Identifying Yourself As A Lesbian Gets You Banned On XBOX Live

[-Hiroshi-]

Even though I am 100% heterosexual male, I am with ya girlfriend, I too will become a Lesbian and show my support for the cause!

:rofl:

[Eric Veteran]

I hope you enjoy your ban :woot:

I have full confidence that I will not be banned, and if I am I will complain. If that does no good, I don't care since I will never buy another Xbox after the engineering flubs they made with the 360. If they want to "ruin my Kane & Lynch experience" (if that's possible) they're welcome to. :)

[Dc'1]

I'm kinda on both sides of this argument... It's wrong that she got banned but it is a "topic or content of a sexual nature" so did break the rules...

[-Hiroshi-]

I have full confidence that I will not be banned, and if I am I will complain. If that does no good, I don't care since I will never buy another Xbox after the engineering flubs they made with the 360. If they want to "ruin my Kane & Lynch experience" (if that's possible) they're welcome to. :)

XD Yeah really, they don't need to ban you to ruin that experience, it's a pretty awful game itself.

[Eric Veteran]

It may not be illegal or offensive to you, but it clearly violates the XBL TOS which you willingly agree to adhere to when you register an account.

It's a shame, but rules are rules whether you agree with them or not.

You're missing my point. It may be against the TOS, but the TOS are discriminatory, just like the "back of the bus" rule and the "no coloreds at this water fountain" rule.

[C_Guy]

The problem is with this line from the TOS:

Create a Gamertag , avatar or use text in other profile fields that may offend other members.

Different people are offended by different things. If there's an XBOX gamer who's completely homophobic then someone having the word 'gay' in their name might be offensive to them. But 'gay' also has a definition that has absolutely nothing to do with sexual orientation. So, who's right? Who gets to determine whether or not that's offensive?

It seems that Microsoft isn't being the judge on grey areas like that, they leave it up to the members. If enough people complain, they consider it an offense. If you get enough ignorant people together, all kinds of things could be offensive. Not just words related to sexual orientation but even having words like 'white' or 'black' might be considered "offensive" by other gamers.

If I were a Microsoft customer and I was told that, due to other gamer's sheer ignorance, I was not permitted to have words or terms like 'straight', 'gay', 'white', 'black', 'Christian' in my Gamertag because they are "offensive" I would return my XBOX for an immediate refund and go to (eep) Linux.

It's pretty sad to see homophobic or racist people win these sorts of battles.

[Eric Veteran]

I'm kinda on both sides of this argument... It's wrong that she got banned but it is a "topic or content of a sexual nature" so did break the rules...

They don't seem too concerned about the verbal harassment and swearing on chat and that's against the rules, too.

[CelticWhisper]

Why am I suddenly reminded of Life of Brian? "I'm Brian of Nazareth!" "I'm Brian of Nazareth!" "We're all Brian of Nazareth!"

...

"We're all lesbians, Microsoft! Each and every last one of us!"

[-Hiroshi-]

They don't seem too concerned about the verbal harassment and swearing on chat and that's against the rules, too.

Yeah and they also don't seem to care about the individuals with offensive images on their Halo 3 bungie upload thing either, or the kids playing M rated games, or the idiots who spam chat, sexually harass women players, racial slurs, and so on, witnessed all this myself, I heard horror stories about Xbox Live, unfortunately, all of them were true. lol

[Guest]

You're missing my point. It may be against the TOS, but the TOS are discriminatory, just like the "back of the bus" rule and the "no coloreds at this water fountain" rule.

And you're failing to see my point. Let's just agree to disagree.

[hdood]

"We're all lesbians, Microsoft! Each and every last one of us!"

They've got plenty already!

[Eric Veteran]

Yeah and they also don't seem to care about the individuals with offensive images on their Halo 3 bungie upload thing either, or the kids playing M rated games, or the idiots who spam chat, sexually harass women players, racial slurs, and so on, witnessed all this myself, I heard horror stories about Xbox Live, unfortunately, all of them were true. lol

Exactly. You can be offensive and scream "***" all you want in chat but you can't put it in your profile? That just doesn't wash.

And you're failing to see my point. Let's just agree to disagree.

I see your point. The point in a protest, however, is to break a rule to call attention to the fact that the rule is unjust.

[BajiRav]

You're missing my point. It may be against the TOS, but the TOS are discriminatory, just like the "back of the bus" rule and the "no coloreds at this water fountain" rule.

There is a difference between a service and real life. When you buy a movie ticket at cinema hall and go in, you can't carry your own soda etc. in because it's their TOS. It's not discrimination.

They don't seem too concerned about the verbal harassment and swearing on chat and that's against the rules, too.

I am sure someone here on Neowin was suspended for something like that?

Yeah and they also don't seem to care about the individuals with offensive images on their Halo 3 bungie upload thing either, or the kids playing M rated games, or the idiots who spam chat, sexually harass women players, racial slurs, and so on, witnessed all this myself, I heard horror stories about Xbox Live, unfortunately, all of them were true. lol

The bungie upload was a hack I think, it was closed.

Kids playing M rated games: Do you want microsoft to police kids instead of parents?

Rest: If enough people complain, they are supposed top act

[Eric Veteran]

There is a difference between a service and real life. When you buy a movie ticket at cinema hall and go in, you can't carry your own soda etc. in because it's their TOS. It's not discrimination.

It is discrimination. Soda is not a person or a sexual preference. It's a product.

I am sure someone here on Neowin was suspended for something like that?

There is. Neowin doesn't ban people for saying they're gay, though.

[HawkMan]

You're missing my point. It may be against the TOS, but the TOS are discriminatory, just like the "back of the bus" rule and the "no coloreds at this water fountain" rule.

No the TOS isn't discriminatory.

for it to be that, only lesbian would be banned for writing their sexual orientation, but everyone gets banned for it, since it's against the TOS.

seriously, use words you actually understand the meaning of.

[KreepLX360]

The problem is not that they are gay. The problem lies with them having to broadcast it to everyone just for the shock value. Not all of them do this but this woman was probably going into game rooms and talking about how cool it is to be gay just to get the reaction. In the end what did she get? XBOX banned and a stupid article with her nasty picture demonstrating just how much she wants to look like some neo punk rock activist man want to be. If you care about this, go back to Washington and bomb some more doctors and blue collar workers in the name of environmentalism -its better to keep these weird-o people all together while the rest of us can enjoy our lives.

[KreepLX360]

Yeah and they also don't seem to care about the individuals with offensive images on their Halo 3 bungie upload thing either, or the kids playing M rated games, or the idiots who spam chat, sexually harass women players, racial slurs, and so on, witnessed all this myself, I heard horror stories about Xbox Live, unfortunately, all of them were true. lol

Oh, boohoo. Can't take the heat? Get a PS3. Nobody has a mic because it works like crap in the games.

[_neutrino Veteran]

we should just ban microsoft for being stupid then we wont have to worry about their many and frequent failures lol :p

[Eric Veteran]

No the TOS isn't discriminatory.

for it to be that, only lesbian would be banned for writing their sexual orientation, but everyone gets banned for it, since it's against the TOS.

seriously, use words you actually understand the meaning of.

I know what every word I use means, thanks.

[rafter109]

Sexual orientation should be a private matter an not publicly announced. Its one thing if ones sexual orientation can be inferred from ones surroundings unless one surrounds themselves with lewd and obscene materials and behavior. No one should just run around announcing their orientation unless it is part of a consensual private conversation. While I support equal rights for all men and women, I don't believe that flagrant behavior such as public displays of affection should be tolerated any more in one group that it is in another. If no one can say anything about two men or two women making out in public without getting their heads chewed off, the same should hold true for a heterosexual couple. Equal is equal. This idea of superior treatment because of past opression only leads to more problems and true hatred. Again, ALL humans deserve EQUAL treatment

[TheDogsBed]

Why do so many gay people feel the need to declare to the world that they are gay anyway? It's really very tedious.

With regards to this matter, it seems clear to anyone whose knees don't jerk at the slightest thing, that this has nothing to do with her being a lesbian. It is, quite obviously, about inappropriate content in an inappropriate medium. There are far more appropriate places and mediums for her to discuss her sexual preferences.

If she didn't have the puerile need to declare to the world "Look at me, I'm a lesbian", then this wouldn't be an issue.

[HSoft]

I see your point. The point in a protest, however, is to break a rule to call attention to the fact that the rule is unjust.

It's not unjust. She broke the rules and got banned. Simple as that.

Protest all you like. If you break the rules You'll get banned as well.

You don't see all the straight people shouting that they're straight so why did she have to put that she's a lesbian in her profile?

There are a lot of young kids that play xbox so I can see MSFTs point as to why that is against the TOS.

The problem with people like this is that they have an agenda and they don't think.

Personally I don't care what you are, don't tell me. Your sexual preference is your business, you don't need to tell me or the rest of the world. It's just stupid.

[Rohdekill]

So, by that logic, it'd be OK to ban a black person because of their color or a Jewish person because of their religion? Their sexual orientation is no different.

Is there a law preventing a business from discriminating against sexual orientation?

Last I heard religion, sex (not sexual orientation), and race are protected.

Besides, I consider it in MS's best interest to maintain as much member annonimity as possible. Less, they end up being sued by the lesbian for being harrassed by it's members.

[Eric Veteran]

I do not treat anybody as a second class citizen and i always act appropriately in anybodies company. If my friends chose to kiss in front of me then i would merely turn away and try my best not to make it known to them as they are my friends.

I find it offensive, im not sorry for that. I don't hate gays i just dont like knowing.

Somebody is actually gonna get the point soon.........Maybe

Eww. They are not your friends if you would treat them that way. Do they read Neowin? I'm sure they'd be glad to get their "gayness" away from you.

[BajiRav]

It is discrimination. Soda is not a person or a sexual preference. It's a product.

There is. Neowin doesn't ban people for saying they're gay, though.

Can I call it discrimination if I am forced to buy Coke since that's all the Cinema serves but I only drink Pepsi?

I meant some Neowin member was banned on XBL for shouting etc. I replied to someone else.