"Gay" Player Name Banned By Xbox Live

[obsolete_power]

Reader Grant says that his gamer tag "theGAYERgamer" was recently banned by Xbox Live. He hoped that a call to customer support would sort things out but all he received was a confusing explanation from an Xbox Live supervisor. According to the supervisor, it wasn't that she found the name offensive, but it was the "greater Xbox community" that found it offensive. Screenshot above. Grant's letter, inside...

Consumerist,

I have had a bad morning. Last night when i tried to sign into my xbox live account "thegayergamer" I was told that it had to be changed. I figured that it was just from people reporting it as an offensive name being that the greater Xbox live community isn't exactly welcome to gay people, i spend a lot of time muting people on Halo3. I assumed that once i called Microsoft they would straighten things out.

I talked to a supervisor there, Roxy, who told me that she didn't personally find the fact that my gamer tag had gay in the name offensive, but that the greater Xbox community did, so i would have to change it. I hope I'm not the only person who finds this don't ask, don't tell policy disgusting... eek

From Grant, thegayergamer

Source: the Consumerist

What do you guys think about this? Is this validated or just plain ridiculous?

[Sethos]

That's gay

[abysal]

That's gay

Ha

[goatsniffer]

It has the potential to be severely abused, and by blocking it Microsoft if protecting the community from this abuse and themselves from an otherwise inevitable lawsuit .

[markwolfe Veteran]

He says he spends "a lot of time muting people on Halo3" due to his name. Then he says "I hope I'm not the only person who finds this don't ask, don't tell policy disgusting", trying to make this into a civil rights issue. :rolleyes:

The fact is, among kids (my own included), the term "gay" is used as a derogatory comment. Not even necessarily associated with homosexuality. Things like "that movie sounds so gay [boring, dull]", or "playing tag is so gay [geared toward little kids, not teenagers]".

They would remove obviously offending terms, such as "the N word". And, if this guy is muting a lot of people because of harassment from the name, well, it obviously is becoming an issue.

He is free to change his name to "DethKi77erRox" or "PrancingUnicorns" or whatever, and keep on playing. :yes:

[duritz]

uhh simple fact: I am sure Microsoft can do whatever it pleases with its software and if they see a name they don't like, they will change it. The name sounds a bit derogatory to me anyway. Usually only attention getters and annoying people go to the media with this BS.

[Tha Bloo Monkee]

I don't see the big deal. You're asking for problems by using it.

He is free to change his name to ... "PrancingUnicorns"

:laugh: !!

[leesmithg]

This reminds me of a story I heard on the radio a few years (less than 3) ago, about a gay guy that used to chat

in a gay chat room.

He called himself BattyMan, however due to the term used by certain members of the black community (well when I was growing up 25-30 years ago in London)

as a derogatory term towards homosexual men other homosexuals didn't like it and it got banned.

Though it was usually said as ''batteebwoy'' rather than the Queens English, ''Batty Boy''.

To me this is yet another example of the nanny state and PC gone wrong.

Man or Woman wants to have that name they should be allowed to.

Would they ban 'theHeterogamer'?

I dun tink sow!

[Farstrider]

So if someone calls themselves the theQUEERGamer is that also going to be offensive? The word also has MANY meanings and one that describes "gays" as well! In other words it set a precedent, and that willy-nilly they could start to ban a host of user names! Pathetic if you ask me.

[leesmithg]

So if someone calls themselves the theQUEERGamer is that also going to be offensive? The word also has MANY meanings and one that describes "gays" as well! In other words it set a precedent, and that willy-nilly they could start to ban a host of user names! Pathetic if you ask me.

Exactly, the real meaning of the word 'Queer' is 'Odd', 'Strange', 'Peculiar', etc.

Just because it got hijacked by bigots should mean we don't give into them.

[Huleboeren]

Will he have to pay for his gamertag name change?

[Tha Bloo Monkee]

So if someone calls themselves the theQUEERGamer is that also going to be offensive?

I would consider that even worse than "theGAYERGamer". I have nothing towards them, I'm just talking about the slang.

Words change over time.

[DrewJW]

Could call himself the Themorereargamer?

[+BeLGaRaTh Subscriber¹]

The thing is though, as mentioned, will he have to use his MarketPlace points to change his name? That would be gay, your name violates our T&Cs change it now, oh and by the way it will cost you 800 points :)

[duritz]

Will he have to pay for his gamertag name change?

:laugh: i hope so

[Tha Bloo Monkee]

:laugh: i hope so

Why do you hope so? :s

[goji]

Thats pretty messed up MS, but I don't agree or disagree with either party. The gamer knew very well what he was getting into, and I'm sure MS merely responded to the flood of complaints that rolled on in.

Lose-lose if you ask me.

[j.r.l.]

Not that I find the name offensive, but wow... that dude is dumb. He picks a name he obviously knows will cause trouble, whether it's fair or not, and then bitches and whines at Microsoft because people don't like him. They're doing him a favour, for all it matters.

+1 for PrancingUnicorns :rofl:

[obsolete_power]

My question is, why did he feel the need to specify his orientation in a name that is seen by anonymous people in an environment where it is VERY easy to say whatever you want because nobody actually knows or sees who you are....To me that is just ASKING for trouble. if he was that concerned with this problem then he shouldn't have made that his name. I am sure he knew that people would be all over him about the name, so why do this? Was he trying to make a point?

He's probably one of those gay people that feel the need to defend themselves any chance they get and treat everyone like crap because any small comment is turned into a civil rights issue. They really are females trapped in male bodies....

I don't have anything against gay people because it is a waste of time trying anything, plus, if they are happy, just let them be. Everybody deserves to be happy and orientation doesn't matter. Now, I was raised a certain way so I am not exactly advocating homosexuality but I also am not going to try to beat down on a person for being gay....that's just immature.

[Vykranth]

Extract from Microsoft's code of conduct: The XBox Code of Conduct page on Xbox.com

Don't create a gamertag or motto that other users may be offended by, this includes comments that look, sound like, stand for, hint at, abbreviate, or insinuate any of the following: profane words/phrases, sexually explicit language, sexual innuendo, hate speech (including but not limited to racial, ethnic, or religious slurs), illegal drugs/controlled substances, or illegal activities.

Don't create a gamertag or motto that references controversial religious topics, notorious people, organizations, or sensitive current or historical events that may also be considered inappropriate.

He probably got too many complaints for offensive profile material from the players he played against at Halo 3.

Now, I don't know if MS could have handled it more gracefully but that guy was just asking for trouble with such a gamertag.

[leesmithg]

Not that I find the name offensive, but wow... that dude is dumb. He picks a name he obviously knows will cause trouble, whether it's fair or not, and then bitches and whines at Microsoft because people don't like him. They're doing him a favour, for all it matters.

+1 for PrancingUnicorns :rofl:

Go find out what the word 'Gay' means.

It was hijacked by homosexual Men.

Gay means happy, so the user name is happier than gay.

Yet again, you got morons telling us what to do.

[HawkMan]

He should have just used theJolliergamer then :)

[redfish]

i wonder if the names "cracker", "honkey", "redneck" would be banned.

[obsolete_power]

When people say "be proud to be gay" they mean be proud but keep that **** to yourself because the world, as of now, still doesn't accept gays as a whole. Gays may be allowed to get married in some parts of the world but people in those communities haven't yet seen the light....You can't just parade it around and not expect many people to flame you for it....You can't blame people for feeling the way they do because they were raised to think like that.

Again, I don't have anything against gay people but demanding that people change their thoughts about homosexuality is as ridiculous as asking a gay person to become straight.

i wonder if the names "cracker", "honkey", "redneck" would be banned.

Don't forget porch monkey :p

[the evn show]

When I played FPS games I always liked to use names like "luvbuthumpin" or "GayPride" etc. When

your typical goon associates homosexuality with being inferior or bad then you can use that to your advantage.

If being gay is so horrible and bad then losing to a gay person makes them even worse than all the

negative stuff they conjure up in their mind.

To these people:

• Beating the ever loving crap out of a guy named "gaypride" is expected -- there's no joy
  
• Losing to a guy named "gaypride" is infinitely shameful.
  

It's like talking about a fist-fight with your wife: win or lose, you're still the loser.