Seduced by the New...

NxtUp...PS3

Homophobia & 'Gayming'

I had posted about the homophobic video gaming community at "Home" in the past. There is not a game that you can't play on-line without some sort of name calling or slur. Sony's "Home" is not immune to it.

"Michael Marsh, an 18-year-old gamer from Norwalk, Conn., wanted to set up a gay/straight alliance club in PlayStation Home, Sony's new free 3-D virtual world component for the PlayStation 3.

The problem was that the words he was using - "gay," "lesbian" and "bisexual" - were being filtered from text chats and were not being allowed in the naming of clubs or in postings in club forums. Marsh, who is straight but supports gay rights, said he raised the issue with Home community managers during the private beta test, but the problems persisted after the public beta introduction of Home on Dec. 11.

"I can understand if they're filtering out profanity, but if feel like it's discrimination," Marsh said. "By blocking a word like 'gay,' which is a preferred term by the gay community, you're encouraging it as a bad word."

My avatar in "Home" wears pointed-toe shoes as I do in the real world. My character is
singled out as a HOMO because of it. I think my virtual 'home' must be located in Houston.

sfgate.com