A lesbian user of Microsoft’s Xbox Live service has been banned for identifying herself as such in her user profile. She sent an e-mail to The Consumerist, saying that she was “harassed by several players” and “chased to different maps/games” by the people harassing her. Known as “Teresa”, she claims that “Xbox Live did nothing to solve this, but instead said others found it offensive.”
Instead of banning the people that were harassing and using derogatory language towards Teresa, Microsoft banned her account. In a statement to Business Insider responding to the controversy, Microsoft stated their broad policy of banning accounts that contain content that is “potentially sexual nature” (ed. emphasis added):
“As stated in the Xbox LIVE Terms of Use, a member may not create a gamertag or use text in other profile fields that include comments that look, sound like, stand for, hint at, abbreviate, or insinuate content of a potentially sexual nature. Profiles that do are asked to change the language and suspended until changes are made. In regards to sexual orientation, for gamertags or profiles we do not allow expression of any type of orientation, be that hetero or other. Players can, however, self identify in voice communication where context is more easily explained to all players involved.”
