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Gay News: Microsoft andXbox Live suspended a gamer living in Fort Gay - a name they considered offensive
By: Nigel Robinson

Xbox gamer did live in Fort Gay

Microsoft suspends gamer for living in Fort Gay

 

 

In fact, the gamer, Josh Moore, does indeed live in Fort Gay, a town of 800 residents in Wayne County, West Virginia.

The 26-year-old told Associated Press: “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…

“I’m not even gay and it makes me feel like they were discriminating.”

Moore approached customer services to explain the situation, and even suggested that they look up his town on Google Maps, but Microsoft refused to lift the ban on his account.

It was only after Fort Gay’s mayor and a local television station took up the cause that Microsoft admitted it had made a mistake and reinstated his account.

Stephen Toulouse, director of policy and enforcement for Xbox Live, said: “Someone took the phrase ‘fort gay WV’ and believed that the individual who has that was trying to offend, or trying to use it in a pejorative manner.

“A mistake was made here and we’ve updated our training to account for that.”