I really hate this shit. I actually posted about something similar to this a few weeks ago...so thanks for bringing this to our attention.

I had just joined a gaming/anime community, and I had an avatar that pretty much gave away my orientation...at first I didn't think it would matter, I'm always very open about how I identify. Anyway, I ended up getting harassed by some of the members on the forum, including one of the site administrators. I was told things like "you're disgusting", "you make me wanna puke", "I hate you people", "faggot/dyke/homo", "go to hell", etc... Anyways, these people (all male) stalked me throughout the forum and left all these homophobic rants immediately after I would post anything.

Long story short, I basically got a similar reaction when I complained. The people that run the site said: "there's nothing wrong with being a homophobe"...and "it just happens to be their opinion that they don't like gay people". So obviously nothing was going to be done about it, the homophobes won - these people were going to keep harassing me, they got exactly what they wanted...I was forced to leave.

I would realllllly like to see an official response from Microsoft explicitly stating that the reason she was banned was because she was gay before coming out against them. From the description, it sounds like other gamers she was playing with used the "Report This Gamer As Offensive" feedback tool en masse. The only options for that tool are like "Offensive Language" and "Cheating", both of which are non-specific to the scenario - you can't describe what the person was saying, or the tactic they were using to cheat with.

Was it petty, homophobic and immature for the other players to spam the feedback feature? Yes. Was the reason Microsoft banned her specifically because of her sexual orientation? Probably not. They just got the signal that a bunch of gamers found her (generically) offensive, and probably assumed she was - seriously, the homophobia and racism run rampant on XBL, so I doubt they would question it.

For the uninitiated, it's important understand just what kind of environment Xbox Live is - hostile. There's a lot of playful ball-breaking, but there is also TONS of racist and anti-gay slurs thrown about. And not just once in a while - expect it pretty much every game round on a public server for the more popular games (e.g. - Halo 3.) It's so bad that me and my friends usually setup a private voice channel when the game supports it, and just mute everyone else. I would also point out that most of the immature gamers are just trying to get a rise out of you, and will single you out for whatever you've exposed about yourself - location, musical preference, sexual orientation, gamer score or anything. Seriously, you're just as likely to be called a "fag" as you are a "redneck" or "jew" if its exposed in your profile or username. The only thing you can do is report these users, mute them and move on.

Hmmm... After this, I might encourage my boyfriend not to get another xbox since his was stolen... That's seriously worth not playing games over in my opinion.

Especially considering the sexist bullshit people can say that Microsoft probably has no problem with.

The most common words used on XBox live? "Faggot," "homo," and "nigger." It's teenage boys using words of intimidation and harrassment to give themselves an edge in the game. They would probably have called her filthy names even if she had not listed herself as a lesbian in the gamer profile. I'm not saying it's right, and I'm not saying that Microsoft was in the wrong, but the fact of the matter is that hate speech still counts as free speech, and thus, Microsoft can't really do anything about it aside from tagging.

It's offensive at worst and irritating at best, but certainly not enough to make me stop playing XBox Live.

The most common words used on XBox live? "Faggot," "homo," and "nigger." It's teenage boys using words of intimidation and harrassment to give themselves an edge in the game. They would probably have called her filthy names even if she had not listed herself as a lesbian in the gamer profile. I'm not saying it's right, and I'm not saying that Microsoft was in the right, but the fact of the matter is that hate speech still counts as free speech, and thus, Microsoft can't really do anything about it aside from tagging.

It's offensive at worst and irritating at best, but certainly not enough to make me stop playing XBox Live.

I used to visit a gaming forum, and I'm always sad that the maturity displayed by young men there wasn't more common. I spent a few years visiting it regularly and getting to know people, and the queer members were never insulted or spoken down to. As I've become more aware of the sexism and homophobia that runs rampant in multiplayer games now, I can only figure that it's due to games these days being targeted at such a wide audience rather than a niche group of gaming nerds (a nice group of gaming nerds who enjoyed intellectual discusions about them, at that).

I've never had the misfortune of using Xbox live, although I'm aware of its reputation. Instead my online gaming has mainly be confined to Team Fortress 2 on the PC, which seems to be better natured, although its possible that I've just had good luck with the servers I've played on. (I don't play hugely often)

Unfortunately the attitude though is one which permeates many gaming forums, and as a result I avoid most of them, or at least the comments sections. I've found the odd few places where people can actually have an intelligent discussion and I spend most my time in them. The same, incidentally, is also true of non gaming websites. The Internet really does seem to bring bigots and fools of all kinds out of the woodwork.

I've also previously criticised some of the censorship that goes on when it comes to sexuality and games. In particular, the leaking of the banned words list of the game 'Pure' revealed censorship of gay, lesbian, homosexual, bisexual, along with various less savoury terms used to describe said people. The list failed however to include the terms straight or heterosexual. While I realise that gay has been adopted as an insult by those lacking in maturity, sense and decency, this censorship placed restrictions on legitimate discussion of non-straight sexuality, while placing no such restrictions on the heterosexual position. It is my feeling that the developers should have just removed the restrictions. Censoring straight and heterosexual as well would also be a possibility, but would still place a greater burden on non straight players due to heteronormative assumptions.

I've never used XBoxLive - I tend to use my PC for online gaming.
But I'll say this - I've been kicked from local servers for using my mic. Why? Because it's a girl talking.
Funny how they never seem to do anything about all the dickwads who's favourite in-game adjective/verb/word in general is "rape". But they'd never do anything about that.