A gay gamer with the gamertag “theGAYERgamer” has had his name banned from Xbox Live for being “offensive.” As we all know, Xbox Live is a hotbed of homophobia, but it seems that if enough bigots raise the alarm, they will be appeased.
I have had a bad morning. Last night when i tried to sign into my xbox live account “thegayergamer” I was told that it had to be changed. I figured that it was just from people reporting it as an offensive name being that the greater Xbox live community isn’t exactly welcome to gay people, i spend a lot of time muting people on Halo3. I assumed that once i called Microsoft they would straighten things out.
I talked to a supervisor there, Roxy, who told me that she didn’t personally find the fact that my gamer tag had gay in the name offensive, but that the greater Xbox community did, so i would have to change it. I hope I’m not the only person who finds this don’t ask, don’t tell policy disgusting… eek.
So, even if Microsoft employees don’t find a name offensive, they will take it down if enough people whine about it. Of course, it’s not certain whether people complained because they thought the name was homophobic, or if they were themselves homophobes who were offended because of “dem darn faggits on mah Live,” but given Xbox Live’s majority clientèle … I think we can more or less rule out the former case.
That’s just sad. While I don’t agree with one advertising their sexuality (I don’t scream mine from the rooftops unwarranted), one should have a right to do it if they wish. The man wants us to know he’s a gayer gamer than everybody else, so he should be able to tell us. It’s a shame that small-minded idiots on Xbox Live can have their way instead.
