An open letter to Microsoft

Remember we said we were writing that letter to MS? Well the dust is starting to settle a little and MS got all PR guns a blazing over the Teresa incident, so we’ve decided to not let anger shine through our words. You will find the letter after the jump. Please remember, though we appreciate some people are irate (to say the least judging from some emails we’ve had), this needs to be handled in a diplomatic and helpful manner. We hope that’s what we’ve done.

Those other sites / people that approached us to be added to this letter will be added once they’ve had the time to read it and get back to us. If you want your site to be added, contact us or tell us in the comments. We’d also like readership input in the comments. We’ll then send it to 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.

8 Responses to “An open letter to Microsoft”

1. Cruxie says:

   March 2, 2009 at 7:33 am

   Sounds perfect. I hope all the other queer sites {gaming or not} get on this with you guys.
   Let them have it!
2. Lou says:

   March 2, 2009 at 9:29 am

   Sum of those gamertags might not be live any more because of the lack of NXE avatars. Sad they were obviously allowed in the first place.
   Iamstraight is a joke, not the person, the tag. How can that be allowed when Iamgay isn’t. It is a double standard and I am glad you’re trying to help with this situation.
   I cannot believe MS didn’t contact you first since your the only lesbiangaming dedicated site. Shows how much they give a sh*t.
3. CMO says:

   March 2, 2009 at 11:47 am

   This is great. It’s a strong message without being overly confrontational.
4. Nathan says:

   March 2, 2009 at 2:38 pm

   I am amazed MS pr haven’t contacted you also? Thought it would be part of damage control to actually contact the very audience they’ve upset via the most obvious means.
   Regarding your letter, it takes a soft approach rather than being blinded by outrage, which generally works better.
   I would add my site to it but it is little to do with gay women or gaming.
5. EvilBlacksheep says:

   March 2, 2009 at 8:38 pm

   I’ve been listening the podcast on major nelson’s blog (here) and they’re a bunch of hypocrits. They’re saying that what’s forbidden is using something related to sexual orientation in your gamertag/profile, even if it’s related to heterosexuality, but obviously they’re not applying the rules equally as you showed.
6. EvilBlacksheep says:

   March 2, 2009 at 8:39 pm

   Sorry the link didn’t appear in my previous comment. The podcast : http://majornelson.com/archive/2009/03/01/show-310-xbox-live-policy-h-a-w-x-and-wheelman.aspx
7. Ashley-Yin Campbell says:

   March 2, 2009 at 9:41 pm

   very nice indeed i have confidence in you LG on the other side as you’ve pointed towards MS wont be getting a glance from me it’s now too late at the very least they’ll be waiting the full 10+ years of the PS3 xoxo
8. prouddyke says:

   March 3, 2009 at 4:09 pm

   Been following this story since it broke and I have to say MS backpedaling the issue does not lessen the harm they have done by confirming to the anti gay lobby that homosexuality is a problem.
   Down with MS and do not get me started on the homophobes over at Sony.