Lesbian banned from XBox Live

Apparently, an XBox Live user identified as "Teresa" is permanently banned from the gaming system because of her sexuality.

Teresa referred to herself as a lesbian on her profile page and apparently received such harassment and reviews from other users that Microsoft banned her account.

The XBox Live system is set up so players can review other players. Negative reviews are usually an indication of cheating - but not so much in Teresa's case.

According to Joystiq.com: "...Microsoft noted that users may not 'create a gamertag or use text in other profile fields that include comments that look, sound like, stand for, hint at, abbreviate or insinuate content of a potentially sexual nature. Profiles that do are asked to change the language and suspended until changes are made.'

"The company also stated that it does not allow Gamertags or profiles to identify any form of sexual orientation, though it is allowed in voice chat 'where context is more easily explained to all players involved.'

"Finally, Microsoft stated that harassment is "not condoned" and "taken very seriously.'"

Microsoft is asking for Teresa to step forward but for now, she has been permanently banned from the system.

My only question is would this happen if the person was heterosexual? By no means am I implying that Microsoft is discriminatory, more specifically I want to know if a "straight" person would have received the same "harassment."

But I think we all know the answer to that question.

SIDENOTE: This story is tagged for Albuquerque, NM because Microsoft Headquarters is located there. The actual story doesn't yet have a physical place as all events thus far have taken place in cyberspace.