I don't think this will come as a surprise to anyone who has stepped into a multiplayer game of Halo or Gears of War recently, but the word gay is thrown around a lot and it isn't used as a compliment or a neutral adjective to describe someone's sexual orientation. No, it's used as an insult, and according to Stephen Toulouse, Xbox LIVE's head of policy and enforcement, it is used as an insult 98 percent of the time whether that be verbally or in someone's Gamertag.
Of course the issue of referring to one's sexuality in a Gamertag has come up a few times before, and as of right now it is against the rules to do so. "The overall policy we have today is that the expression of sexual orientation in a Gamertag or text field is not allowed," he told Kotaku yesterday before hosting a panel on the issue at EA. "That doesn't matter what the orientation is." Oh, really? That is funny because I had my text fields literally saying I was straight for about five months and heard nary a word for Microsoft. I guess they didn't get too many complaints on that one.
Still, Microsoft sees the issue with banning someone because of their sexual orientation and is hoping to change it by working with GLAAD and other groups to figure out a way that people can represent who they are without also allowing hate speech to overflow LIVE. "We recognize that the policy is not just that some communities feel like they are being targeted," he said. "Our challenge is how to (change the policy). We are working on that now."
It's good to hear that Microsoft is working on this as I don't believe the argument that people shouldn't express who they are just because it has to do with sexuality. The real issue however is the 98 percent of the time when the word gay (or worse) is thrown around as an insult or a negative term. I'm not proud to say that I use to do it too in order to describe things I didn't like and I know a plethora of Dtoiders who also do it -- Dtoiders who I would never label as homophobic. I'll just pose the question my freshman year roommate posed to me that got me to stop using gay as a negative adjective: "Why are you using gay as a synonym for bad? Do you think gay people are bad, evil or wrong?"
Matthew Razak is Destructoid's Associate editor and co-founder of film site
Flixist. He began as community member "cowzilla" and was since sequestered to write brainy features material. He lives in Los Angeles with his beautiful wife.
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Contest:
8:00 AM on 07.19.2009
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Also if you're black or white.
Democrat or republican.
Pizza or hamburger.
@ wedge
I think you got it down to a science.
That even Microsoft has not been able to decode.
They are worried about bombings at their Seattle HQ from ppl in SanFan. IMO.
Why? What relevance does it have to gaming? Xbox LIVE is not a dating system, it doesn't matter whether people are gay, straight or have sex with barn animals. I don't care, people use LIVE to play games.
The only thing Microsoft need to do is address the number of gutter mouthed idiots on their network.
Bad jokes aside, I think a lot of words will come up as used in a negative way. I'm pretty sure no one is using the word "Mom" in a positive way.
GLAAD and the rest of these gay groups need to stop bitching. This is no different than saying other expletives or other insulting stuff people can say.
There's more to it than just saying the majority of people saying 'gay' are using it as an insult. How are they using it as an insult? Are they saying it jokingly? Is it to a friend or a stranger? Are they saying it while spitting in rage down their mics, or are they calm and having a laugh?
The fact of the matter is, when most people say words like 'gay' or 'retard' they aren't thinking of homosexuals or mentally handicapped people. These words have just become generic insults.
I've had black people on live call me 'nigga' I highly doubt they trying to insult their race in that instance.
People these days get way too upset about words. If you don't give the words power, then they have no affect on you.
98% of the use of the word "gay" on Live may be in the negative sense, but I bet 98% of it is also being done by kids, 98% of which are not making any sort of homosexual connotation when they say it.
Thank you, Louis CK.
I still feel sort of bad about slinging it around though
PPL playing Halo online started a whole new way to play your favorite games... The wrong way.
Now step up to the plate Microsoft no "crouching buttons" in Online Games! You heard it here first guys. Before Mums/Moms/GFs/Daughters/Women Activist Groups everywhere take offense!!!
/sarcasm
I got nothing against gay people and I don't think they are evil (i do think they are wrong but that is just because i ain't gay so i can't think they got it right now do I?)As long as they keep their gayness at a normal level i got nothing against gay people, but as soon as you start dressing like a bird, doing gay parades and protest your gayness in my face i feel the need to smack you over the melon!
Do you see straight people doing parades? NO so do your gay shit but keep it at a normal level!
http://www.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=doc&id=29029&cn=10
But seriously, I never take it as an insult even though it is meant to be one. As in real life it is NOT an insult, Why should anyone care if someone thinks they are gay?
I think the Gay and the 'N' word, along with 'Jew', are the ones the kids love to throw about for some reason. I think it is directly related with there low level of I.Q. how many times they use each word when they are getting "PWNED" like the little "NOOB" they are.
BTW My best mate is Gay and I have no problems with it at all (I didn't even know he was for the 1st 6yrs I knew him as He is not camp at all - another failed stereotype).
All the clowns who "think it's wrong to be gay" are the same silly mentally retarded people that suffer from the mental illness called "religion". Get a life you mentally retarded clowns... who you trying to kid.. It's worse than LSD that crap.
Church of the flying spaghetti monster FTW!!!!!!oneoneoneeleventyonezzzz
Banning hate speech is a horrible idea, and while Microsoft is in the 'private' realm it STILL shouldn't bar on freedom of speech. I really don't see a difference between this and the 'idiot' name calling. After all, I'm sure there are plenty of Xbox Live users that fall in the 70-85 IQ range, and we all know that intelligence quotient, like sexual orientation, is not something which is mutable. I don't see 'border-line' Xbox Live users up in arms about 'retard' or 'idiot' or any of the other pejorative terms assigned to border-line (or lower) individuals.
Seriously, I'm always astonished by these posts wherein D-toiders, who seem to consider themselves a cut above other gaming forums riddled with douchebags, expose themselves as just a immature, vile, and homophobic as the people who make Live so fucking annoying. Guess what guys? You're just as bad.
Stop for a second and consider the most offensive thing you could hear. Now imagine hearing it every time you go online to relax and play a game. Now consider why defending or tolerating this behavior is so damn destructive.
It's not necessarily about right or wrong. It's not about your own opinion on homosexuality. It's an issue of respect on an incredibly basic level. Either you respect people or you don't. Either you use 'gay' negatively or call someone a faggot, or you don't.
You don't turn off your straightness when you turn on your gaming console, so why expect QGLBT gamers to do the same? I don't stop being a homosexual when I game. And that's why my sexuality is relevent. I don't stop being offended by homophobic assholes when I game, just as you don't suddenly become asexual when you game. You're still straight, I'm still gay, and that's relevant when we game.
I applaud places like GayGamer.net that truly offer a safe place for QGLBT gamers. It's not much to ask for a place where I don't see the word 'gay' used negatively or see the word 'faggot' thrown around with no regard to how it makes people feel. I only wish that sites like D-toid, which ironically considers itself a friend to GayGamer, would address homophobia among its own members and readers.
Your comment is pretty ignorant in itself.
But, I think people are trying to downplay it a bit because 98% of the xbox live community aren't adolescents. It's an issue because there is a double standard here that you're not allowed to say that you are homosexual, but it's ok to be used an insult.
Calling someone gay as an insult has everything to do with the sexual orientation or else it would have never been used in the context that's it's being used in.
Microsoft brought this on themselves by banning people who were only expressing themselves and I see no problem with expressing yourself in a way that doesn't hurt anyone else. Declaring your orientation in your xbox live profile is not harming anyone but the ignorant.
I'm sure Microsoft will have some sort of quota so they don't lose too much money.
But your drug of choice is perfectly okay? Or proclaiming that you smash skulls?
I see no reason why a gamertag like Killa420_P.S.homo should not be allowed.
It floors me when straight people say things like "i ain't got nothin' against gays but they should keep them shits to themselves" or "i don't use the word gay/fag in a homophobic way, so they should just grow some balls, man."
Can you imagine, for a second, the curiously aggressive use of homophobic slander on Xbox Live having everything to do with a substantial part of your identity? Have you been in that position or even considered what it would be like? If not... well, keep your trap shut? Cause, you don't know what you're talking about, really, and you can't realize how poorly a statistic like this reflects on the entire gamer culture. like box lobster said, it's about respect on a very basic level.
The English language has a number of other words without a similar history that could be used. I don't know anyone who is going to be impressed by my use of three and four letter word insults simply because I have neither the capacity nor the compassion to overcome baser instincts and insult my online opponents out of frustration.
As self-serving and pompous as it may sound, I simply want to hold myself to a higher standard than that.
Imagine someone's being a douche. Call them a racist! They don't even have to be doing anything racist. Watch them get defensive and give yourself ten points.
Round two: someone just killed you as you were spawning? What a pedophile! Hey everyone, I just hacked this guy's computer and it was filled with childporn! some of it was even homemade. He rapes his own children! 200 points.
Round three: Angry for no reason at all? Struggling to get by in life without throwing the word "gay" around anymore? Try this one "did you just say you beat your girlfriend? Is that her crying in the back?"
So, as you can see, insulting gay people (even if you're doing it inadvertently because you don't realize how fucking ignorant you are, STOP TRYING TO JUSTIFY YOURSELF AND JUST CHANGE)... isn't the only way to survive on xbox live. I've just offered three new ways to insult people. And there's actually a lot of room for improvisation with my method. Instead of targeting a group of people who have, frankly, suffered enough, why not pick a group that truly deserves it? Call all your enemies gaybashers, racists, bigots, sexists or Quebecois. A new kind of flame war emerges.