Girl banned from Xbox LIVE for being lesbian

http://kotaku.com/5160595/xbox-live-sadly-no-place-for-lesbian-gamers

I think this is absolutely terrible. Instead of banning the people who constantly harrassed this girl, they instead ban her; as far as we know, she just mentioned she was a lesbian in her profile. Nothing offensive. Microsoft claims that they would do the same for anyone who has something about their sexual orientation in their profile, but... I personally find that really hard to believe. What if a male put "loves his girlfriend" in his profile? I highly doubt it would cause a ban for that player.

I saw a lot of comments on Kotaku about things like, "It had no place in her profile!" or "It's her fault she got harassed, she said it!" but... that's just making excuses, in my opinion. A profile is a place to put what you want to express yourself as long as it's not meant to offend anyone; having something like "I'm lesbian" could just be her way of expressing herself.

I've seen potentially offensive names on Xbox LIVE before, yet of all the things that get banned, THIS is it?

What are your guys' thoughts?

 

I don't think anybody should be banned from Xbox live based on,what gender you like.That goes along with racism,and religious matters.I can't believe them.

 

I think that that's really stupid and unfair.
Just because she's a lesbian, really?

I mean, I've been on Xbox LIVE several times and I really doubt what she did is as offensive as the majority of things done and said there.

I think that it's just because a big deal was made out of it and a lot of people were involved. They probably just didn't want to deal with all of that so they banned her which I believe is wrong.
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I do not agree with this because it is a form of persecution. However, Microsoft had the final say in this matter

In my opinion this is crap. People are entitled to believe whatever they want to believe or like whomever they desire and should not face persecution.

 

o....k, that's just down right ******ed. They're more worried about someone saying that they are a gay or they are a lesbian than little kids playing shooting games where you can snap peoples necks and shoot their heads off. >.>

 

harassement seems more wrong than being a lesbian. i really hate it when the victims are punished rather than the people who victimized them. i dont' know if Xbox LIVE has rules against harrasement but it's wrong if it is or is not a rule and i dont' like how it seems like the harrasers (probably not a real word) seemed to have gotten away scott free.

 

That is both racist and sexist. She should do something about that. Banning something for announcing something as small as that is duisgusting and cruel​

 

Well, Xbox live isnt a datingplace, so I dont see why anyone should put his/her sexual orientation there. Though banning her was stupid. They should have given a warning or maybe they did then thats ok.

Maybe someone threatened Microsoft or whatever and they saw the easiest way was to ban her.. I think usually they think ban is the easiest way. They are lazy to sort out any invidual cases :P

 

While the banning was unecessary and her harrassers should have been banned instead, it would have been a non issue if she wasn't blatantly advertising her orientation.

 

Richard Gaywood was also banned due to his name. That's his real name, he supplied proof, but he can't use it.

 

XBoX Live should have banned the offenders instead. I do think this is wrong. I've played on Halo games and been ..well not astonished.. but just kind of surprised at the crap the players will say to one another. There are a lot of things not monitored on XBoX Live and just because someone puts in a profile their sexual orientation, it seems rather childish to ban that while others are running around calling people all sorts of profane stuff.

I will say though that I do think it's also kind of silly though to put in her profile that she is a lesbian. Like others are going to put in their profiles that they are heterosexual or whatever. It's not a reason to ban her but still, it seems she wanted some attention and received some ill attention for it.

 

I think this is about the freedom of speach. What can a person say to one another? In example personal opinions are usually the ones that wont get touched by the staff.

The Gaywood thing was kinda odd

 

While, technically, this is not illegal, as it is a private service run, owned, and paid for by Microsoft, and therefore they do have the last say... it is rather pathetic. Why can we humans not leave people we don't like alone? If she wants to be lesbian, let her. The only people who should have commented on it should have been people with similar interests or supporting words. It's like your parents say when you're young: "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." She should not have been banned, not for that.

Well, technically, people on a public forum or community online have no rights except the ones the administrators give them. I see this kind of comment almost daily on the Runescape forums - unless the mods want you to have freedom of speech, you don't have it. Especially on multinational communities, since not every member nation has that freedom. It sucks, but there it is.

 

And what happened to the players that harrased her?

 

They got funded of course $____$

 

Damn... I feel bad for that girl. As if it is forbidden to say you're gay.

 

Yep. I can't make a profile and annouce how flamboyantly gay I am, but I can go onto a Halo game on live and scream "Gay ******s! Go take it up the arse!" at anyone who shoots me.

Double standards ftw.

 

OMG i completely agree with that. they should really be watching these 12 year old kids that can walk into a gamestop and buy an M rated game. rediculous.

 

Wow. That's an instant law suit right there. I mean, cmon, really, all cuz she said that she was a lesbian she got banned? So what does that mean, if I put down that I'm straight, then will I also be banned?

 

It's not sue-able since it's a privately owned forum/game/community. Free enterprise guarantees that. The only rights anyone has on there (or here, or anywhere) is what the admins want you to have.