A female gamer named Theresa was recently harassed on Xbox for identifying herself as a lesbian. When she complained to Microsoft, they banned her because other gamers found her sexual orientation "offensive."
Theresa identified herself on her profile as a lesbian. When other players saw she was gay, they chased her to other games to harass her. They encouraged others to report her to Microsoft so they wouldn't have to see her or have their children playing the games see a lesbian. She was repeatedly insulted and called homophobic slurs.
But rather than stop those harassing her, Microsoft suspended Theresa's account because she self-identified as a lesbian and her sexual orientation was considered "offensive" to the XBox community.
Theresa describes the incident in The Consumerist, "My account was suspended because I had said in my profile that I was a lesbian. 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. My account was suspended and xbox live did nothing to solve this, but instead said others found it offensive."
This is not the first time a player has been banned because the word "gay" appears in their tag or profile. In 2008, "theGAYERgamer" was banned because the "greater Xbox community" was offended by the name. Another person was banned for an offensive tag, but in this case the man's name was "Richard Gaywood." Even though it was his real name, his account was suspended anyway because it included the word "gay."
Stephen Toulouse, program manager for policy and enforcement on Xbox Live, told MTV News, "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." But the reason there is a policy against the use of terms about sexual orientation is not to prevent people from self-identifying. Rather, 95 to 98 percent of the time the word "gay" is used in XBox it is negatively. The policy was creating to keep people from using terms like "gay" as insults in the heat of a game. Toulouse also said they are currently looking into the existing policy.
Since Theresa's statements in The Consumerist, her account has not been reinstated. Toulouse says he is aware of the post and her statements but has not been able to take any action as of yet.
