LoL Event changes LGBT Policy after Internet Riot

Published: February 7, 2015 8:07 PM /

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League of legends logo

Recently, a bizarre policy came to light when the Garena Philippines Esports league decided that only one lesbian, gay or transgender player would be allowed in their women only Iron Solari League of Legends tournament. This went against the policies of the studio behind League of Legends, Riot Games, who issued a statement saying that all players were welcome at their tournaments and that they would be working with their partners to ensure consistency with their values across all regions.

Riot games tweet

The tournament which previously disallowed LGBT players from their first round felt that LGBT members "may probably have some unfair advantage." The original baffling rule was as follows:

1) Each team will be allowed to have a maximum of one (1) Gay/Transgendered woman for the entirety of the tournament day. Therefore, teams cannot do the following: Team_A's first game will be 4 female members and 1 gay, then on Team_A's second game, they will have 4 female members and replace with another gay or transgender member.

2) Any team who has violated the above provision, regardless if intentional or otherwise, whether discovered during the day of the event or some time after, will have all their team members (the female members as well as the Lesbian, Gay, Transgendered women member) sanctioned with a 1-year ban on all Garena-organized events, including subsequent Iron Solari Tournament." 

However, following a huge internet outcry at the exclusivity of the policy Garena quickly followed up with this statement removing all restrictions from LGBT players.
"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 offense we caused to the LGBT and gaming communities."
The original ruling seemed to baffle the majority of the gaming community, particularly over what the advantages these LGBT players could have, and even gaming personalities such as Jim Sterling and Total Biscuit took to twitter to show their confusion.

total biscuit tweet

jim sterling tweet

TechRaptor is delighted at the new ruling and wishes all the ladies taking part in the tournament the best of luck.

What are your thoughts on the ruling? What advantages could LGBT players have?

Have a tip, or want to point out something we missed? Leave a Comment or e-mail us at tips@techraptor.net


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| Former Staff Writer

Georgina is a former writer for TechRaptor, you can find her on Twitter!