Support the LGBTQ+ community by removing ban of the words "Gay" and "Transexual"
Hello, I have recently discovered that Twitch considers the following words to be against content guidelines:
Gay
Trans
Transexual
I am asking that these words be whitelisted in support of Twitch's vast queer community. It can be assumed these words were banned to cut down on trolling in the communities. However, I feel it should be the people who misuse these words who are regulated and punished. Not the queer people who's identities are being attacked and invalidated by having these words banned. This month is pride month and Twitch is showcasing queer creators on the front page every day while simultaneously saying that the words used to describe their identity are against their content policies. Please, can we correct this gross missight?
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yawningkitten commented
Limiting visability of the word Gay or Trans doesn't protect our community but limits our expression. These are not words that should be excluded.
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Rhythmical_Thinker commented
I feel like this shouldn't even be a question at this point! We should test and see if they banned the word "straight".... It's ridiculous! TWITCH CHANGE THIS!!
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TowardsNight commented
Twitch.. are you fkn serious right now? What’s wrong with y’all. Fix this ASAP. And shame on you.
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CelestialBeanArt commented
UPDATE: I've tested words in various places around twitch and found that you can't use the words "gay" or "trans" in the following places:
channel points
Polls
Go live notificationsWhen trying to use these words in those places, you are met with an error message stating that your titles goes against content guidelines.
When looking at my live notification history, I was able to use the word "gay" in my notification as recently as April 24th. This means that the content guidelines have changed to prohibit these words within the last month or so right before pride month started. I do still have a channel point redemption with the word "gay" in it from before these changes went into effect. So, if you were using that word before the change, you are grandfathered in but can not add a new channel point redemption with these words.
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Lucky_Octopus_ commented
The best Pride gift y'all could give the community! Please remove this "ban" its rediculous
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ally_j203 commented
Come on Twitch, you can do better. You can't have LGBTQIA tags and pride flag bitties/emotes yet ban the words "gay, transsexual and trans".
The queer community should always feel safe and welcome on this platform. Not feel like they are just being used for profit and having their freedom of speech curtailed. Please reverse the word ban.
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Reydempto commented
I totally agree with this. If terms such as “gay” “transgender” and “lgbtqia+” (which is an abbreviation of some of the blocked terms in question) are actual tags on twitch, why are they forbidden to use otherwise? It seems counterproductive.
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CelestialBeanArt commented
Hey, I can't edit the ticket anymore but wanted to add evidence to support my claims:
I first discovered an error message when editing channel point redemptions. The error stated that my title was "not compliant with content guidelines" while using the word "Gay"
I went through a bunch of queer words in the titles and found that the words Gay, Trans and Transexual were all flagged with this message. However, the words Queer, Pansexual, Bisexual and Intersex were all permitted.
In addition to being banned in channel point redemptions, these words are also prohibited from being used in polls, predictions, clips and I'm sure other places as well. -
izadoodle commented
Thank you for sharing! Had no idea Twitch was against this, super ridiculous that they are.
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yukidogzombie commented
please don't leave wonderful people out
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SpicedEliastrations commented
Y'all means ALL.
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killa_koala_ commented
Come on twitch. Be better. You don’t get to use our LGBTQ+ friends and family for profit and advertising, while limiting the language and freedom of expression and identity around it. Let creators and users be seen for who they are.
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chasinglasers commented
Trans is an adjective that describes my experience as a human being. It is not an offensive word, and should be one of many celebrated identities, especially during Pride, which is a month long PROTEST against the discrimination of our identities.
To ban these words was a poor decision, likely made by someone who is not affected by the decision. This is why representation matters. A proper community representative could have educated you on how to better combat trolling than to make a choice that only resulted in negatively affecting a protected class of people who were being harassed.In the end, this choice punished the victims of discrimination, and perpetuated the idea that our identities are shameful and offensive.
Inexcusablly incompetent.
This is what failure looks like.
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Squamatha commented
This is something I never noticed. Thank you so much, Celestial for opening this ticket!
I hope we are able to pass this ticket & stop giving these wonderful words all this negative power ❤️
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gracie_cat commented
Thank you so much, Bean.
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Garethdf commented
That is not an offense. The wrong use of a word does not mean it is offensive, you have to teach how to use words, not ban them.