Discrimination on Xbox Live
Feb. 27th, 2009 05:27 amBizarre discovery of the morning:
The Consumerist reports that Xbox Live is adamantly opposed to people identifying their sexual orientation in their profile. This is supported to such an extreme extent that a real-life Mr. Richard Gaywood was required to pick a new usertag instead of using his own last name (although he was happy to provide documentation demonstrating that yes, it really was his real last name).
http://consumerist.com/5008908/gay-player-name-banned-by-xbox-live
http://consumerist.com/tag/banned/?i=5010226&t=xbox-live-decides-your-surname-is-offensive-because-it-contains-the-letters-g+a+y
http://consumerist.com/5010527/microsoft-confirms-gaywood-is-an-offensive-surname-mr-gaywood-responds
http://consumerist.com/5160187/identifying-yourself-as-a-lesbian-gets-you-banned-on-xbox-live
http://consumerist.com/5161145/microsofts-policy-regarding-identifying-sexual-orientation-on-xbox-live
I used to work with a Ms. Hrdlicka. I wonder how Microsoft would handle that particular last name as an ID tag?
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[Edit] Update: It turns out that Microsoft has been in active discussion since the beginning of this year with GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) about how their policies affect the LGBT community. Further, both Microsoft and Sony have stated that their language and profile policies were created to help protect people against homophobic and racist attacks. Further details available:
http://glaadblog.org/2009/02/26/xbox-live-homophobia-and-online-gaming-policy/
Thanks very much to
bkdelong for drawing this to my attention. (Pity Slashdot wasn't also linking into GLAAD when I spotted the original article!)
The Consumerist reports that Xbox Live is adamantly opposed to people identifying their sexual orientation in their profile. This is supported to such an extreme extent that a real-life Mr. Richard Gaywood was required to pick a new usertag instead of using his own last name (although he was happy to provide documentation demonstrating that yes, it really was his real last name).
http://consumerist.com/5008908/gay-player-name-banned-by-xbox-live
http://consumerist.com/tag/banned/?i=5010226&t=xbox-live-decides-your-surname-is-offensive-because-it-contains-the-letters-g+a+y
http://consumerist.com/5010527/microsoft-confirms-gaywood-is-an-offensive-surname-mr-gaywood-responds
http://consumerist.com/5160187/identifying-yourself-as-a-lesbian-gets-you-banned-on-xbox-live
http://consumerist.com/5161145/microsofts-policy-regarding-identifying-sexual-orientation-on-xbox-live
I used to work with a Ms. Hrdlicka. I wonder how Microsoft would handle that particular last name as an ID tag?
-----------------
[Edit] Update: It turns out that Microsoft has been in active discussion since the beginning of this year with GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) about how their policies affect the LGBT community. Further, both Microsoft and Sony have stated that their language and profile policies were created to help protect people against homophobic and racist attacks. Further details available:
http://glaadblog.org/2009/02/26/xbox-live-homophobia-and-online-gaming-policy/
Thanks very much to
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