Microsoft is apologizing to a town in West Virginia, after a 26-year-old gamer from a town called Fort Gay was suspended from its Xbox Live online game service because of the town's name, the Associated Press reported.

Josh Moore says he tried to inform a representative with the company that his listed location was not to meant to be a derogatory slur, and encouraged the company to verify the existence of Fort Gay, a town of about 800 in Wayne County.

"I figured, I'll explain to them, 'Look in my account. Fort Gay is a real place,'" Moore told AP. "I'm not even gay, and it makes me feel like they were discriminating."

But the representative ignored Moore's explanation and suspended his account.

Microsoft has previously run into controversy with its ban on words that can potentially be viewed as perjorative or gay-affirming.

In March, the company changed its policies to allow users to describe themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or straight -- after consulting with the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD).

Stephen Toulouse, director of policy and enforcement for Xbox Live, told AP that Moore's account suspension was a mistake. "Absolutely, a mistake was made here, and we've updated our training to account for that."

Source: Mark Hefflinger

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