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The Podcasters Present: Get Your Gay Off My Plane, Mister
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The OXbox suggested "Pickledbeef"
I found it too funny to pass up.
EDIT: Wow, typed my gamertag into google in the hopes of finding some interesting pictures and it turns out theres tons of "pickledbeefs" on the net. Shame, I thought my GT was unique.
3DS: Span_Wolf - 4854-6434-9883/WiiU:Span_Wolf
Steam: http://steamcommunity.com/id/Span_Wolf/
You guys are taking this way too seriously.
I don't know you. But from reading your scant couple of posts in this thread, it seems like you're just looking for an excuse to burn Microsoft.
I'm a little late, but this thread (and your post) made me think of this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6TzAKOaWxg
Explanation from "xxxGayboyxxx":
Its not that I think gay people shouldn't be allowed to tell anyone they're gay. But its all about the context of which you do it. This is more of a general thing, and not specific to the gamertag thing, but when I'm getting to know someone for the first time (be it a co-worker, classmate, whatever), and I ask them to tell me a little about themselves, and the first thing they mention is that they're gay, that bothers me. I'm not offended by their being gay, but I feel like they're doing themselves a great disservice, because it says, "The most important and interesting thing about me is my sexual orientation." It would be like me starting off with, "Well, I like to have sex with women, ... "
I just don't think anyone needs to go out of their way to point out their sexual orientation. Saying, "I'm gay," just to get it out there? Pointless and kind of tacky. Introducing me to your same-sex partner? Perfectly acceptable. Mentioning you're a lesbian when I'm trying to hit on you? Relevant and appreciated.
While we're at it, let's ban all reference to body parts, clothes on body parts, food that may be applied to body parts, people that can interact with said body parts, any self-references because it invites fantasy of your identity and, thus, body parts, etc. etc.
BOTP'd
Soon, anyone who's not homosexual will be considered homophobic. The point is what Dirty said, there is no NEED to put GAYER in your username (go check the definition of NEED and you'll know I'm right no matter how much you might want to spin it). It's not that it's bad, it's just not needed there. And to MS, it is not right, apparently. So they ban the word. Well, ok, that's fine. It's not like they don't have the right to.
Hey, I knew I'd come off like a prick. It doesn't change the fact that the criteria for being part of this group is directly tied to who you have sexual relationships with.
As far as I'm concerned, being attracted to people of the same gender is no different than being attracted to redheads, or liking Hispanic girls. Its just a personal preference of what type of person you're attracted to. Its not something that should define who you are.
Right?
Please tell me you do.
No, no. You misunderstand. I'm not saying that about you. Your post just made me think of it.
I think if the guy wants to put "heyimgay" as his gamer tag, he has claim to it. It's not really hurting anyone else. But, on the same hand, Microsoft has a right to deny anyone. It's their private service that you're using. When you're in someone else's house, you follow their rules.
You are aware that languages evolve over time, and that only an incredibly small percentage of people still associate the word "gay" with its original definition, right?
Right?
Please tell me you're not that naive.
-get back on track and remain a (relatively) intelligent discussion
or
-devolve into unbridled idiocy
I bet you can guess which one I'd rather see!
3DS: Span_Wolf - 4854-6434-9883/WiiU:Span_Wolf
Steam: http://steamcommunity.com/id/Span_Wolf/
You seem to be missing the point. It's not unusual for it to be used in its other connotation.
If 'gay' only meant 'homosexual' absolutely, then I'd have no problem with Microsoft getting rid of it. But this makes it look like they're getting rid of anything that remotely has an association with sexuality period.
Re: The video, well, that sucks, but then again, he was playing Halo. It's not right, but it's to be expected. Also, as he said, not everybody made a comment out of hate. Many were making jokes, which he did take as such. The problem is that (I'M NOT SAYING IT'S OK TO BE HOMOPHOBIC) he's inviting the homophobia by outputting his homosexuality so much. Had he been a gay person with a non-gay username, he wouldn't have gotten all these comments, and yet he's still the same person.
I'm sure many of the homophobic commenters weren't even actual homophobes but just taking the bait of his name.
But it was also someone's right to turn black people away from restaurants just because they were black, or to force them to move to the back of the bus.
Uh, no, this is discrimination and wouldn't fly today. The TOS of Live doesn't discriminate.
I feel like he shouldn't have to be subjected to homophobia even if he proclaims he's gay every chance he gets. You're right, he is inviting homophobia. But I don't feel like that excuses those people for being homophobic. The fact of the matter is, if someone tells you that they're gay, that doesn't give you free reign to persecute them about being gay.
3DS: Span_Wolf - 4854-6434-9883/WiiU:Span_Wolf
Steam: http://steamcommunity.com/id/Span_Wolf/
RE: Gay's other definition: Just because a word has another meaning doesn't protect it. It has more to do with the general accepted meaning of the word. Stop a hundred people on the street and ask them what "gay" means. According to your logic, "I_Sell_Cock" would be an acceptable name, because the person in question could be in the poultry business.
RE: My own, supposedly inappropriate comments: My whole point was that sexual orientation is nothing to be ashamed of, but conversation about it requires the proper context. Discussing ANYTHING of a sexual nature requires proper context. Your gamertag is not the place for that conversation.
Why does anyone need to discuss their sexuality on XBL? What purpose would it serve?
3DS: Span_Wolf - 4854-6434-9883/WiiU:Span_Wolf
Steam: http://steamcommunity.com/id/Span_Wolf/
No one commented on this, but the guy pretty much took care of this thread when you read his reasoning about the lack of context for a gamertag.
Oh, agreed. As I specified in my post, I'm not saying it's right, but everyone knows that homophobia is rampant in our society (from actual homophobes to people who aren't really homophobes but still make quick gay burns once in a while), and that he should expect it when he's proclaiming he's gay.
Also, personally, in my opinion, a name like theGAYERgamer is just stupid. Is your sexual orientation (something you don't control) really the defining part of your persona? Why advertise it? I don't advertise that I'm not gay. I don't start every convo with: By the way I'm straight.
Allow me to rephrase. Why does anyone need to state their sexuality on XBL?
Now it would be a completely different scenario if you were playing COD4, and before leaving the game, you say something like, "Gotta go guys, my boyfriend is bugging me to let him have the TV for a while." And then the next day, you find out you've been banned for making inappropriate sexual comments. Then I would be crying foul along with the rest of you.
Someone should create and use a gamertag that blatantly refers to a heterosexual orientation and see if its treated differently.
I think the large societal difference here is that a tragically small number of redhead lovers are beaten to death behind pickup trucks for their aforementioned affection for gingers.
The world full of ignorant and hateful people.
I obviously couldn't say it better (not sarcasm). I agree with his reasoning.
Maybe you could bitch that it's a dumb rule, but it's hardly a discriminatory one.
In Dirty's defense, I'm sure that the friends I have who are gay would rather be thought of as just having different preferences, rather than being some sort of freaky non-normal people. I don't think it reflects badly upon him for thinking about it that way, but rather if reflects badly upon everyone else for trying to single them out. There are bigots out there against everything, but I'm concerned that allowing their bigotry to control our actions is giving them more power, not less. /opinion
But that's really outside of this discussion. Microsoft is technically in the right, because it is their private service. I think that they're also generally in the right here, because they have set forth a TOS that attempts to keep any sort of offensiveness from everyone. Since theirs is a service that is meant to appeal to all ages and everyone, it makes sense for them to do this. While I don't find "gayergamer" in any way offensive, I'm sure that my mom, who is a very fervently religious person, would. So, to appeal to everyone, you end up having very restrictive limits on names. Names are only checked when they are reported, so it's not like MS decided to discriminate.
Aside from all that, it's fucking horrendous that they feel they need to protect children from the fact that gay people exist. Jesus fuck America, what the hell is wrong with you?