Update: League of Legends developer Riot Games has commented on the situation on their Twitter account, saying "LGBT players are welcome at official LoL tourneys" and have said they're working to ensure that this is reflected across all regions.
LGBT players are welcome at official LoL tourneys. We're working with partners to ensure consistency with our values across all regions.
— Riot Games (@riotgames) February 3, 2015
Original Story: Garena eSports' Iron Salari League for League of Legends has revealed controversial new policies for lesbian and transgender players.
On the basis that "there are arguments and concerns from other participants" who claim lesbian, gay and transgender "members may probably have some unfair advantage", the group has imposed policies specifically targeting LGBT members of the league.
The group's rules state:
"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."
Not only is the terminology used highly offensive, it's also deeply stereotypical. While the event is taking place in the Philippines, a still deeply conservative country, the language and cliches perpetuated here do nothing to advance the LGBT community within gaming and eSports specifically.
Last year, a Finnish Hearthstone tournament banned women entirely in an effort to be seen as "legitimate". This exclusionary policy was later abandoned and we can hope the same will be true here.
