League of Legends tournament discriminates against LGBTQ participants [Update]
The League of Legends community has enough problems without a Philippines tournament getting in on the action.
Update:
Garena has withdrawn the LGBTQ restrictions after discussions with Riot and has issued the following statement.
"Our initial ruling on LGBT player restrictions within the Iron Solari League has created a lot of good discussion and debate over the past 24 hours. After discussing the ruling with our partners and re-examining our approach, we have decided to remove these restrictions completely. This means that any player who self-identifies as female will be allowed to participate. We sincerely apologize for any offence we caused to the LGBT and gaming communities.
"Our original intent when we put together this tournament was to promote diversity in the competitive gaming community. Hence, we are grateful to our players who have consistently provided their feedback to help us learn and improve as we strive to develop an inclusive gaming environment for all. We’ll also be keeping our promise of having an open dialogue with all parties as we plan this and future events.
"We hope you will tune in to support these awesome teams and players in this upcoming tournament."
Thanks, MCV.
Original story: League of Legends tournament organiser Garena eSports has implemented a new rule for upcoming meets, namely: each female team can only include one lesbian, gay or trans* woman.
"There are arguments and concerns from other participants who disputes that Lesbian, Gay, Transgendered Women members may probably have some unfair advantage," Garena said in its ruling.
No explanation of this baffling statement was given. Come to think of it, nobody's ever explained why some League of Legends tournaments are split by gender. This isn't a contact sport, for heaven's sake.
Anyway, the ruling has horrified international observers, and Riot Games itself is not pleased:
Bless 'em.