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Suspended for calling myself a %%%got wth

Not From Behind··3 votes·648 views

So I just had a Trundle game, my ingame name is "GirlyChocobo" for kicks. Azir remarked my name was gay and Taric was pink, so I decided to underline me being a %%%got in the log.

Game ends, I get suspended 14 days. People tell me they wanna rape my mother but I can't call myself gay especially when I identify as such smh.

Log: Game 1 girlychocobo: malz should run oom fast if you stop his voidlings with that item girlychocobo: lel girlychocobo: ikr girlychocobo: im a %%%got irl too girlychocobo: rek girlychocobo: u2 girlychocobo: us %%%gots can do stuff girlychocobo: ex heal girlychocobo: not sure if heal actually girlychocobo: remember when yi invented inting? girlychocobo: oh lol girlychocobo: oom girlychocobo: are we doing good yet girlychocobo: LEL girlychocobo: ask him girlychocobo: getting armor now either way girlychocobo: was 4v5 girlychocobo: but vayne is too strong for team right now it seems girlychocobo: gonna get FH girlychocobo: ff? girlychocobo: shove top girlychocobo: for inhib or baron if we win a tf girlychocobo: g

39 Comments

Eedat7 votes

Just dont use the word. I'm black and I'm not allowed to use the word %%%ga either even with friends. I dont agree with it and I'll voice my opinion about it here but at the end of the day its their rules and you gotta abide by it

ModThe Djinn7 votes

So this is a tricky situation to explain, and may feel unfair, but I'm going to try to explain it anyway.

Certain forms of hate speech -- specifically the word mentioned here and a common racial slur -- have indeed been somewhat reclaimed by certain groups of people.

The issue is that it's far from widespread, and those words used outside those groups are still terribly offensive...and often within those groups those words are still considered highly offensive if used by someone on the outside.

Since you don't know who you're playing with, and since those words are so offensive to so many people, Riot has taken the policy of saying that they are not acceptable on their platform when you're exposing them to strangers. You CAN use those words with your premade 5 and be fine if no one reports you, but bringing them into the public eye means forcing your view on a highly offensive word onto other people who -- even if you're 100% okay with it -- may not share your viewpoint and may be terribly offended.

It's much like how you can't really get away with saying those words loudly in, say, a Starbucks, even if you personally say it to your friends all the time and consider it fine.

I get that that may seem unfair, but Riot has to take a stance somewhere, since they can't possibly parse every situation in which the word could come up.

Azure Hamster1 votes

[{quoted}](name=The Djinn,realm=NA,application-id=ZGEFLEUQ,discussion-id=sZJ0Xpnz,comment-id=0003,timestamp=2017-10-19T19:59:25.376+0000)

So this is a tricky situation to explain, and may feel unfair, but I'm going to try to explain it anyway.

...

Good explanation. :)

Caitlyn

ModThe Djinn1 votes

[{quoted}](name=Azure Hamster,realm=NA,application-id=ZGEFLEUQ,discussion-id=sZJ0Xpnz,comment-id=00030000,timestamp=2017-10-19T20:02:35.274+0000)

Good explanation. :)

Caitlyn

Thanks! I try, even if this context is always a tricky one.

Not From Behind1 votes

I guess I get it but I find it ridiculous. Getting a huge slap + no rewards + no honor because of something I do daily is beyond stupid. Even worse, I bet the report was because of my "ff?" in all chat, since I didn't even use that word for everyone to see, and the system just decided to bone me.

I'm actually insulted by all of this right now.

ModThe Djinn3 votes

{quoted}

I guess I get it but I find it ridiculous.

And that's a fine opinion to have. Sadly, Riot is unable to design a system to lets everyone behave the way they want and use the words they want, and some sacrifices have to be made. As I said, I get that it may feel really unfair, and I completely understand how much that feeling sucks.

I don't believe the ff was the reason for the report though -- the community in general considers that word super offensive, so unless you were in an entirely premade team it's probably that word that caused the report. :(

I'm actually insulted by all of this right now.

I'm very sorry to hear that, although it's understandable, given the circumstances. I do think this is a policy Riot could make a little clearer up front to help people in your situation avoid problems like this.

Not From Behind1 votes

I mean, I had no idea such a brutal stance would be taken against me when I'm not trying to offend anyone and went for myself. When you put this side to side with people going on how everyone is trash and they want to rape your mother, it's really... ok?

ModThe Djinn1 votes

{quoted}

I mean, I had no idea such a brutal stance would be taken against me when I'm not trying to offend anyone and went for myself.

I guess I'll repost this, which I used to reply to another poster:

"On the one hand it is reclaiming hate speech, which is important. On the other hand letting the word be acceptable enables hate speech, which is problematic. There's really no great solution but, since the hateful uses are more common (and quite harmful), Riot opted for what I personally believe is the correct approach."

And yes, I'll be the first to admit that it's not a perfect solution -- I just think it's the best one they could feasibly implement on this scale.

When you put this side to side with people going on how everyone is trash and they want to rape your mother...

That stuff is entirely unacceptable, definitely. 100% in agreement with you here. Riot does identify this behavior quickly, and actively punishes for it.

Not From Behind1 votes

Like I said, I get it, but I got no warning, had no idea it'd be such a big deal when I'm using it about myself and everthing feels really harsh. I'm beyond upset that I'm getting what I am used against me because of some word that apparently is a big deal out in the world. I'm used to contexts where it's used over and over, even in US series (Rupaul's Drag Race, namely) so all of this shocked me and has me extremely pissed.

ModWuks4 votes

Social tip: Don't walk up to a group of strangers in public and start throwing around homophobic comments. They don't know you, and they don't know context as it relates to you.

Not From Behind1 votes

That's all lovely but just because some countries get a hold of their panties at the terms it doesn't mean it applies to all. The fact that there was no warning and it was an instant suspension when I wasn't trying to offend anyone AND didn't apply the term to anyone but me doesn't help. "You said %%%got, bye felicia" is hardly a bright policy.

Drugoth1 votes

Wuks! Sorry to be stalkerish, but there was no reply to my comment on your boards talk thread.

Do you mind answering if Riot is willing to update the mobile view to support stickers and such? I browse the boards 99% of the time on my mobile device and it's really tedious having to switch to the full site whenever I want to use Nami and summoner 4 and item 3504 and such.

I've asked this question a couple times now and been ignored each time x_x.

Chermorg3 votes

A word is either hate speech/offensive, or it’s not. It doesn’t matter who’s using it.

The word that you used is considered hate speech by not just Riot but the general population. For that reason, you are punished for using it regardless of who it’s directed at.

Not From Behind1 votes

I... what.

Ok I guess? It seems like a really lazy system if I can't use the word in a context that is familiar to me because of whatever sigh

ModThe Djinn2 votes

{quoted}

I... what.

Ok I guess? It seems like a really lazy system if I can't use the word in a context that is familiar to me because of whatever sigh

I explained the reasoning for this and why it's Riot's policy (even if it seems a little unfair) in another post in this thread (if you'd like a deeper explanation), but what Chermorg says is generally accurate.

Drugoth1 votes

For the record, I have never met a gay person that referred to themselves as a %%%.

Not From Behind2 votes

Just watch drag race, they call each others %%%s, bitches, queens, hunties, hoes, etc. We do it in my group and there's many groups who do.

In fact, the entire point of reclaiming the word is to try and stop the ridiculous attempt at gay normalization that is bent on making it so only the butch "straight-passable" gays are actually acceptable, while the ones with fem traits are "disgusting" or "not real men". I could go on an entire rant on how this stance from Riot could be seen as political but I'm not that far left to care.

ModThe Djinn2 votes

{quoted}

For the record, I have never met a gay person that referred to themselves as a %%%.

I definitely have -- I have some close friends who do, actually.

Which is why this situation is tricky. On the one hand it is reclaiming hate speech, which is important. On the other hand letting the word be acceptable enables hate speech, which is problematic. There's really no great solution but, since the hateful uses are more common (and quite harmful), Riot opted for what I personally believe is the correct approach.

Chermorg1 votes

I agree that reclaiming hate speech is an issue - but a video game with strangers is not the place to do such.

ModThe Djinn1 votes

{quoted}

I agree that reclaiming hate speech is an issue - but a video game with strangers is not the place to do such.

Agreed. Hence my belief that Riot has taken the correct approach here. :)

Drugoth2 votes

Eh, this is kind of an edge case for appeal imo.

On the one hand, you have the fact that you didn't use the word against anyone else.

On the other, the word is a zero tolerance word...

Not From Behind1 votes

Why? I thought black people could call themselves %%%%%%s if they wanted, why am I not allowed to call myself a %%%got by riot? --

Not to mention language discrepancy (as in, how intense it is for native speakers versus non-native speakers) but I'm not even going to go there. My group of friends call themselves insulting gay slurs all the time, I never used it against anyone else in game.

Tormentula2 votes

{quoted}

girlychocobo: im a %%%got irl too

It might've been this

because saying "too" is also implying you're calling another player that, which they can either take as offense or somebody else could report it and riot will read it as if you are saying it that way.

Either way the word itself is slang and I'm pretty sure the system automatically filters for stuff like that. You just can't say those sort of words regardless of context. Homosexual is fine because its not slang its just literally what its called, but that wording is slang usually as an insult from homophobia.

Not From Behind2 votes

No. Azir said "girlychocobo and pink taric my team is so gay" and I replied with that.

In fact, my entire team seemed pretty upbeat, we won the game with relative ease and moved on. I'm 99% sure someone on the enemy team was just salty and pressed the red button, and the system did the rest with no consideration towards context because that's how the system works.

Tormentula3 votes

I don't know if riot actually checks other chat logs from the other players in this instance.

The report button sends your chat, and info, but leaves out whats going on in the game. Which is why a lot of players get banned from being instigated to be toxic but the one causing it usually is ignored because nobody reported that chat log but rather the one reacting and looking like flame without context why.

I'd say send a support ticket and let them know there was a misunderstanding, maybe they'll lift it since you weren't trying to do anything toxic and the situation was by no means meant to flame or bother anyway, they may let it slide with a warning for the type of language.

Not From Behind2 votes

One can hope. Sorry if I sound salty, this situation has me very irritated uu

ModPeriscope2 votes

Usually, slurs are intended to insult others, and even when not used in that way, they can still be pretty offensive. On one hand, they punish hate speech and things like "kys" pretty severely so that League is a welcoming community for everyone. But I get why you feel comfortable using it, as you identify as such. I felt like the rest of your chat was helpful.

You seem pretty genuine about this punishment. Hopefully your punishment is reduced.

Edit: my favorite was FFVIII.

Not From Behind1 votes

I'm still a FFVII fanboy but I like all of them for different reasons :3

Not From Behind1 votes

The TL;DR here, from what I see, is that apparently the word is a huge deal in the USA. It's kind of ridiculous either way, to get suspended for owning the term when there was no forewarning or anything. It was just "oh you used it, bye".

Oleandervine1 votes

You're posting from an EUW account. The odds of you seeing Americans on your server are pretty slim, so it's most likely that another European reported you. And if you are playing on NA servers and chose to use a slur, even in a joke, you should have known better.

General Esdeath 1 votes

How to open flood gates for hate speech:

"If I say I'm gay I can't be punished for saying that forbidden word"

Not From Behind1 votes

That's not how it works at all. Saying you're gay doesn't give you a freepass to go around calling other people a %%% unless they're comfortable with it or gave you the greenlight, but it shouldn't stop me from referencing myself as such. Even if the person in question isn't gay, or even male, them doing so is their own prerrogative.

General Esdeath 1 votes

I didn't say calling others it, I said saying it.

Not From Behind1 votes

I deliberately used the word after Azir seemed fragile about having gay people on his team. It was a choice, not meant to insult or provoke, but mean to try and see how he felt about a confirmation. It's not a forbidden world for everyone and a lot of people in the gay subculture use it with various intentions, namely for what I did. I had no idea it had such a heavy connotation in the US - especially taking into account the tv I consume - and even less that it'd warrant me an instant suspension.

General Esdeath 1 votes

I understand that, but you can't use it at all, no exceptions. The system looks for the words itself.

Oleandervine1 votes

Another issue that people have not brought up yet is this:

I'm a f@&&ot in real life, too.

And

I'm a f@&&ot in real life, too.

Could you tell which one was a genuine comment, and which one was hostile sarcasm?

You can't, and that's a huge thing here. With written text, you cannot detect sarcasm and genuineness. You may have been genuine about how you used the word, but I've seen people use it as hostile passive aggression too. People on the internet will automatically jump to thinking you're being hostile and sarcastic, because 90% of the time, that is how slurs are used. I'm gay, and very, very, very few people I know use this term how you use unless they are trying to be catty and mean, so it's very understandable why others would interpret it as such.

Not From Behind1 votes

Again, I get it but I'm 100% sure no one on my team was offended. We all communicated clearly, played the game smoothly. No one had anything bad to say about how it went and there were no arguments. This was 100% enemy team randomly reporting and hitting this. I've used the word before and even found people playing with me because of it, never in a million years did it occur to me it was so awfully damnable or that it'd get me suspended.

An easy example is that most people commenting here about how awful it is are from the US, which on itself exhibits a cultural discrepancy as to the value of this word in particular.

Oleandervine1 votes

There is a large subset of the population that actively hates gay people based on "religious principle," and these people use slurs to tear down gay people and try to feel superior. Why on earth would you not think that the use of a gay-hating slur would be touchy to a lot of people?

Also, you can't be 100% sure your teammates were ok with it. There have been games I've played where players made slurs and such, but I chose not to make a deal of it in game so that we could win - but I still reported them afterwards because that kind of language is not ok. You really cannot claim ignorance for what you've done, because you know the word is volatile, yet you used it anyway. You shouldn't be surprised at all that you got reported and punished.

Not From Behind1 votes

I just watched this Also, I said time and time again that I had no idea the word was volatile until this thread. That's why I said "cultural discrepancy". Because where i'm from it's not such a big deal, we do have slurs that are offensive but we can easily understand when they're being used as rocks or not, we don't just quake at the sight of the word.

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