Comments on: Xbox Live Banhammer Falls on Lesbian

By: Dylan

Dylan — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 19:33:48 +0000

When i first read this story i was understandably annoyed at the removal of the profile based on sexual orientation. However if what Aaron says is correct and MS dos not allow sexual orientation statements whatever the orientation is then it would seem fair to do this. As long as accounts that state people are heterosexual are also removed for the same reason

My question though is if there is not a box on sexual orientation to tick or fill, why did the user put it there.

When we go to the bank we don’t say ‘hey I’m a lesbian do we?’

By: Aaron

Aaron — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 22:28:49 +0000

To set the record straight, Microsoft does not allow anyone to post their sexual orientation, including straight, gay, or bi, either as a gamer tag or on a players profile. Microsoft choose to do this because of the age groups Xbox live appeals too. A large portion of gamers are teenagers, who sadly think it is entertaining to make fun of sexual orientations. The easiest way to solve the problem is prohibit anything sexually oriented.

The girl who posted she was lesbian was not banned by Microsoft. Her account was suspended, meaning she could not play games online until she removed her sexual orientation posting. If she had instead posted “straight” her account would also be suspended.

I have been playing Xbox live for years, I know for a fact she could have easily blocked any gamers who were harassing her.

By: Ryan S.

Ryan S. — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 18:08:08 +0000

Boom. El Cid nailed it.

By: El Cid

El Cid — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 14:01:02 +0000

This whole situation strikes me as very contrived. The user in question prominently touts that she’s a lesbian and then fails to use the features available to all Live members which make it easy to block users you find offensive.

Why didn’t she just block the users harrassing her? This would have made it impossible for them to track her from game to game and would have made it extremely unlikely they would show up in random online matches with her (matchmaking factors in your preference when you click “do not prefer” for a particular member).

MS’ Terms of Use forbids stating your sexual preference in your gamer profile specifically because they’re trying to protect those users from harrassment. Sounds like she intentionally violated this policy to fabricate a situation to advocate her cause. She was not banned, but suspended – so the system worked perfectly. When a user gets a high number of complaints in a short period of time the system automatically suspends the account pending further investigation.

By: chad

chad — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 00:03:33 +0000

microsoft are homogaylesbians so i don’t see why they hate on their own kind.
jk jk. but in all seriousness they take this kind of stuff too far.

By: Bones

Bones — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 22:49:16 +0000

I think Live shouldn’t have the option to list sexual preference, political affiliation or religious beliefs whatsoever. Online gaming is rife with stupid trash-talking, so why give the idiots more fuel for the fire?

By: ILikePopCans

ILikePopCans — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 21:22:01 +0000

When I was reading this, I was thinking WTF. So if i put in my bio that im stright, should I get ban. I just dont get how this is not appropriate for kids. If kids even see her bio, than i bet they seen that word before. And screw those people who was harassing her!

By: Andrew

Andrew — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 20:47:05 +0000

There aren’t people that do that sort of thing for a living are there? I’m talking about wierd religious or other lobby groups – their funding and activities.

By: Matt Banks

Matt Banks — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 18:26:32 +0000

To be honest, this is pretty sad. While I know MS is also making people change mottos and gamertag with “heterosexual”, why should one’s sexual preference be a point of contention? If someone is gay, they’re gay. If someone is straight, they’re straight. If someone wants to put in they’re Irish in their profile, it’s no different. Shame on Microsoft for this.