Dammit.

Before I go to bed, I need to make a mention of this World of Warcraft thing.

If you read game websites, you know the story. If you don't, gamepolitics has a good synopsis. Acid for Blood also has some good coverage. It's also been picked up by gay-oriented outlets like In Newsweekly. I wish I could remember who broke the story, but I can't, so you don't get a link to it.

If you don't feel like clicking any of those links, the short story is that a player created a community called a guild within this online game played by thousands of people. She posted on an official messageboard for the game, asking other players to join her guild. Among other things, she described this community as "GLBT friendly." She then got a message from Blizzard, the creators of the game who also maintain its large online world, saying that using the term "GLBT" was in violation of the games "terms of service" contract. Specifically, they claimed that she was in violation of the section prohibiting harassment based on sexual orientation. That section reads:

This category includes both clear and masked language which [i]nsultingly refers to any aspect of sexual orientation pertaining to themselves or other players.

Since then, Blizzard has issued a number of contradictory "official statements" to address various issues of how homosexuality is allowed to be portrayed in the game. Many of these have boiled down to, Players can't mention their sexual orientation because that mention could lead to those players being harassed by other players. As one statement put it:

Topics related to sensitive real-world subjects—such as religious, sexual, or political preference, for example—have had a tendency to result in communication between players that often breaks down into harassment. To promote a positive game environment for everyone and help prevent such harassment from taking place as best we can, we prohibit mention of topics related to sensitive real-world subjects in open chat within the game, and we do our best to take action whenever we see such topics being broadcast.

Among other things, the Lambda Legal Defense Fund has announced that it is looking into legal action against Blizzard under California law.

Now, that last mention got some scorn among gaming websites, and the reaction in the comments to the gamepolitics post is what got me started on this. When seen in the context of a game, or a fantasy world, this doesn't seem so bad. But as a California citizen, I have to say that I am deeply troubled by the legal implications of Blizzard's actions.

Blizzard is a business establishment that offers a service. As a result, it is subject to California's Unruh act, which states:

No business establishment of any kind whatsoever shall discriminate against, boycott or blacklist, or refuse to buy from, contract with, sell to, or trade with any person in this state on account of [sexual orientation].

If Blizzard is allowed to use this kind of "we're doing it for your own protection" defense, it would have the effect of completely reversing the intent of California law.

Consider a supermarket that takes the same policy. They don't want harassment of customers based on sexual orientation. Since harassment is more likely to occur when a customer's sexual orientation is easily perceived, these actions should be prohibited, in order to prevent harassment. Thus, two people of the same gender who are seen by sales staff kissing or holding hands will be asked to either discontinue their activities or leave the store.

This clearly goes against the intent of California law, and the Godelian business logic whereby people are harassed by businesses who use anti-harassment laws and policies as a tool and a shield must be stopped. I heartily support the actions taken by both the WoW gamers Lambda Legal Defense Fund, and I sincerely hope that all gamers and all Californians will do the same.