Not taking sides, but when you have players with handles like PrsObama, Gaypride (just two used as an example) and a few others, you got to expect some sort of reaction from the others,at least at first. I wont comment on why someone chooses the in-game ID that they do (suffice it to say, some are probably chosen for initial shock effect) but if by choosing a handle that might in and of itself lead to a somewhat inappropriate discussion, violating the rules of the game, then shouldn't HTC also have a finger pointed in it's direction for having approved the handles in the first place? Regardless, you will always have people who will incite others to comment about how wrong something is, what the state of the nation is, someones sexuality or how right or wrong current religious dogma may be. Occam's Razor used here might suggest we move away from cross country chat thereby removing the behavior altogether. But that's another discussion.
Again, I'm not trying to lay blame, the inappropriate behavior rests squarely with the ones using it, but IMHO some of the off color conversations in-game might have been curtailed somewhat if the "catalyst", that is, the provocative handles used by some, were deemed inappropriate at the start and they were made to choose another. The flip side to this is "it's just a name", but we all know, sometimes a name is more than just a name.

Nutz