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BioWare Apologizes for 'Homophobic' Forums

Quickly reacting to recent controversy, BioWare has issued an apology for its blanket explanation of why discussion of homosexuality is banned on the forums of upcoming MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic. Earlier this week the Internet was a hive of angry bees after Dahlgren explained the forums’ banning of terms such as “gay” and […]

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Quickly reacting to recent controversy, BioWare has issued an apology for its blanket explanation of why discussion of homosexuality is banned on the forums of upcoming MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic.

Earlier this week the Internet was a hive of angry bees after Dahlgren explained the forums' banning of terms such as "gay" and "lesbian" by saying "these are terms that do not exist in Star Wars." Supporters of the LGBT rights movement unsurprisingly took offense, and Dahlgren has issued a public apology:

I would like to personally apologize to “Elikal” and anyone I may have offended. My intention was not to demean anyone but simply to help promote a community that could discuss topics in a mature fashion. When I first built the word filter list, I added a variety of terms to the word filter that have been used numerous times in derogatory messaging. There were some words added to the filter that should not have been – we corrected this today.

I apologize for the confusion that this has created but I would like to be clear that there was never any intent to limit discussion. That said, I have overstepped my boundaries in my original statement and I sincerely apologize for doing so.

It seems apparent that Dahlgren's original intent was to avoid discrimination against homosexuality on his forums, but his misstep should serve as a potent reminder of just how much trouble you can get yourself into with poorly planned actions and a few unfortunate words.

Image courtesy BioWare

GLBT discrimination in forums? [Old Republic Forums, via Eurogamer]

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