Microsoft and the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) have both posted articles on the current issue of Xbox Live’s policy of not allowing the expression of sexual preferences on the service, after a lesbian woman was banned from the service recently for displaying her sexuality in her profile.
“We’re truly in a new era,” GLAAD said on the issue. “And with new technologies, come new challenges. LGBT people have fought hard for years to come out of real-world closets – we’re not willing to accept virtual ones.”
Xbox Live moderation boss Stephen Toulouse responded to the issue last night, and explained why the policy existed in the first place; apparently, 95% of the time that the word “gay” is used on Xbox Live, it’s intended as a slur.
“We’re not some monolithic corporation trying to establish social mores,” he said.
“We’re not enforcing censorship or bigotry. In fact harassment of gamers of any type be it homophobia or racism or other, is expressly forbidden and my team will take action against it, up to and including a permanent ban.
“It’s a tough problem, but for the past few months we’ve been engaged with internal and external community representatives to help solve it. I don’t have anything to announce about it other than we’re working to try and provide the capability for people to more clearly express themselves in ways that are difficult to misuse.”
It’s definitely encouraging to see Microsoft respond to this in an honest fashion, and trying to make moves to fix the problem. Lets hope this dirty mess sorts itself out soon, for the sake of both sides.
