Garena Philippines eSports has reversed its decision over a controversial a new rule for its upcoming “all-feminine” League of Legends tournament, The Iron Solari, which restricted participating teams to “a maximum of one (1) Gay/Transgendered woman for the entirety of the tournament day.”

Garena posted the new rules yesterday, saying: “There are arguments and concerns from other participants who disputes that Lesbian, Gay, Transgendered Women members may probably have some unfair advantage.”

The new rule was made up of two parts:

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.

Garena’s rules were immediately condemned by members of the LGBTQ community, and Riot Games, the developer of League of Legends, came out against the rule.

“LGBT players are welcome at official LoL tourneys,” Riot Games said on Twitter. “We’re working with partners to ensure consistency with our values across all regions.”

After the uproar, Garena made a new announcement today rescinding the rule limiting LGBTQ players.

“After discussing the ruling with our partners and re-examining our approach, we have decided to remove these restrictions completely,” Garena’s eSports team wrote. “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.”

With the growing popularity of eSports internationally, other tournaments have been criticized for apparently backwards rules. A Hearthstone tournament in Finland earlier last year came under fire for its alleged “no girls allowed” rule, stating that female players could not apply to the tournament.

Hopefully, Garena’s quick response to the community’s concerns is a positive sign of change.

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