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    Xbox Live is Microsoft's online gaming service.

    Further proof that XBL is a cesspool of biggots, hate, censorship

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    Hexpane

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    #1  Edited By Hexpane

    (Former) Xbox Live gamer Teresa found herself on the receiving end of a ban from the service for a surprising reason. She identified herself as a lesbian in her Live profile.

    That resulted in a ban from the service after her Xbox Live peers complained about her profile, according to a letter to the Consumerist.

    It's not like we haven't heard this before. Microsoft has issued bans to players in the past for expressing their sexual preferences in Gamertags, but this is the first we've heard of profile info at the root cause of being kicked off Live.

    Microsoft has gone on record in the past about its policy, saying that it's not limited to Gamertags of homosexual nature.

    "Yes 'TheStraighterGamer' or 'TheHeterosexualgamer' would have gotten the same treatment and would have been found to be in violation and forced to be changed," wrote Microsoft reps following previous incidents.

    Perhaps more alarming than someone being banned for their expression of sexual preference was how this particular gamer was treated by the gaming public.

    Teresa tells the Consumerist "I was harassed by several players, 'chased' to different maps/games to get away from their harassment. They followed me into the games and told all the other players to turn me in because they didn't want to see that crap or their kids to see that crap."

    Five minutes worth of interaction with the general Xbox Live population will get the point across—they don't care for "the gays." But does the policy go too far in one sense, not far enough in another?

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    weltal

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    #2  Edited By weltal

    There needed to be further proof?

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    deactivated-5d7bd9e4bef30

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    Man, I should change my Live profile to bring the attention to people that I'm a dendrophile.

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    Hexpane

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    #4  Edited By Hexpane
    TeflonBilly said:
    "Man, I should change my Live profile to bring the attention to people that I'm a dendrophile.
    "
    J ALlard would ban you for being t3h sexy!  ONly trailer trash racists and kiddie rappers allowed on XBL! na0 w/ penis pics while playing uno!  But how DARE anyone describe themselves as a lesbian!
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    Hitchenson

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    #5  Edited By Hitchenson

    I know a guy called 'PrinceOfJews' why doesn't he get banned?
    (Because it's hilarious, thats why! xD)
    Seriously though, you can't say just XBL is like this. Pretty much all online services are...

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    AvD

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    #6  Edited By AvD

    I'm all for equal rights and everything but to me stating your sexual preference on XBL is irrelevant and seems like a cry for attention.  Not to turn a blind eye to all the ignorant, hateful dialog found when gaming online, but if you know that it's a cesspool for biggots, hate and censorship than saying you're a lesbian in your profile or gamertag is asking for harrassment.  That being said, people do need to grow up but I can't blame M$ for taking action.

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    PureRok

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    #7  Edited By PureRok
    AvD said:
    "I'm all for equal rights and everything but to me stating your sexual preference on XBL is irrelevant and seems like a cry for attention.  Not to turn a blind eye to all the ignorant, hateful dialog found when gaming online, but if you know that it's a cesspool for biggots, hate and censorship than saying you're a lesbian in your profile or gamertag is asking for harrassment.  That being said, people do need to grow up but I can't blame M$ for taking action.
    "
    That's exactly what I was thinking. There's no reason to put your sexual preference anywhere in there. It's a network for gaming, not for finding partners.
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    End_Boss

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    #8  Edited By End_Boss
    AvD said:
    "I'm all for equal rights and everything but to me stating your sexual preference on XBL is irrelevant and seems like a cry for attention."
    I would agree with this if she expressed that she was gay in her Gamertag, but she didn't. She put it in her profile, where it asks you to describe yourself. Though I wouldn't necessarily state my sexual orientation myself, I can see how other people consider it to be a defining factor. As far as the article states she didn't hop into games going "hey look at my profile, 'cause I'm gay." These people voluntarily clicked through to her profile and, honestly... I've seen things way more deserving of a ban than "I'm a lesbian" on XBL bios.
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    LiveOrDie1212

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    #9  Edited By LiveOrDie1212

    XBL=Socialism. hell, maybe even Communism...

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    TheHBK

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    #10  Edited By TheHBK

    Yeah, I mean, you said it yourself MS treats everyone the same, you cant be putting sexual refrences of any kind in there.  Its a violation of the ToS.  Also, thats the way people are, why the fuck would you think it is a good idea to put that in your gamer tag?  Its like you are asking to get harassed, even though it shouldnt happen.  The other thing is why exactly are you putting that in there?  I don't like that people feel the need to express useless shit in their profiles that has nothing to do with the games they play or really who they are, putting in that they are a lesbian just seems like some conceited effort to be proud or some shit, we should all be equal, that means I don't have to flaunt around that I am straight.  Either you play good games or no, why the fuck do I need to know you are a lesbian?
    Also, man, lesbian gamers are pretty butch, I saw this one bitch at the Best Buy the other day looking for a particular joy stick for a flight game i would assume, and she was nasty as hell, like I have seen guys prettier than that beast, just fucked up in every sense of the word.  I am not saying women always have to be super hot, just shit man, if you don't take care of yourself in the most basic way, what does that say about you?

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    Lieutenant

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    #11  Edited By Lieutenant

    I'm not against gay/lesbian rights but you're just asking for trouble for putting that in your profile.

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    HandsomeDead

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    #12  Edited By HandsomeDead
    TheHBK said:
    "I don't like that people feel the need to express useless shit in their profiles that has nothing to do with the games they play or really who they are, putting in that they are a lesbian just seems like some conceited effort to be proud or some shit, we should all be equal, that means I don't have to flaunt around that I am straight."
    You've never been in a minority that's persecuted against for being straight so you have no need to try and feel proud about it.
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    mike

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    #13  Edited By mike

    Where did you copy & paste this from?

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    crunchUK

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    #14  Edited By crunchUK

    i find this a bit retarded


    i mean, saying "o hai im a lesbian" is just.................. come on wtf was she thinking.

     Guess what i was playing halo 3 the other day and met some nice people. amazing right? we partied up and played 7 more games, and had lots of fun until they said they had to go. they are now both on my friends list.

    And guess further what, i have similarly good experiences with people on live pretty much every time i put some playtime in there, i think a lot of live complainers must be doing something badly wrong. That or they're complaining for the sake of complaining.

    iknorite

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    deactivated-5d7bd9e4bef30

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    I've actually only ever had one bad Live experience and he didn't even have a mic.

    I was playing Left 4 Dead and this asshole kept playing badly and shooting us when, so instead of just kicking him we chased him down into some storage area, gunned him down till he was incapacitated and closed the dorr leaving him at the mercy to the horde, Then when he showed up in the hero closet we didn't let him out and eventually he left.

    Of course Halo 3 is full of prepubescent little shits being ignorant as hell, but that really doesn't bother me. Comes with the territory. Though playing COD4 with my friends and then having people call us gay and just playing along with it (Well in one of my friends case he isn't playing, just amping up his gayness) is an awesome way to freak out these homophobic little shits.

    A game I've actually had extremely good experiences with has been Street Fighter IV. All from post match props to giving out tips about how to better your or your opponents skills is all I've ever wanted online gaming to be. The closest to something mean I've gotten there was a mmessage where a guy was making fun of me since he beat me as Dan. It was a pretty funny message though, so I couldn't get mad.

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    Bullet_Jr

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    #16  Edited By Bullet_Jr

    She shoulda known better. Girls online have a hard enough time as it is trying to fit in.

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    Jayge_

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    vidiot

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    #18  Edited By vidiot
    MB said:
    "Where did you copy & paste this from?
    "
    It's on Kotaku.

    I would like to see her original bio description so I can get a better understanding over what offended who.Just sayingyour a "lesbian" doesn't cut it for me regarding a ban. Justifying the undeniably ignorant portion of xbox live, that everyone has run into once and a while here, giving them any form of voice or justification will only make Live a worse experience.

    Unless her Bio was something like: "I want to kill straight people", then she got what she deserved :P
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    WilliamRLBaker

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    #19  Edited By WilliamRLBaker

    Thats right no other service, no other part of online has this problem.
    Infact nothing besides xbox live has this, real life doesn't even have this, Real life was happy and cheery flowers and butterflies Xbox live is the source of all evil in the universe.

    *rolls eyes* psn is the exact same way but because of the deficet of mics *current numbers by sony 20 million psn, psp, playstaiton.com accounts* thats 20 million users with only about 1000 with mics so we dont hear about this stuff but i do remember all the harrasment on home where if you had a girl avatar you had no choice but to have 50 million guys dance ontop of you..ect
    The internet is the exact same way.
    Hexpane you make it out that only xbox live is this way.
    P.S: its not censorship censorship is part of the public sector you don't have to sign up for xbox live its a private network.

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    TheGreatGuero

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    #20  Edited By TheGreatGuero

    Uhh... since when did XBL's population of horny, desperate, nerdy guys stop liking lesbians? Usually whenever I'm in a game and a girl even so much as speaks, all the other guys get all excited and try to flirt with her.

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    Lieutenant

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    #21  Edited By Lieutenant
    MB said:
    "Where did you copy & paste this from?
    "
    If you're talking about the OP, then Kotaku.
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    suneku

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    #22  Edited By suneku

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