dichotomy We're all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars. (Oscar Wilde)

Nachdem Microsoft sich nun mal wieder hübsch homophob betätigt hat, indem sie eine Lesbe gebannt haben, weil sie ihre sexuelle Orientierung angab, gibt’s nun auf lesbiangamers.com einen offenen Brief an MS:

Open Letter To Microsoft

In light of the recent banning of a lesbian gamer on the Xbox Live platform, we would like to raise this issue directly with you at Microsoft as a collective unit in the gaming community. Although the ban has been acknowledged by yourselves as a clear mistake, it does highlight an integral issue that exists within not only your Xbox Live Policy, but the wider issue of abuse and homophobia reporting on XBL in general. Identifying that there is an inherent issue with current policy is only the first step in renewing confidence in the multitude of GLBT gamers who use the Xbox Live service regularly.

After the ensuing furore over the ban of Teresa for identifying herself as a lesbian in her profile, we conducted our own investigation into existing Xbox Live Gamertags to see if the policy was inclusive of anyone using words that outline their sexuality. The idea behind the Policy, that aims to prevent discrimination for homosexuals online, actually does very little to protect them. Our brief investigation highlighted the following Gamertags: IamStraight, Hetero, HeteroLifeMates, Metrosexual, Straight1, SexEmUp, poofterh8r, GayBaishnig, LesbianKILR, Queerkillah and DYKESMASHER. The list is in no way exhaustive, but highlights that there are numerous Gamertags in use that not only identify people due to their sexuality, but also in many cases are actively hateful towards particular groups. Clearly this is an extremely important issue that require urgent action on the behalf of Microsoft. It is simply NOT acceptable to ostracize gay and lesbian members of XBL or to make them feel inferior to others who use the service.

In order to rectify the situation, it would appear that the question of context should become the primary focus of your policy. Using a text analysis to scour for words is an antiquated technology that has no concept of meaning. The only way forward is to actively employ individuals to monitor not only Xbox Live Gamertags, but also Profiles and general behaviour. We have heard of numerous occasions where individuals have been abused for stating they’re gay and when this is reported, Microsoft have done nothing to the abusers. It is ridiculous that due to your technology someone is banned for saying they are gay or lesbian in their profile. This inconsistency does nothing for consumer confidence in Microsoft and it is imperative that you deal with this matter effectively, efficiently and as quickly as possible.

There are a vast community of gay and lesbian gamers out there who would be more than happy to provide you with ideas or alternatives on your current system. Speaking to those who have suffered homophobic slurs or who are afraid to be who they are openly and safely on Xbox Live is extremely important. Understanding context and using it with care and consideration will be what renews the GLBT community’s belief in Microsoft.

Ob’s was bringt? Ich weiss es nicht. Ich weiss nur, dass ich mir sicher keine XBox zulegen werde.

Langsam sammelt sich zu der Thematik einiges bei mir an …

• Keine Regenbögen mehr in Azeroth
• Regenbögen in Azeroth, Teil II
• Schwule XBox
• Sony’s Gay Station 3

Traurig, aber wahr.