Xbox Offended by Fort Gay

Microsoft Corp. suspended a gamer from Fort Gay, W.Va., because the name of his town violated Xbox Live’s code of conduct, which considers the term “gay” offensive.

According to the Associated Press, Microsoft and Xbox Live refused to acknowledge that the town’s name is real, even when contacted by the mayor of Fort Gay.

“Instead, they suspended his gaming privileges for a few days until Moore could convince them the location in his profile, ‘fort gay WV,’ wasn't a joke or a slur: It's an actual community of about 800 in Wayne County, along West Virginia's western border with Kentucky.”

"At first I thought, Wow, somebody's thinking I live in the gayest town in West Virginia or something. I was mad. ... It makes me feel like they hate gay people," Moore, an unemployed factory worker who plays the games Medal of Honor and Call of Duty under the gamer tag Joshanboo, told the AP. "I'm not even gay, and it makes me feel like they were discriminating."

Stephen Toulouse, director of policy and enforcement for Xbox Live, told the AP that the suspension was the result of a “miscommunication,” in which an agent who received a complaint concluded that Moore was trying to use it in a pejorative manner.