(Former) Xbox Live gamer Teresa found herself on the receiving end of a ban from the service for a surprising reason. She identified herself as a lesbian in her Live profile.
That resulted in a ban from the service after her Xbox Live peers complained about her profile, according to a letter to the Consumerist.
It's not like we haven't heard this before. Microsoft has issued bans to players in the past for expressing their sexual preferences in Gamertags, but this is the first we've heard of profile info at the root cause of being kicked off Live.
Microsoft has gone on record in the past about its policy, saying that it's not limited to Gamertags of homosexual nature.
"Yes 'TheStraighterGamer' or 'TheHeterosexualgamer' would have gotten the same treatment and would have been found to be in violation and forced to be changed," wrote Microsoft reps following previous incidents.
Perhaps more alarming than someone being banned for their expression of sexual preference was how this particular gamer was treated by the gaming public.
Teresa tells the Consumerist "I was harassed by several players, 'chased' to different maps/games to get away from their harassment. They followed me into the games and told all the other players to turn me in because they didn't want to see that crap or their kids to see that crap."
Five minutes worth of interaction with the general Xbox Live population will get the point across—they don't care for "the gays." But does the policy go too far in one sense, not far enough in another?
Identifying Yourself As A Lesbian Gets You Banned On XBOX Live [Consumerist]