Corporate Lesson in Star Wars Fan Kerfuffle: Don’t Discriminate
Towleroad’s Nathanial comments on BioWare reinstating use of the words ‘gay’ and ‘lesbian’ and ending its ban 
of any discussion of homosexuality in community forums:
It’s become an entirely predictable narrative: Company makes discriminatory decision, internet explodes with anger, company issues lame explanation as to why they did so, company reverses offending decision as quietly as they can hoping that the issue will just go away and they don’t have to talk about it anymore. This should be a lesson to corporations everywhere: Don’t discriminate. News travels faster than it ever has. It’s really hard to get away with this nonsense anymore.
I haven’t cared about Star Wars since I was a kid. I do remember waiting in endless lines multiple times for Return of the Jedi and my complete terror when my school girlfriends kept talking about how cute Mark Hamill’s butt was in his Jedi wear. ‘What? Really. I DIDN’T NOTICE!!!’
I did.
opinions powered by SendLove.to
2 Responses to “Corporate Lesson in Star Wars Fan Kerfuffle: Don’t Discriminate”
“My intention was not to demean anyone but simply to help promote a community that could discuss topics in a mature fashion,” said Dahlberg.
So let me get this straight…. they wanted to “promote a community that could discuss topics in a mature fashion” by actually banning certain discussions….
Actually I think if they want to limit their discussions they can, but then they would lose support. Like all businesses you weigh the costs and benefits of each option make a decision and move on. If you've found you made a mistake then you change course to a more successful outcome and enjoy the benefits. Since they are a private company they can control the discussions how they see fit and keep those discussions relevant to the subject at hand (though I say to anyone who wishes to do that, “good luck with that”). I would also hope the values of the company drive their policies. So in this situation if they have non-discriminatory policies towards gays and lesbians, that any decision they make would take those policies into account.
I certainly understand why the company wants mature discussions (and they have every right to make that demand) but an outright ban on certain topics is probably not the best solution. If they want to censor derogatory comments then they should. We all know how heated online discussions can become and we all know that sometimes it's better to let the derogatory comments stand and just speak for themselves. Derogatory comments can actually be the most powerful weapon against themselves.
I don't think this company is really discriminatory, I think they just implemented a poor policy that doesn't reflect the values of the company, their employees or many of their customers.
Since they are a private company they can control the discussions how they see fit and keep those discussions relevant to the subject at hand