Question of the Day, March 24, 2010

[irrelevantnugget]

Permissible, but a bad idea. If all gay people want to do is not be secluded, then they shouldn't even bother mentioning their sexual preference.

Whilst I have nothing against people of sexualities that differ from my own (just as I tend to have nothing against those of other religions/beliefs, tastes etc), I had to vote no.

I shall paraphrase the brilliant British comedy "The IT Crowd" to explain my point; "I'm fine with my sexuality, I just don't want to be slapped in the face with theirs". I don't run around proclaiming mine (the same for most people), so why should it be "acceptable" for others to effectively scream about it?

Indeed. Seconded.

 

[Darkwolf9]

I voted yes, but like many of you I think it could have bad repercussions. Primarily the fact that they are almost guaranteed to get called something discriminatory. The problem with that is even if they didn't have their "gaymer" tag would have been called that anyway, but for a wholly different reason. If they were to put their sexual orientation in their tag they have to understand that it is going to bring the wrath of the bored and angry teenager upon them just as putting anything else in your tag. If say you were a dad and your tag was "bstdadintehwrld" there is a pretty good chance that both you and your child will be relentlessly mocked by the end of the session. That's how we gamers are, but I do agree that people should be able put anything in their gamer tag.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

But by that very logic gamertags shouldn't exist at all,

Nope, gamertags are what you are known as. People don't know others as Gay, Bi, or whatever..they know them as their names.

Maybe you are "The Root of All Evil" by why should you proclaim it?

Egotism, Relevance(to the avatar picture and my posting style) and Juxtaposition(As I'm usually quite a nice person).

and probably not true.

I do love the "probably" there.

But it brings up a good point, most of my friends just know "this" me as Root. Nothing about Evil because they don't tend to see that.

Like BabyTea says, people who run round proclaiming their sexuality make you think that they're obsessed by it, I'd drop an equally big ban-nuke on "Milf Healer", "Barely Legal Blaster" or "Sugar Daddy".

 

[KarumaK]

Sure, why not?

Just be aware that this is the internet, and that by saying anything at all you have doomed yourself.

 

[TheTaco007]

As long as it's not offensive, they should at least be allowed to.
However it's probably not a great choice for the user, as they're likely to be trolled for it constantly.

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

No I don't people should be allowed to post gender, sexual preference or race in gamer tags or anything like this as why should it matter if your a necropheliac woman from the planet Zonc?

 

[The Great JT]

I would say no, if only because "Sexual Preference" falls under the Screen Name No-Nos, including racism, sex and leetspeek.

 

[Precious Pikachu]

This is the boat I'm sitting in.
I just don't see it as particularly relevant.

Imagine this: You're at the Empire State Building for some fun sightseeing. You and a few people get into the elevator to get to the top. The elevator doors close, it starts to go up, and one guy says, out loud, 'I'm gay'.

Now there is nothing wrong with that, if the guy is gay then the guy is gay. But in that situation, who cares? It doesn't bring the people riding the elevator closer together, and it'd more then likely make everything a bit awkward. And it would be just as weird if some guy said 'I'm straight', or 'I'm bi', or 'I'm a transsexual'.

It holds no bearing to what's going on, and, frankly, no one cares.

Having it in the bio section of an online profile is one thing, since that's the part that says stuff about you. That's like if someone on the elevator asked that guy 'Hey, tell me a bit about yourself'.
But the Gamertag? It's pointless.
In fact, since it's on the internet, it's more akin to actually asking for trouble.

I just don't see the point.

I agree wholeheartedly. On the same token though, I think it's s*** that xbox censors gamertags with anything "inappropriate." One of my friends is named John Gaylord, and he set up his gamertag as jgaylord and they banned him for 3 months until he could get it straightened out and then they let him back on only with a different name. If it is your real name, shouldn't they be able to crosscheck it when you are registering?

 

[drisky]

I would say yes but I think most homosexuals wouldn't want to be simply defined as gay.
The only one I ever see are very negitive, like when I saw someone the other day with the name "HAHA_I_KILLEDYOU_FAG!!1!" on the playstation network.
Really because of thing like this it makes it hard to decide.

 

[Korey Von Doom]

But by that very logic gamertags shouldn't exist at all,

Nope, gamertags are what you are known as. People don't know others as Gay, Bi, or whatever..they know them as their names.

Maybe you are "The Root of All Evil" by why should you proclaim it?

Egotism, Relevance(to the avatar picture and my posting style) and Juxtaposition(As I'm usually quite a nice person).

and probably not true.

I do love the "probably" there.

But it brings up a good point, most of my friends just know "this" me as Root. Nothing about Evil because they don't tend to see that.

Like BabyTea says, people who run round proclaiming their sexuality make you think that they're obsessed by it, I'd drop an equally big ban-nuke on "Milf Healer", "Barely Legal Blaster" or "Sugar Daddy".

Well you say it's because of Egotism, well maybe they have pride in their sexual preference?

And I see your point with the banning of another names, I too am annoyed by such names, but I just avoid these people, personally I think anyone should be able to name themselves whatever they want or say whatever they want, its not like you are being forced to play with these people, now if they try to follow you, and continue to harass you then yes that is unacceptable.

Edit: Damn Composition class has me seeing all the errors in my writing, like that run on sentence.

 

[Vanguard_Ex]

There's no reason why not, but, it purely is the sake of it really. Gaming is one of those wonderful hobbies where sexual preference makes fuck all difference.

 

[TheComedown]

i have to agree completely with baby tea on this one, its a stupid idea to put it in the tag, its the internet its filled with douche bags, and its like a big "I'm over here, I'm different, now hurt me" sign, its information that is completely irrelevant for the situation. if you want put it on a profile fine.

but for crying out loud, we are gaming, not dating. (i apologize, i wish it didn't rhyme too)

 

[SnootyEnglishman]

I really don't give a damn if one is gay,straight or bi if you're a cool enough person to engage in conversation and have that talk go on for a good hour or so on one subject matter i can dig you

 

[teisjm]

Sure they should be allowed to, i don't see how it would matter to their gaming whether they fuck girls or guys, but they should be able to do it regardless.

 

[Semitendon]

I have to vote no.

The idea of putting your sexual preference into a gamertag has no other reason then to force others into knowing information, that in all probability, they don't want to know, or don't care about.

In gaming, there are good players, bad players, assholes, and people who are fun to play with. The concepts of sexual preference, religion,and political affiliation are irrelevant, and would only be introduced by people wishing to force their views on others.

I know that some concepts define a person, but why the desire to force others to acknowledge it? Unless is is relevant to the medium, discussion, or format involved, there is no reason to announce personal traits. Particularly, if such traits could/would be offensive to someone else.

If the argument is that everyone has a right to express themselves, regardless of whether others might find it offensive, then we must realize that this will inevitably lead to people trying to offend, rather than truly expressing their personality.

In short, if we allow some, we must allow all.

In terms of free speech this is neccessary to society due to the possibility of political abuse and suppression. But, when talking about anonymous gaming, it quickly devolves into an insult forum. And I don't thnk anyone wants that.

 

[fesc]

Sure, why not?
I wouldn't be comfortable using my preferences as part of random screen names, but if people want to, they should be allowed to.
However, I'd like to think nobody cares.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

well maybe they have pride in their sexual preference?

Sorry, if you put pride in what you sleep with, you're putting WAY too much thought into it. We're all creatures of opportunity after all. It'd be like calling yourself "Xbox gamer" on XBL.

Having a sexual preference doesn't alter who you are. It's just what you do.

personally I think anyone should be able to name themselves whatever they want or say whatever they want,

And in a world free of hatred, I'd agree. However, in that world, it wouldn't matter anyway.

But if people are allowed to name themselves whatever they want, you can imagine half the names that would come out, and your defence works equally well for them.

 

[Dobrev]

Gamming IDs are to play games. If you want to make internet persona you can go to facebook, twitter or any social web site. Adding irrelevant data to gaming ID is waste of time -both to the person that fills it and ppl browsing IDs. Yould as well add favourite color, car brand, shoe size and any other meaningless crap. But you don't because it doesn't matter. Keep it to the point: ID, name, sex, nationality, avatar.

 

[Korey Von Doom]

well maybe they have pride in their sexual preference?

Sorry, if you put pride in what you sleep with, you're putting WAY too much thought into it. We're all creatures of opportunity after all. It'd be like calling yourself "Xbox gamer" on XBL.

Having a sexual preference doesn't alter who you are. It's just what you do.

personally I think anyone should be able to name themselves whatever they want or say whatever they want,

And in a world free of hatred, I'd agree. However, in that world, it wouldn't matter anyway.

But if people are allowed to name themselves whatever they want, you can imagine half the names that would come out, and your defence works equally well for them.

People take pride in all kinds of crazy things, and saying being gay is just about who a person has sex with is kind of hateful, as if they don't have feelings and it's not about love at all, and that's what free speech and freedom of expression is about, saying what you want and being who you are without caring what others think, people make way too big a deal about stuff like this. You don't like what someone thinks or says, stay away from them.