in people’s faces. And told, “who cares?”.

The only time I care if you are gay or a lesbian is if you’re hitting on me (I’m straight, stop it) or I’m hitting on you (in the case of the ladies). I don’t need to know about it to play GoW, CoD, Rock Band, Guitar Hero, Fable, or any other game you want to mention. It’s not. a. factor.

@MikeCaelen
Well said! I have a friend, white, 28, just married, his wife is Christian (he is kinda – very odd situation), he NEVER EVER quick matches in games since his first day on Xbox Live in 2006. I asked him “Why?” his response “Cause all the people on Xbox Live are jerks.”. I’m the only person he games with online, even though he has 22 people on his list. Each person is different and like to be around like-minded people. I HATE it when people cuss or overuse, so those types RARELY make it on my friends list. I see no need for it. I had my age in my profile at one time, but no one seemed to notice after months, so I recently took it out. I’m a gamer first and foremost and no fleshy human will ever come between me an my games ever again.

Im wondering why people feel the need to tell on a gaming system what there preferences are…. Its not necessary. Likewise you cant be censored on something you never had freedom on to begin with…..

I don’t care about the sex or sexuality of the folks I meet on Live, if I get to know them as friends, I’ll find out more about them, other wise I don’t really care. I do find it interesting that the LGBT community feels the need to identify themselves as different in an arena where the playing field is already level.

I am a bit annoyed that some people are claiming this person was kicked off because of sexual preference. This was not the case, the terms of use were violated. Ther terms of use were set up to offer protection to all of us and reduce the amount of hassle we encounter online. I feel there is no need for things like that in the bio. There are a million areas on the internet that offer unmoderated features, and I would encourage people to use them rather than Xbox Live.

I love gaming and meeting new people online that have different lifestyles to me, and I don’t like to hear any form of discrimination on Live. I have used the block feature before and also the mute which helps keep the idiots out of my ears. If I had seen this in the person’s bio my first thought would be “why do they feel the need to tell me?”. I wouldn’t even consider poking fun at them because of it.

There are tons of things in bios that give the idiots a reason to pull you down, why give them the chance? And I don’t suggest for one minute anyone should feel ashamed of their lifestyle. But let us not pretend that you should tell everyone everything about yourself. I saw some posts on the stepto blog about wanting to play with like minded people. I fully apreciate that, but can you not find them elsewhere and bring them back to Live? If I only wanted to play with Liverpool Football Club supporters then I could go on any number of other websites and make my preferences known and ask like minded people to join me on Live. I happen to prefer encountering all walks of life on Live it gives me a chance to assess my own judgements and allows me to form well balanced opinions.

Please remember that Microsoft (and any company) have to go for the line of best fit. Therefore there will always be some people that feel there rights have been infringed. As a rather tenuous example of what I mean, here you go: If someone gets into my car I expect them to wear a seatbelt. Regardless of whether they like or want to wear it, those are my rules. No belt on = no ride. Many may not agree with my policy, but it is in place to ensure the comfort and safety of everyone in the car.

My time on Live is all about gaming, and nothing else.

As a final point can I just say that yes I am from England and yes I do like te and crumpets but I don’t know the queen personally.

Do not get me wrong, I am far from a gay gaming rights activist – as I mentioned above I can see both sides to this but I ask all the straight, white male gamers who believe there is a level playing field to consider every time they have been called a f*ggot or a n*gger in a game from some random gamer they have played and to imagine being a gay, black male who would hear it in every game.. every day.. and you wonder why they want to only play games with people of a similar background?

Good post MN. Showing both sides and letting reasonable people make informed opinions.

People have to remember that this is a partially user policed service and it works quite well.

Be nice, play fair and use the feedback/complaint/mute etc system

If somebody on a bus or train was wearing a “pride” pin, would the bus driver (employee of the transit company) be able to tell the rider to remove the pin?
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No, because the rider isn’t using the property of bus to make the statement. If the rider placed a pride sticker ON the bus…yes. The transit company owns the bus.
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So…since the Gamertag and Bio is using Xbox property/resources, Microsoft can prevent a user from stating certain things. You never own the Gamertag or the bio or the data…Microsoft grants you a license. They can delete your Gamertag, your achievements, etc. Nothing on their system belongs to you.
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Microsoft doesn’t discriminate, because they don’t allow ANYBODY to state their sexual preference.

@MikeCaelen
So true. Too Human, PURE, Castle Crasher and Ridge Racer 6 you never hear racial slurs. Okay, in Ridge Racer 6 you do have the French vs the Americans, but it is all in good fun and we all have a good time. People seem to take “Black” and pounding fists and using slang, such as now people think “gay” now only means homosexual, weird, odd, or sexual orientation. Its easy as pie for a company to stick “Gameplay May Change During Online Play” – was that regarding to lag, glitching or the ignorant and rude individuals that play the games?

I play with everyone, Straight, Gay, Black, White, Spanish, Non-Americans (etc), Young, Old – as long as you are cool, respect me and enjoy the game. It’s your persona that makes me leave you alone. A lot of people need Aretha Franklin’s song and we need arcades – that’ll solve a WHOLE lot of this. I’ve never experienced racism or ‘sexism’ (homophobia, straightophobia). My friends’ girlfriends got some rude remarks from guys they beat fair and square. Everyone wants respect, but don’t want to give it.

@StanleyPain

Sounds good in theory, but what you get in most cases is completely the opposite of what you suggest. Groups of ignorant and simplistic idiots who ignore/alienate the innocent, instead of the other way round. Many “different” people go online to get away from the harshness of the real world – they don’t want to encounter more hostility for what they are.

Having said that, you don’t need to mention it at all when it comes to gaming.

Keep fighting it Major Nelson. This stuff has NO place on Xbox Live and the GLAAD’s just want attention. It’s immature. The rules are no talk about sexuality on Xbox Live. ABIDE BY IT. No one’s crying because the can’t put “heterosexual” in their bio.

@Imallvol: I think you’re misinterpreting the need of a rule. Stuff like sexual orientation, religion, politics, or even your console of choice is not frowned upon because of the subject matter itself but simply because the sheer majority of us can’t deal with such subjects and start acting like total idiots.

It’s NOT an issue of putting “gay”, “lesbian”, or “heterosexual” in your bio. It’s simply the pointless bickering that takes place after that. It happens sooner or later and most likely during a game between two hot-headed extremists. If – at that point – someone would simply appear and kick them BOTH away, the remaining gamers in any lobby would most likely give him a standing ovation.

If gays and lesbians can put their orientation in their profile, I better be able to put “FUCK BITCHES GET MONEY” in mine. It’s only fair

Agree with Doctor Nutt. You can get some serious abuse over voice chat without any retribution at all and then there’s this rather lame issue where users can’t put their sexual orientation in their personal bio. Pot. Kettle. Black. (Oh no! Does that mean I get accused of racism now because I used the word “black”!)

We are All Humans. Nuff said.

I have a question.

If I put that I was a straight male from Kansas in my bio would I be banned?

i think only if someone reported you?

@SteveDaWonder: If you really wanted to, you would have already done that. If you now have a sudden urge to do so then yeah, by all means do. If you would get banned, that would most likely be for good old trolling rather than being a straight male from Kansas

Why not just promote Star Ocean: TLH instead? Looks like you’ve already got a chance to play it and I’m probably not the only gamer wanting to hear how it fares!

ban all childs accounts change the age to 21 instead of 15

@SteveDaWonder you are from Kansas? i hope they ban you

This is something microsoft actually did right. They should ban all of them, there are kids on live too and they shouldnt have to be subjected to this at all period!. Live is not a place for peoples sexual preference it is a gaming network and should be treated as such.

I wonder of all the people here who keep saying “There’s no reason to tell people what your orientation is on XBL”…are you people saying that because you don’t think it’s your business…or is it because it offends you. If it’s the latter…the problem isn’t them…it’s you. People need to lighten the fuck up. Not only that, but there’s some serious BS here when people online can constantly call other people such hateful terms such as “f****ts” and “n****rs” and get away with it…but a person identifies themselves as gay…and they are punished. That doesn’t really send a good message MS.

@ZprivateZ: You know what…kids SHOULDN’T be on XBL in the first place. A RESPONSIBLE parent wouldn’t allow their kids to play online unless they were playing kid appropriate games (ex: Lego games, Kung Fu Panda, etc.). If you let a child play something like Gears of War 2 or GTA IV…the last thing you should worry about them being exposed to is just seeing the word “lesbian”.

@Eldon- You’re right. I guess I just sort of feel sorry for people. I tend to be a compassionate person. I’ve seen worse things on bios than who they want to date, and my report did nothing to change it.

Star Ocean is awesome. Very much so high quality.

When you subscribe to Xbox Live you’re agreeing to their TOS and have to play by their rules. I can see where GLADD is coming from, as they’re gamers just with an alternative sexual orientation and should be treated like “everyone else”. On the flip side of that is why the need to point it out? I’m not going to stay away or be driven towards a match of CoD because of someones orientation.

Doh Ray Egon: Your ignorant to say kids shouldnt be on xbox live kids play games to xbox live isnt restricted to 18+. Xbox live is a gamers network and should be used as such which means if your a kid and game you shouldnt be restricted from it to do so would just be stupid. I agree on the content of games but to say kids should be on live is like I said before ignorant. On that note no one including adults kids or whatever should have to be exposed to anyones sexual preference on xbox live this is not a datng network so they should keep that sh*t to themselves and any of them who disagree with that and try and flaunt it should be banned without exception.

In all respect to XBOX LIVE’S COMMUNITY I do truly apologize for the actions of some very immature teenage and college age boys… I AM VERY SHOCKED AND DISAPPOINTED with the actions of my fellow gamers. At this moment im at a loss for words and feel as if I myself was disciplined and discriminated. To the gay and lesbian community please understand that Microsoft and the Xbox live community are not bias towards any race or sex and I do truly APOLOGIZE for the actions of those immature boys..

I find it funny how people claim sexuality shouldn’t be an issue on live when you can barely get away with hearing harassing and racist jokes about any and every minority on live. Or when a group of kids find out a girl is playing and decides to harass them as well. There is a big problem that stems mainly from the degenerate crowd on live, and I found it ironic that Microsoft backed that crowd when it clearly shouldn’t have.

This is a staggeringly nasty, homophobic policy from Microsoft. It’s really not acceptable, or understandable. It’s attacking the victims rather than the abusers.

It should be changed immediately, and everyone concerned with the policy to date should be truly ashamed.

People need to get a grip

I dont mind Playing online with gay/lesbians
I dont mind speaking to them

But this is a service used by children
and people need to remember that
and sexual orientation shouldnt be put on live

It has nothing to do with being put in a closet

If people want to tell me that they are gay when im online playing a game with them
thats fine

If its being waved around in a profile/gamertag for my child to see
thats a different matter

Its all about pushing boundaries and nothing else

Props to MS for this policy, since when does sexual orientation have anything to do with gaming?
You whinners are what is wrong with this country. You’re so P.C. you can’t think of anyone else but yourselves. Guess what? I don’t want to know what you are. I have a right not to know what you are. I don’t care what you are. What gives you the right to force me to deal with your political garbage when all I want to do is log in and play a game? What gives you the right to force our kids into dealing with your political garbage when they just want to log in and have fun? Don’t cop out the 1st ammendment arguement because that only guarantees you the right to free speech, not the right to force other people to listen to you. And before you try to label me as you are likely to, since that is how the P.C. crowd tries to discredit opposistion, I have lived happily 30 miles from San Francisco for over 35 years; I have 3 close friends who are gay; and I am very comfortable being hetero. Stop thinking of yourselves for once, and stop trying to use every soapbox in the universe to push your agendas.

A lot of the things I think are “okay” for my gaming environment, other people find offensive and would report. And sometimes things I find offensive are perfectly reasonable for another person’s gaming environment.

I think that Microsoft is doing a great job of trying to see our gaming community is a friendly place for everyone. Considering that “95% of all instances where the word “Gay” is used it is used as a pejorative”, I think it’s unreasonable to expect Microsoft to do anything other than what they currently do.

I do like that Microsoft is working with internal and external community reps to come up with a more elegant way of dealing with content of this nature, though. I like expressing myself and I hate being censored. But if you’ve been asked to change information in your profile, you should think about why you are putting out information that is offensive enough to get multiple complaints filed against you and re-think whether an Xbox Live profile (in a community of more than 17 million members) is really the place for you to push the boundaries of self-expression.

Also to those saying Xbox live is “used by children” you have to be 18 to sign up for xbox live. If a careless parent lets their kid play CoD4 or Halo on or offline, that shouldn’t dictate policy of online, just common sense.

Microsoft is trying to squeeze into the “social” game, yet gets queezy when people start treading the water.

@Indigo0086 You don’t have to be 18 years old to have an account on LIVE but if you are under the age of 13 you need a parent to setup the account. Remember that the Terms of Use for Xbox Live states the following:

If you allow or enable a minor to use your Service account or an associated account, then:

You represent that you are the parent or legal guardian of each such minor;

You acknowledge that you are aware that some features of the Service, and some content available through the Service may contain or expose users to material that is unsuitable for minors, and you agree to supervise usage by minors whom you permit to use the Service . The Service is not intended for use by children under 13 , except together with a parent or other adult supervision;

You acknowledge that we offer “Family Settings” on the Service and the Xbox 360 console, and also offer “Parental Controls” for Windows Vista, that are intended to help you limit access to material that may be unsuitable for minors. By applying Family Settings to an associated account at sign-up, you may, among other things, help to prevent any user of an associated account from making additional purchases and from having access to voice and video chat, which is intended to diminish the ability of such user to communicate with other users. You may view or revise your Family Settings in the Xbox Dashboard in the System area, or by logging into your account on xbox.com/myxbox. Additional information about Family Settings is available at http://www.xbox.com/support/familysettings/default.htm; and

You are responsible for any material to which a user of your subscription either gains or is denied access (including as a result of your use or non-use of Family Settings or Parental Controls). You acknowledge that use of Family Settings, Parental Controls, or both, is not a substitute for your personal supervision of your minor children or minors for whom you are the legal guardian.

The fact is that Xbox Live is for gaming not for promoting one’s sexuality. I don’t want to know your sexuality by your gamertag and that information should not be there. If someone wants to put it up then set it up in your bio and keep your information so that only your friends can view it.

Let’s keep Live respectful.

@Indigo0086 Also what if the minor is playing an E or E-10 rated game like PGR 3, PGR 4, or Forza 2 they are playing online with friends and a parent/guardian then someone comes into the race with what a parent/guardian finds offensive. It is not right since it violates the rights of the parent/guardian as well as violates the CoC and ToU. The CoC and ToU works and should not be changed for the few that cannot respect it and abide by them.

My personal opinion

Keep this stuff to your self, and you’ll be fine. She dug her own hole by making her orienation public. You can be descriminated by anyone on anything. Descriminitory or not. Lets be real.

Theres tons of Gays, Lesbians, Straights, Purple, Greens, Juggalos, Pacifists, Nerds, Boy and Girls whatever that got descriminated one way or another.

If your afraid of the funk? Dont show off information that will get you descriminated, lol if thats even possible.

The Internet is a WarZone, I just wish she knew that before she signed up. LOL

P.S. This raises the question, should there be a sign that says “Not a safezone online”

@ZprivateZ
What? Kinds under 13 should never have full access to the internet. IM Chat, Email, Voice Chat or Video Chat. Why? Would you let your niece or nephew of that age wonder the mall alone? Then what makes the internet (or Xbox Live) any different. Yes, there are kids on Xbox Live, whoopty do. WHERE are the responsible parents who do not teach their kids NOT to talk to strangers? And what NOT to tell someone they just met? And to always tell them if someone scares them (in their personality, actions or words)? Xbox Live is a Social Game Spot favored by many, but in this ‘trite’ situation, TOS was broken how? A female wanting other like-minded people to feel free to talk to her so ‘socially’ she put “Lesbian” in her profile and she was banned for a day. A warning to remove it would have been appropriate. Even better, a script that keeps certain words out of profiles and motto sections (like ‘flash of genius’ which is now corrected). People who think “lesbian” or “gay” only pertains to online need to wake up if you shop at a mall, shop where food is sold, where clothes are sold, where houses are designed, where kids learn, where you get your physical check up, and even if you get a speeding ticket – you never know. People need to realize words actually do not harm people, it is the ACTIONS of the person that cause harm. Also, just because ONE person put “lesbian” in her profile and were banned for it does not mean there are MANY others who are now INVISIBLE playing beside you. Play on and have fun.

@ZprivateZ: If I am “ignorant”…you’re intolerant and paranoid.

Hello and welcome to a place where the first amendment does not apply. A gaming community/club is not a society where your rights are being infringed upon because you don’t have the ‘right’ to tell people that you’re a 29 year old tri-sexual furry who is looking for a good time teabagging anything that moves on Halo 3′s darkest map. Sexual preference doesn’t really have much of a place for an online gaming community unless you are using it for methods other than online gaming… at which point, you might want to consider a dating website. For those of you who feel that your sexuality is being squelched because of the oppressive iron fist of Microsoft is crushing your velvety feelings towards whatever it is you’re into, you may want to consider donating your time and money to a cause that legitimately fights for the rights you are interested in rather than complaining that your ‘rights’ are being taken away. No one is telling you that you can’t express yourself at home or in public (to a point), but if you’re playing in someone else’s sandbox, you’ve got to at least consider playing by the owner’s rules.

@Warrengonline: It wasn’t that she put it in her profile it was that she included it as part of her gamertag not a part of her bio. When it is a part of your gamertag there is no way to hide it.

I have a problem with people having that they are gay in their bio’s. if they happy then let them be.

Oh you talking about the slang use of the word!. well it’s just a word get over it.

but if that is such an issue,why is the gamertag aChristianKill allowed!

“I think expressing your sexual orientation on any social networking site is inappropriate for any reason other than dating. If I want to play Gears of War, I don’t care what you like to do in your spare time, just help me kill some noobs.”

Well said.

I have never seen someone who, in their gamertag or bio, felt the need to state that they were straight.

Why is it that only gay’s or lesbian’s feel the need to put in their sexual orientation in their gamertag or bio?

Make a name that actually means something to you. Just because I’m straight, doesn’t mean my name should be StraightGamer007.

Geez, people need to grow up.

The fact remains that Xbox Live is a “Social Gaming” service. Therefore, subjects like these will arise. Here is my solution:

1. Enable two new prefrence boxes within our profiles for Gender, and Orientation. (For Adult Accounts Only)
2. Have the option to hide information from public, or show to friends or everyone.
3. Do not make it a requirement to fill out the boxes.
4. Have pre-selected sexual preferences. G.A.Y, L.esbian, Straight, None.

If you believe sexual preference should not be included in a “gaming profile” then you obviously don’t read very well within other gamers profiles. People state all the time their sexual orientation just in ways you don’t realize. Example, “I’m 34 years old with a beautiful wife, and 3 awesome kids.” If you don’t want sexual preference in bio’s then you can’t agree to that quote.

Know one can use the excuse of “Oh, well your sexual preference isn’t gaming related so therefore we don’t need to have it in our profiles.” If that’s the case how is our, Name, Location, and a Personal Bio gaming related? People need to realize that your can’t stop harassment by just simply taking out something for everyone.

Also people are saying they don’t want kids to see sexual orientation. Are you serious? To join Xbox Live your suppose to be at least 13 years old. If a 13 year old doesn’t know about sexual orientation there is a problem. No one is trying to convert someone to a different sexual preference if thats what you parents are worried about.

I also know that Xbox Live is not a dating service, but neither is going into your local Walmart. People find love in the strangest of places, and their have been stories on Xbox.com of people getting married thanks to Xbox Live. Now I’m not saying turn Xbox Live into E-Harmony, but people need to lighten up. If you own a Adult account then you should have the option to state “Personal” information like Gender, Race, Orientation. Any “Social Network” regardless if its gaming or not should have this, and if you don’t want to use it you don’t have to. Just give people the option to choose for themselves.

Can someone help me? I can’t find help at XNA or…well anywhere! Even MS support is clueless!
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I simply want to know how you update your Community Games? Alot of them say they might release updates in the future. My question is how do you get these updates??? Will the 360 let you know and download it like with normal games? Or do you have to guess and redownload the title? Because I notice all the time older community games are relisted in the “New Community Games” section. Not sure if that means they are updated or not.
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I also want to know if there is a site for the Community Games. MS sure doesn’t advertise well for it.

Censorship=Fail.

“@ZprivateZ: You know what…kids SHOULDN’T be on XBL in the first place. A RESPONSIBLE parent wouldn’t allow their kids to play online unless they were playing kid appropriate games (ex: Lego games, Kung Fu Panda, etc.). If you let a child play something like Gears of War 2 or GTA IV…the last thing you should worry about them being exposed to is just seeing the word “lesbian”.”

I’m a very resposible parent and I allow my 8 yr old to play games like GOW2 L4D and the like,but without a mic. If he uses a mic its IN A PARTY with kids his age. My sons godmother is gay and he knows that some girls like girls thats it. Why should other peoples orientation in anyway matter when he just wants to chainsaw people after putting a full effort all day into school and homework? Someone suggested a way to isolate the type of person you want to play with in a game based on age,sex,etc. I thought having a friends list and starting a party did the samething.

This is really silly and is ditracting from the real reason we are here, to play games. I must admit that I barely use a mic because of all of the namecalling and “fratboy” attitudes. So a long time ago I started looking online for groups for xbox gamers over 26. Dads and family men who game. I seriously suggest that gay, lesbian, italian,korean or whatever group you happen to identify with, go online and make friends and make social connections that way. Then get their tags and add them to your list. Instant group to slay others with. If you dig a little bit in search engines and on Xbox forums you may find what you are looking for.

In addition, your use of the Service is subject to your compliance with the Code of Conduct (www.xbox.com/en-us/live/codeofconduct.htm and its successors). You agree that we may also discontinue your access to the Service if you do any of the following while connected to the Service:

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.

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/legal/LiveTOU.htm

When you sign up for Xbox Live, you agree to the ToU and CoC.
Obviously some people just don’t read…

I would completely understand otherwise.

Happy gaming

The fact that parents let their kids play on live unsupervised is partially the reason for some of these pathetic xbox players – which many admittedly stay away from xbl with random people for just that reason – is why a child shouldn’t be playing a game online. PGR and other games are E rated, but content changes when you go online. An E rated game can turn to a T rating for language and behavior in a second. I shouldn’t have my xbl experienced ruined over useless parenting.

“I think expressing your sexual orientation on any social networking site is inappropriate for any reason other than dating. If I want to play Gears of War, I don’t care what you like to do in your spare time, just help me kill some noobs.”

Same goes for ethnicity. Gamertags like BlackPanther04, or SuperGuido. Why do I care what nationality they are? However they have every right to use tags like that because they are proud of the people they are. I could just as easily say “If I want to play Gears Of War I dont care what nationality you are, just help me kill some noobs.”

Everyone is either too sensitive or just looking to cause trouble these days. Sheesh.

I just tried to make my gamer Motto say “God rules!”

I’m not allowed to, for whatever odd reason. I’m not freaking out and accusing MS of hating Christianity.

I could care less what someones orientation is. At the same time I dont like it forced upon me. When I go into open rooms I toss my mic in the floor. Mostly kids, start cusing like they were in the navy. If a gamer tag offends me and it does not violated the code of conduct. Then I avoid user under communication.

How do you guys force the code of conduct in games where you are able to enter a 4 letter clan tag. Nothing seems to be off limits in those tags. I fill a inapropriate player content. Not sure if something gets done.

I am not sure what orentation has to do with gaming. Just want to have fun. Not have a social lession.

Here goes another fact that throws a wrench into the works of GLAAD and LGBT. XBOX LIVE is a worldwide service and the ToS, ToU, and CoC policies are their to fit the globe market and function within the guidelines set forth by the governments of providing services in the many countries. Do you think that the other countries care about the U.S. based GLAAD? Nope.

It is simple XBOX Live is for gaming not announcing sexuality.

Facebook group to get the terms updated so these things wont happen again!
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=65655751833

I love how SO MANY people have not even bothered to read the details in both of the topics Major has generously taken his time to post- instead decide to use his blog to make such statements as “think of the children” “not in my backyard” “the gheyz are attention seeking”

Here are the facts (as posted by various sources) for all those whom were unable to follow the information provided:

*Girl (Theresa) notes in her profile (NOT her gamertag) that she is a lesbian
*Girl is hounded in game by a group due to said content in her profile, harassed from map to map in game and even followed to other games telling people to report her profile.
*Girl is suspended from Xbox Live due to reports.
*Article posted on Consumerist highlighting the story, it also references how Xbox Live made a person change his gamertag because his surname “Gaywood” may cause offence.
*GLAAD post statement which states they have been working with Xbox Live admin to resolve issues surrounding current Live policies concerning abuse and hate speech on Live.
*Xbox Live admin confirm they indeed initiated contact some time ago with GLAAD following a review where it found the policy’s it had in place were insufficient for the network. Xbox Live admin appeals for “Theresa” to contact them to discuss the incident and how they can move forward.
*Major Nelson posts this blog in order to provide CLARITY to the situation.
*Xbox Live admin mentions on Twitter they are in fact working on new profile features to safely address the issues.

People should not be using this blog post as a place to make thinly veiled homophobic remarks but as an open forum to discuss the facts of the story which Major brought to our attention. Take advantage of being able to discuss like adults a subject which elicits so much passion, but abuse it and watch the chance of Microsoft taking your opinion seriously, slip away.

i personally believe that being homosexual is wrong. however, putting that aside, and without going into specifics of my beliefs concerning homosexuality i think a bio is a place to tell other people about yourself. if you think that who you are is your sexual orientation, race, color, religion, or national origin then it should be allowed in the bio. if i choose to identify myself as a heterosexual white american male i should be able to do so. if i choose to identify myself as a black militant, a nazi skin head, the grand wizard of the KKK, or a flaming homo it should be allowed. As long as the bio doesnt include any of the words not allowed on TV it should be OK. its not like its right in your face, you have to choose to look at the bio. if i dont want to read about someone i wont look. if we cant use a section labeled as BIO to tell people about ourselves then that space shouldnt be provided.
this whole situation really is just a small part of a much bigger problem. Live is just a reflection of our society. a society where squeaky voiced kids are provided a forum to spout profanity and slurs. A society where its OK to be a proud latino, or have chicano pride, or black pride but if you have white pride you are labeled as a racist. a society lacking common since. a society who panders to the minority at the detriment of the majority. why would anyone expect LIVE to be any different.

Unless Xbox Live! is changing focus to a dating site, I would rather the current mandate upheld. I don’t care your orientation. Do you pwn n00bs? Will you pwn n00bs with me? That’s as far as it really should go. I mean without having to force the issue of explaining the Gamertag of “HotLesbo69″ to my nephew or niece, I’d just rather this policy continue to be upheld. Your orientation is in your bedroom, you are your Avatar on Live! and that is it. Unless there’s some hidden patch somewhere that makes your avatar more anatomically correct than a Ken doll you are a *gamer* on the service, nothing more. Adding this as a feature may create more backlash than the initial complaint, as I for one would prefer to keep children OFF the “pink ribbon service”, they’re not old enough to make those decisions up for themselves yet. Oh, and BTW… I have Gay friends, even on XBL, and I haven’t heard a single one choked about this, and they pwn just fine without adding their orientation to their profile.

If this is gonna be a problem on LIVE, why not get rid of UNO, i’ve been seeing naked men for the past 5 months!
Yeah I can turn my privacy setting off or what not, but I don’t want to.
So why not just pull UNO if you’re going to make this such a big fuss.
Hell why not pull all the M rated games from shelves as well.
I myself had my sexual orientation in my bio not to long ago, BISEXUAL!
I am BISEXUAL, though I’ve never gone any farther then kissing a guy, because I’m happily married to a beautiful woman I met in high school.
Half my friends are GAY and LESBIANS.
Now, Transgenders I have a problem with, but normal GAYS and LESBIANS I don’t mind.
So let’s all go into a HATE RAGE here.
Let’s all be immature and say things against the G&L&B communities in America.
Wasn’t this country supposed to be a haven for freedom?
What happened?
Where is that freedom?
Where is our freedom to be who we are, and do what we want, that is allowed by law, huh?

There should be no profile page info for orientation, age, sex, religion or anything else. That is pointless, XBox is for gamers. This is not Adult Friend Finder, Myspace, or Wikipedia. It is not appropriate to the forum. It is actually illegal to mandate these kind of questions be answered, so why open that can of worms by asking people to “volunteer” this info. Major Liability concern for Microsoft. If the gay and lesbian community forces this issue they are going to invite a lot of hurt on themselves from immature gamers. I really don’t want to go down this road.

A1337Haxor (and anyone who agrees) is totally right. What do sexual tenancies have to do with gaming?? It makes no difference to me if i’m owning a homo- or hetero- sexual in halo or gears or any game!
Great, some people are proud to be gay. I don’t care, when i’m trying to kill you (in game). A person’s sexual preference doesn’t define them!

People who reported her are the real ones that should be banned.

No the ones who reported her should be commended theres no place on live for anyones sexual preference in an manner shape or form period!

It’s a sad world when a community software censors a word like “Lesbian”, I mean… really?

Furthermore, the whole reporting system on Live is horrendously flawed and can be easily abused.

people need to grow up and cut the sensitivity nonsense. welcome to the real world. stop throwing up walls and starting lawsuits because someones feelings were hurt. it’s hard to believe that no one in this day and age – has come across a gay or lesbian in life or on the net, or even heard that they are out there. it’s sheltered people out there, who cower before things they dont understand and expect big brother to shield them that brings the rest of society down with them. STOP STANDING IN THE WAY OF PROGRESS!

This stuff is so gay.

I have no problem with gay or lesbian people, they can get married for all I care, but there is NO reason she needs to talk about being a Lesbian on an Xbox Live profile.

One recurring thing I keep seeing on this issue is people who state that sexual orientation has no place on LIVE. I disagree, join any game on live and you usually only have to wait seconds before hearing your first insult about how ‘gay’ someone is etc. Who knows what this girl was thinking when she mentioned she was a lesbian in her profile, maybe she thought it might help her to expand her friends list so that she could find other like minded frineds on Live and be able to enjoy some gaming without the constant barrage of ‘gay’ related insults.

I get that some people might find it offensive, but it isn’t your profile it’s hers. I get that you might be thinking ‘Why feel the need to mention it!’, again, it’s her profile not yours. If it offends you then don’t read it. If it’s to late and you’ve read it, then just don’t add her as a friend if it bothers you so much.

And as for the issue with ‘won’t someone think of the children’, I’m sure if your someone who lets your kids play on live running around chainsawing people in gears, or getting headshots in Halo, then I think they can handle exposure to someone who is gay. If not, then they shouldn’t be on live in the first place.

I really hope MS amend their terms to allow Live to be a much more GBLT friendly place. I know that as a straight gamer, even I get sick of all the ‘gay’ insults on live, MS should concentrate on fighting that rather than banning accounts due to things like this.

@SPARKY123
Most of the people here are not mature enough or intelligent enough to know that there are some people who are different, have different mind sets or which have you. The title ‘lesbian” is no different than a person putting “Mac”, “Apple”, “MS”, or “Atari” on their profile. Why do people do this? To attract people of liked-minded interest, such as you said. Now if it said “Looking for other hot…” THEN that would be a bit offending, such as the dance scene in the Street Fighter: Legend of Chun Li (yes, I saw that slap in the face of a ‘Street Fighter II’ movie – though as an action movie for those who do not know the Street Fighter story, it is an alright movie).

SPARKY123 your reply is what people, ESPECIALLY parents, okay, RESPONSIBLE parents, Uncles, Aunt, childcare (so few there really are) need to understand. It’s just like people who have HBO and Showtime, “Parental Discretion is Advised”. Do parents still do that or just click away from the channel? No discussion as why they should not be watching or listening to such said material?

Jee Whiz. While I detest racism and homophobia as much as the next reasonably minded person, I sometimes wonder if the world is losing it’s perspective on reality. While Western economies crash and burn and the real threat that this brings to all of us, people are suggesting we have a gay/straight checkbox etc etc. Why not go the full PC-hog and have every gender type category known to man. Why not have a “midget clown snuff porn lovers” checkbox for those who want to broadcast their desires to the world? Come on folks – we’re seriously losing perspective here. I have taken a load of sh1t on XBLA from people who are just a-holes. There are plenty of them and there is plenty of crap dished up to non-coloured, non gay people, non jewish folks. I’ve had abuse about being Scottish/British. I just ignore it and block the perpetrators.

File a complaint and make sure you select the ‘Avoid player’ option. I’m sorry people get abuse and Ihave no problem with people in their bio stating they are gay but people please, if you do that – some folks out there are going to give you static. Like I said – the a-holes on live aren’t just hompohobes or racist – they tend to be like that with everyone. Deny them the oxygen of publicity and use the built in controls to filter/report them. The minute the service is changed from a gaming service into a niche forum for people of different types is the day that I’ll quit XBLA. As far as I’m concerned, we are united through games and I will play with anyone regardless of their gender, colour or religion. United through games. That’s all need consider in this debate.

This is a gaming network not a dating site. I do not need nor want to know someones sexual orientation, their marital status or what they like to do in the bedroom. It has nothing to do with games – at least any games I can play on the Xbox.

“This is a gaming network not a dating site. I do not need nor want to know someones sexual orientation, their marital status or what they like to do in the bedroom. It has nothing to do with games – at least any games I can play on the Xbox.”

Presumably you would also support banning Stepto himself then, as his bio mentioned he was married with a wife until he stealth edited it out yesterday after people noticed the hypocrisy. Oddly he did not get the 24 hour ban anyone else would.

Curious that.

Phazer

People do know what a bio is though don’t they? Its meant to be a biography of the person playing so i decided to set mine up to look kind of like something out of a sci fi, like a log account and even though i’m gay i merely wrote in my sections loves, partner. I thought this would be best as although i have no problem with seeing anything like sexual orientation in anyones profile i would rather not have insults like when i was sent a message calling me an ‘anime loving faggot’. As for why do only gay people write their orientation and tell people. Well i think it has more to do with the fact that most people are indeed straight. I feel more confident if people (not in gaming circles i might add) know what i am so no awkward moments, questions etc pop up.

All I have to say is that if being gay is the only thing you have to express yourself, to describe who you are, then I feel sorry because I have never once used hetero as a description of who I am. Just Game on! and if you really want to put who you really are, do it so only Friends can see it.