Saturday February 11, 2012 10:07 AM AEST

Atomic MPC > News > Game > Console Games > Out and proud - queer titles now okay on Xbox LIVE

Out and proud - queer titles now okay on Xbox LIVE

A new Xbox LIVE Code of Conduct update opens the way for queer gamers.

A while back we tore some well-deserved strips off Microsoft over its policy regarding queer identification on its Xbox Live service. Back then, MS actually banned a user for identifying as a lesbian in her GamerTag, saying she was in breach of the terms of service. As of Friday, however, Microsoft's decided to let gamers come out of the closet, as announced via Xbox Live General Manager Marc Whitten.

Here's what he had to say:

" ... I'd like to announce an update to the Xbox LIVE Terms of Use and Code of Conduct which will allow our members to more freely express their race, nationality, religion and sexual orientation in Gamertags and profiles. Under our previous policy, some of these expressions of self-identification were not allowed in Gamertags or profiles to prevent the use of these terms as insults or slurs. However we have since heard feedback from our customers that while the spirit of this approach was genuine, it inadvertently excluded a part of our Xbox LIVE community."

Awesome-sauce, we say, and far remove from the double-speak of what MS last had to say on the subject: "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."

Along with the update to the Terms of Use comes a commitment for more stringent policing of any abuses to the system. It looks like MS really is taking our old argument to heart, that you cannot have a truly inclusive social network of any kind if you're excluding a large portion of your audience.

This has, of course, been a long time coming - the original user-ban that sparked the controversy happened back in February of last year. However, what's important is that Microsoft has come around to a more open stance, and we applaud them for it. Gaming culture can be homophobic at the best of times - queer gamers don't need big companies legitimising that view.

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20 Comments

phatbeat Mar 8, 2010 2:09 PM	Yet if you try and put "free xbox live" in your profile, it won't let you! And thats coming from the land of free speach....
phatbeat Mar 8, 2010 2:10 PM	*speech
philo-sofa Mar 8, 2010 5:44 PM	They probably do spell it 'speach' knowing them
blackmancer Mar 8, 2010 10:51 PM	just a comment, but if lessening homophobia is a concern, isn't using the word queer promoting it?
Lord_Huggington Mar 9, 2010 8:06 AM	lol @ t-shirt
Mademan Mar 9, 2010 9:39 AM	blackmancer, I completely agree.
Hawkeye Mar 9, 2010 9:43 AM	Uh... no, actually. Ever heard the phrase Queer Politics? Queer has been reclaimed for decades - it's actually a very useful umbrella term, up there with LGBT, for covering the entirety of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender identity. Check out the Wiki entry for an update of the modern meaning of queer: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queer
majestic975 Mar 9, 2010 10:05 AM	Does it really matter at the end of the day wheter someone is gay or not? Why do we need to label people??
Hawkeye Mar 9, 2010 10:22 AM	There's a big different between labeling and identifying. What you identify as shouldn't matter, absolutely, but you should also absolutely be able to identify however you wish.
orcone Mar 9, 2010 11:09 AM	Excellent. Those running around with a flaming gay tag will be excellent troll candidates. A mentality belonging to someone who feels the need to identify their sexuality online, brand it on themselves with tags and gloat about it should be easy enough to subtly and horribly twist til the raging point.
Hawkeye Mar 9, 2010 11:22 AM	And I kind of like it when I people I previously had time for tag themselves as people I wouldn't piss on if they were on fire. Thanks!
orcone Mar 9, 2010 11:26 AM	Let me identify myself!
Mademan Mar 10, 2010 10:08 AM	yes, I'm sure Faggot123 and Colon_Cowboy_69 are going to have some fun in the chatrooms. Not to mention that other player I once met called 8=================================> - - - -
osama_bin_athlon Mar 10, 2010 10:43 AM	omg! why, on earth, would anyone want to display/need to display their sexual orientation when using a game consul has me beat.....why would ya want to in a climate that is majority kiddies/adolescent based, unless you were: a: trolling for kiddies b: trolling for contoversy c: trolling for attention either way, it's just not appropriate.
Hawkeye Mar 10, 2010 11:02 AM	"Why would you want to in a climate that is majority kiddies/adolescent based..." Wow... just... wow. So gamers are happy to make the claim the gamers are mostly in fact adult when there's something they're not getting, but when someone else puts their hand up for a bit of equality, you're more than happy to haul out the hypocrisy and name-calling. Bravo.
orcone Mar 10, 2010 11:40 AM	test
orcone Mar 10, 2010 12:00 PM	Unnecessary, exuberant "look at me!" titles rile people up. What should I need to know that you're gay, rich, white or a freakin' dinosaur? Stop trying to show off and get back in the game.
Hawkeye Mar 10, 2010 12:15 PM	Oh, so it offends you, does it? Why does a word 'rile' you up? For better or worse, Microsoft made the decision to make the Xbox a social media device - it is now more than a gameplaying device. As such, it needs to be truly social, and inclusive of all who want to use it. But I can see I'm banging my head against a particularly stubborn wall here.
orcone Mar 10, 2010 2:57 PM	It doesn't offend me. What riles me up is that people automatically think I give a damn about their sexuality, what their toddler did, what their computer specs are and a whole other myriad of moot shit. I just feel that anybody who feels the need to proclaim something so meaningless to someone they don't even know (online of all places) is probably the same type of person who responds so well to my other news comments. Troll bait. And I like fishing. That's all I said before.
Sparky Mar 10, 2010 5:52 PM	I also don't get why you would want to. A lot of the time the places where you are sujected to other players is in RPG's. Role playing games... Your not gay, your not a plumber, your not unemployed and your not female, your a paladin with a frigin big sword with a penchant for saving 'the princess'. But I guess some people want this kind of stuff and it is great that MS have opened the door. I just don't see why.

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Atomic Magazine

Issue: 133 | February, 2012

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