>The very day after I blogged about that, my Google+ account was suspended, for using the name I was almost universally known by. Over the next couple of months, I campaigned tirelessly for Google+ to change its policies, working with the EFF and other advocates. My work was covered in Wired, The Atlantic, and a number of other mainstream press outlets. Obviously this was to no avail...
Note that they still want to have your "real" name in addition to the name that you're known by. The article says:
"Over the next week, we’ll be adding support for alternate names – be they nicknames, birth names, or names in another script – alongside your common name."
So someone who is afraid of revealing their true identity still can't use Google+.
FYI, this policy has changed: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+BradleyHorowitz/posts/SM5RjubbM...