UPDATE: Microsoft Disallows Public Lesbians on Xbox Live

[cobra_ky]

However If I may attempt to cover my arse, the next paragraph states:

"You agree that we may also discontinue your access to the Service if you do any of the following while connected to the Service:

Create a Gamertag, avatar or use text in other profile fields that may offend other members. This includes comments that look, sound like, stand for, hint at, abbreviate, or insinuate or relate to any of the following: profane words/phrases,topics or content of a sexual nature...."

Sexual preferences are by definition of a sexual nature, so she still broke the rules. And it sounds like Microsoft puts the responsibility on their user to avoid upsetting all the many easily upset-able people out there.

I'd be happy if you checked this one too as I tend to get confused by long sentences as you've seen.

Sexual preferences are not content of a sexual nature, unless you think the princess kissing mario is sexual content too. Homosexuality entails much more than just sex, and it is in no way comparable to paraphilias such as bestiality or BDSM.

 

[The Bandit]

XBox live is not a dating service. Terms like gay/lesbian/bisexual are used most often as slurs.

Microsoft did the right thing, they did they same thing that every on-line service does.

This lady needs to shut up, she's bugging me.

EDIT: Also; she violated the XBOX LIVE Terms of Use [http://www.xbox.com/en-GB/live/legal/xboxComTOU.htm], her arse is banned. Job's a good'un.

"You agree that we may also discontinue your access to the Service if you do ....Publish, distribute, or disseminate any content, topic, name, material, file, or information that incites, advocates, promotes, depicts, constitutes, or expresses......homosexual status"

Sorry. This argument holds no weight. It's like saying slavery/segregation were OK because it was the law at the time. The discussion shouldn't be "should she have been banned?" It's "is it right to ban people for putting their sexual orientation in their profile?"

And the answer to that riddle is, no, it is not right.

Sure, if slavery was a service that everyone wanted to be in, and agreed to all the conditions before hand.

Of course it was right to ban her, they made it clear from the start that she would be banned if she did this.

Perhaps you could argue that they haven't made it clear why it's a rule so she should be able to ignore that rule? People on the internet are largely children and stupid people, so if you want to run a successful business you need to protect yourself from that. Sexuality is a beehive of problems which can cause massive PR nightmares, like this one but worse. Think of headlines like "13 year old girl runs lesbian cybering brothel through evil Internet service!" best solution is just to shut it off completely and say no mention of sexuality allowed.

There is no freedom of speech element this is a business owned enviroment they have complete legal right to set the rules, no-one is being discriminated against, no-one is allowed to talk about sexuality. This girl is really going to complain just because she didn't want to follow the rules!?

EDIT: Forget it. Nevermind. This is a waste of both our time. Ignore this.

 

[WlknCntrdiction]

No one needs to know that you're gay, especially online, to most people you're just another gamer, whether you're gay or whatever has no baring on me destroying you in multiplayer, not to mention I really couldn't give two shits whether you're gay or not whilst playing a VIDEO GAME, something I come to to lose myself in for a few hours, to get away from the world for abit, last thing I need is some idiot thinking people actually give a shit about her. If she didn't want the abuse then she shouldn't have put it on her profile, she was asking for it, people are douches over Live, didn't she once think that this would happen?

I think they should disallow it from all game chat and adding it to the gamers' profile, its unnecessary and only inviting idiots to take the piss. She was silly enough to put such sensitive information up about herself, in full view of people she doesn't know, she paid for it by having her Live account suspended, it's her fault. I don't excuse the people who ridiculed her but some people need to think about the stuff they do before they do it.

 

[Samurai Goomba]

I find it funny that MS says saying you're straight is a violation. I'm pretty sure that's one rule they don't enforce.

 

[Ajna]

However If I may attempt to cover my arse, the next paragraph states:

"You agree that we may also discontinue your access to the Service if you do any of the following while connected to the Service:

Create a Gamertag, avatar or use text in other profile fields that may offend other members. This includes comments that look, sound like, stand for, hint at, abbreviate, or insinuate or relate to any of the following: profane words/phrases,topics or content of a sexual nature...."

Sexual preferences are by definition of a sexual nature, so she still broke the rules. And it sounds like Microsoft puts the responsibility on their user to avoid upsetting all the many easily upset-able people out there.

I'd be happy if you checked this one too as I tend to get confused by long sentences as you've seen.

Sexual preferences are not content of a sexual nature, unless you think the princess kissing mario is sexual content too. Homosexuality entails much more than just sex, and it is in no way comparable to paraphilias such as bestiality or BDSM.

Good sir, oh how you tempt me to put my preference for the "alternative lifestyle" being a dom offers into my Bio field. Oh how you tempt me.

 

[skywalkerlion]

Homophobes suck, but why was this woman going around telling everyone her sexuality anyway?

 

[Ajna]

Homophobes suck, but why was this woman going around telling everyone her sexuality anyway?

She wasn't going around telling everyone that. It was in her Bio. You know the thing that's buried in sixteen-thousand menus, and requires far more than the sixty seconds between matches to find and read?

And since Bio literally means "Life", you can't say that something relatively central to her life like that doesn't belong in it.

 

[Actual]

snip

EDIT: Forget it. Nevermind. This is a waste of both our time. Ignore this.

Replying quickly to what you originally posted. Because I'm on here to waste time.

I do see where you're coming from, that Microsoft should learn from this and change the rules for the next time, right?

In an ideal world you'd be right. Practically though, unless they have a million employees reviewing everything on a case-by-case basis, it's far safer to issue a blanket rule and say no discussion of anything even vaguely, tenuously sexual in nature. Still, would be nice if they could look at what she'd done and say "You know what, she didn't mean any harm, let's not ban her, and just edit her profile for her."

 

[skywalkerlion]

Homophobes suck, but why was this woman going around telling everyone her sexuality anyway?

She wasn't going around telling everyone that. It was in her Bio. You know the thing that's buried in sixteen-thousand menus, and requires far more than the sixty seconds between matches to find and read?

And since Bio literally means "Life", you can't say that something relatively central to her life like that doesn't belong in it.

I understand that, and I am in no way trying to say Microsoft was right, but..
be realistic. Why tell a bunch of 12 year old douchebags your sexual orientation? And like another guy said, this isn't a place where you'd post your other fetishes and stuff. So I think she just shouldn't have done that..

Just sayin'.

 

[Finnboghi]

However If I may attempt to cover my arse, the next paragraph states:

"You agree that we may also discontinue your access to the Service if you do any of the following while connected to the Service:

Create a Gamertag, avatar or use text in other profile fields that may offend other members. This includes comments that look, sound like, stand for, hint at, abbreviate, or insinuate or relate to any of the following: profane words/phrases,topics or content of a sexual nature...."

Sexual preferences are by definition of a sexual nature, so she still broke the rules. And it sounds like Microsoft puts the responsibility on their user to avoid upsetting all the many easily upset-able people out there.

I'd be happy if you checked this one too as I tend to get confused by long sentences as you've seen.

Sexual preferences are not content of a sexual nature, unless you think the princess kissing mario is sexual content too. Homosexuality entails much more than just sex, and it is in no way comparable to paraphilias such as bestiality or BDSM.

Good sir, oh how you tempt me to put my preference for the "alternative lifestyle" being a dom offers into my Bio field. Oh how you tempt me.

Agreed.

Homosexuality is a sexual preference - just like heterosexuality, pedophilia, voraphilia, fecophilia, and any other paraphilia.

A sexual preference must be sexual by nature.

Ergo, any mention of any kind of sexual preference is thus sexual content, and is therefore against the rules.

She violated the rules, and she was punished as per the code of conduct that she agreed to abide by when she signed up for LIVE.

 

[Eldarion]

This is unacceptable.

She wasn't flaunting it or anything. Microsoft is a much of homophobic morons.

 

[VanityGirl]

No one needs to know that you're gay, especially online, to most people you're just another gamer, whether you're gay or whatever has no baring on me destroying you in multiplayer, not to mention I really couldn't give two shits whether you're gay or not whilst playing a VIDEO GAME, something I come to to lose myself in for a few hours, to get away from the world for abit, last thing I need is some idiot thinking people actually give a shit about her. If she didn't want the abuse then she shouldn't have put it on her profile, she was asking for it, people are douches over Live, didn't she once think that this would happen?

I think they should disallow it from all game chat and adding it to the gamers' profile, its unnecessary and only inviting idiots to take the piss. She was silly enough to put such sensitive information up about herself, in full view of people she doesn't know, she paid for it by having her Live account suspended, it's her fault. I don't excuse the people who ridiculed her but some people need to think about the stuff they do before they do it.

I'm going to quote you because I agree.
It's scary enough having a gamertag saying "VanityGirl" on XBL and "Super Vanity" on PSN.
I actually have days in which I regret ever even mentioning that I'm a girl.
A lot of people in online video games are immature douchebags. I understand gay pride because my best friend is gay, but there's a time and place for everything, and PSN/XBL is not a place to say that you're gay. You will get flamed and reported.

Sorry guys, that's the end all be all. I will not say that the people weren't in fault, because they were... But and this is a big BUT! Considering that this woman in particular was sent messages and told off in game chat should have been a signal flag before she was suspended/banned. If that many people are ranting and raving and making sexually explicit comments, than for the love of everything grow sense and take it off.

My friend had this in his profile, "Anyone with the word 'sniper' in your name YOU'RE A DOUCHE" and was suspended for two weeks. I mean Microsoft does actually take its rules seriously. If enough people complain, they will suspended you.

 

[WlknCntrdiction]

No one needs to know that you're gay, especially online, to most people you're just another gamer, whether you're gay or whatever has no baring on me destroying you in multiplayer, not to mention I really couldn't give two shits whether you're gay or not whilst playing a VIDEO GAME, something I come to to lose myself in for a few hours, to get away from the world for abit, last thing I need is some idiot thinking people actually give a shit about her. If she didn't want the abuse then she shouldn't have put it on her profile, she was asking for it, people are douches over Live, didn't she once think that this would happen?

I think they should disallow it from all game chat and adding it to the gamers' profile, its unnecessary and only inviting idiots to take the piss. She was silly enough to put such sensitive information up about herself, in full view of people she doesn't know, she paid for it by having her Live account suspended, it's her fault. I don't excuse the people who ridiculed her but some people need to think about the stuff they do before they do it.

I'm going to quote you because I agree.
It's scary enough having a gamertag saying "VanityGirl" on XBL and "Super Vanity" on PSN.
I actually have days in which I regret ever even mentioning that I'm a girl.
A lot of people in online video games are immature douchebags. I understand gay pride because my best friend is gay, but there's a time and place for everything, and PSN/XBL is not a place to say that you're gay. You will get flamed and reported.

Sorry guys, that's the end all be all. I will not say that the people weren't in fault, because they were... But and this is a big BUT! Considering that this woman in particular was sent messages and told off in game chat should have been a signal flag before she was suspended/banned. If that many people are ranting and raving and making sexually explicit comments, than for the love of everything grow sense and take it off.

My friend had this in his profile, "Anyone with the word 'sniper' in your name YOU'RE A DOUCHE" and was suspended for two weeks. I mean Microsoft does actually take its rules seriously. If enough people complain, they will suspended you.

This is why I'm annoyed, because it's another form of "oh I'm gay, feel sorry for me, it's so hard being gay, you don't understand", I maybe taking it to the extreme there but name me one reason why you would put your sexuality on your Xbox Live profile? There isn't one, at least not a logical reason, but then logics not something alot of people seem to deal in, they just want to be heard. Then when people start calling names and shouting insults(like they inevitably will)then the person can call "victim" and tell daddy to make the bad people go away, not so here. I'm glad Microsoft banned her, those who defend what she did are just as stupid as she was and are just kneejerk reacting without taking a step back and really looking at what's going here.

If I were to parade around telling any and all who would listen that I was black and to accommodate for me in a stereotypically "black way" then they started doing it and I called "victim" then who's fault is it? Mine, and no one elses. She put her info out there for all to see, she deserved the consequences for not following the simple "rule", "people are idiots", even more so over the Internet and Xbox Live. When will people start understanding that? Pretty much never, or until it causes some weak minded soul to commit suicide, but even then the parents, friends and other people will blame "the others". That's right, point the finger at everyone except the person who really matters, you.

 

[keiyakins]

But... their health insurance covers same-sex partners. And they'll pay for SRS too. (All this according to friends I have who work for them.)

Is Microsoft suffering from alien hand syndrome (aka Dr. Strangelove syndrome) or something? >_>

Edit: This is assuming, of course, she wasn't being sexually explicit. Mentioning your sexuality is NOT sexually explicit, and I'm not going to accept that reasoning until Microsoft starts banning [boys/girls] who mention [girlfriends/boyfriends], or express attraction, or such.

This also makes me worry about being on XBL, because my voice is quite masculine and I'm not good at hiding that... people've called me out on TF2 before once or twice. (In confusion, not fear or hatred. 'Wait, you sound like a guy but your name is feminine. What's up with that?'

But I don't have an xbox (nothing on it's attracted my attention enough to justify the price tag) so I guess it really doesn't directly matter.

 

[cobra_ky]

Good sir, oh how you tempt me to put my preference for the "alternative lifestyle" being a dom offers into my Bio field. Oh how you tempt me.

oopsie. i didn't mean to compare bestiality (illegal and gross) with BDSM. (awesome and fun!) i was just trying to draw a distinction between actual sexual content and simply acknowledging sexual preference. the prince kissing snow white is not sexual content. neither is two men kissing.

If I were to parade around telling any and all who would listen that I was black and to accommodate for me in a stereotypically "black way" then they started doing it and I called "victim" then who's fault is it? Mine, and no one elses. She put her info out there for all to see, she deserved the consequences for not following the simple "rule", "people are idiots", even more so over the Internet and Xbox Live.

she didn't "parade it around", she put it in her profile. i'm not even sure how you look at someone else's XBL profile and frankly i've never cared. she certainly didn't expect "accommodation" beyond the same treatment every XBL user gets. i don't understand how she "deserved" the stalking and harrasment she got; to me that seems a bit like blaming a rape victim for dressing sluttily.

 

[WlknCntrdiction]

If I were to parade around telling any and all who would listen that I was black and to accommodate for me in a stereotypically "black way" then they started doing it and I called "victim" then who's fault is it? Mine, and no one elses. She put her info out there for all to see, she deserved the consequences for not following the simple "rule", "people are idiots", even more so over the Internet and Xbox Live.

she didn't "parade it around", she put it in her profile. i'm not even sure how you look at someone else's XBL profile and frankly i've never cared. she certainly didn't expect "accommodation" beyond the same treatment every XBL user gets. i don't understand how she "deserved" the stalking and harrasment she got; to me that seems a bit like blaming a rape victim for dressing sluttily.

Yeah because abuse from people on Xbox Live is in the same league as rape *facepalm*
Ok maybe I'm being a bit harsh(to her I mean)but still what did she think would happen if she put stuff like that up? There's been too many stupid people(in my life and in general)recently who just do my nut in, this is just another shining example of how people can just make me facepalm for the rest of humanity. She was stupid, she paid for it, I'll leave out she deserved it then even though I think she practically invited them to abuse her.
And before you ask(or compare)no I don't think it's the girls fault if she gets raped for dressing slutily, not even sure how you drew that kind of comparison, it's the sick fuck who's got it into their head that it's somehow ok to have sex with a girl against her will. Two uncomparable things.

 

[cobra_ky]

Yeah because abuse from people on Xbox Live is in the same league as rape *facepalm*

of course it's not. i was comparing them on the basis of victim responsibility, nothing more.

Ok maybe I'm being a bit harsh(to her I mean)but still what did she think would happen if she put stuff like that up? There's been too many stupid people(in my life and in general)recently who just do my nut in, this is just another shining example of how people can just make me facepalm for the rest of humanity. She was stupid, she paid for it, I'll leave out she deserved it then even though I think she practically invited them to abuse her.[/quote]

unfortunately that's a risk all homosexuals face in society. Every individual has to make a difficult personal decision about how open they're going to be about their sexuality, knowing that there may be repercussions. i don't see why Microsoft feels the need to make that decision for XBL users.

And before you ask(or compare)no I don't think it's the girls fault if she gets raped for dressing slutily, not even sure how you drew that kind of comparison, it's the sick fuck who's got it into their head that it's somehow ok to have sex with a girl against her will. Two uncomparable things.

and it's the assholes on Xbox Live who got it into their heads to stalk and harass this girl. I draw the comparison because in both cases, the victim is taking an unnecessary risk which increases the odds that they'll be victimized. if you wish, replace "rape" with "sexual harrassment", the argument still stands.

we can agree it's wrong to harass a woman because she's revealing skin, right? then why is it ok to harass a woman because she's revealing her sexual preference? even if he she had announced "i'm a lesbian!!!" loudly over voice chat, as stupid as that would be, it still wouldn't justify what other users did to her.

 

[Anarchy In Detroit]

Everyone on X-Box Live is a fucking dildo anyways.

My name is El Chupacabra X on Live. I've put up with so much racism it's fucking ridiculous, and I'm not even Latino. How come racists aren't banned but someone who merely puts "lesbian," a non-offensive term, in their profile is banned? That's fucking discrimination as far as I'm concerned.

"I don't want my kids to see it!"

You should be more concerned about your dumb fucking kids failing school from too many video games, not something legal that another person does. Over protective parents make me sick.

Anyone want to hound racist hicks and loud mouthed teenagers with me and get em banned?

 

[VanityGirl]

Everyone on X-Box Live is a fucking dildo anyways.

My name is El Chupacabra X on Live. I've put up with so much racism it's fucking ridiculous, and I'm not even Latino. How come racists aren't banned but someone who merely puts "lesbian," a non-offensive term, in their profile is banned? That's fucking discrimination as far as I'm concerned.

"I don't want my kids to see it!"

You should be more concerned about your dumb fucking kids failing school from too many video games, not something legal that another person does. Over protective parents make me sick.

Anyone want to hound racist hicks and loud mouthed teenagers with me and get em banned?

First off, don't put the words "racist" and "hicks" together, because that is sterotyping. And loud mouthers are just teenagers, you're forgetting the preteens and even stupid adults on video games.

Secondlyyyyy, a person can and will get banned from XBL if they have too many complaints. Ever see the rep bar on XBL? Yeah, if your rep gets too low, your account will be banned. Also, if a person has recieved multiple complaints in a short amount of time, then XBL will suspend that person.
Some people are stupid though. I know what a chupacabra is, and I'm not Hispanic.

Now, if you ask me, if she were to just say "I love Jane" or somethin like that, it might have not been a big deal. I mean, I'm a heterosexual, but I didn't put, "Hey I'm straight" on my profile. Do you know how much harassment I would have recieved had I put that on there?
I mean, com'on guys/girls/in betweens, you don't put that stuff on your profile and not expect some douchebag to flame the shinanegans out of you.

and it's the assholes on Xbox Live who got it into their heads to stalk and harass this girl. I draw the comparison because in both cases, the victim is taking an unnecessary risk which increases the odds that they'll be victimized. if you wish, replace "rape" with "sexual harrassment", the argument still stands.

we can agree it's wrong to harass a woman because she's revealing skin, right? then why is it ok to harass a woman because she's revealing her sexual preference? even if he she had announced "i'm a lesbian!!!" loudly over voice chat, as stupid as that would be, it still wouldn't justify what other users did to her.

Ahem, this kind of thing (the rape thing) has been discussed in another thread. Actually, regardless of what a woman is wearing, she can still be raped. In Muslim countries, women decked out from head to toe are still raped. It's not a matter of revealing skin all the time, I'm beginning to wonder why people think that. Women who are walking home from work in full business outfits (like dress pants, dress jacket) are raped in America as well as slutty girls.

While it would be WRONG to harass a person for what they wear, whether it be slutty clothes or gay pride on their shoulders, the person should know before hand what they're getting themselves into. I also made a comment on that above, but just in case, I'll restate it.
My XBL name is VanityGirl, I sometimes get perverted and douchebag messages, that's fine. Butttt.... has I put in my bio, "I'm straight", I would have been harassed 10 fold. The more you reveal about yourself to strangers, the more things they will have to say against you.