XBOX Live bans gay gamer

Xbox Live bans gay gamer, uproar ensues
Microsoft apologizes for 'inelegant' policies.
By Ben Silverman
ADVERTISEMENT



Even in video game cyberspace, sexual preference is a hot-button issue.
According to a report by The Consumerist, an Xbox 360 gamer had her service suspended after identifying herself as a lesbian in her Xbox Live profile. The woman told the site that she was "harassed by several players" and "chased to different maps/games" once they caught wind of her sexual orientation. After those offended notified Microsoft, the company banned her account.
Gamers were outraged, prompting Microsoft to issue a terse apology by way of Stephen Toulouse, program manager for policy and enforcement on Xbox Live.

Persona Non Grata On Xbox Live?
"It is true that as a matter of policy, the expression of relationship preference in Gamertag profiles and tags is not allowed across the board, whether that's heterosexual or other," he told MTV. He went on to add that they were "looking into that policy," which he further deemed "inelegant."
Initially intended to curb the derogatory use of words like "gay," Microsoft's sexuality policy empowers the company to suspend any account that includes words related to sexual orientation in an Xbox Live nickname or profile. It's landed the company in hot water before, most recently when it led to the banning of a man simply trying to use his legal name, Richard Gaywood.
Toulouse went on to tell MTV that the company doesn't abide by user harassment, either, and urged anyone facing such abuse to file a complaint