When enforcement of a facially neutral rule is governed by the whims of a non-neutral gaming public, the rule itself ceases to be neutral.Xan Krieger said:The rule is neutral, public opinion is not. The rule is completely fine and should stay. Why would Microsoft let people open themselves up to trolling like that? The rule is sparing people from being made fun of.
As for the rule protecting people, that sounds a bit paternalistic, don't you think? If this woman thought that the advantages of meeting other gay (and gay-friendly) gamers outweighed the disadvantage of being called names, she should be free to identify herself as gay if she so chooses. In any case, if Microsoft really wants to protect peoples' feelings, wouldn't it make more sense to ban the people who are doing the attacking? You don't give detention to the kid who got beat up to protect him from the bully.