Boxed Out

Josh Moore of Fort Gay, West Virginia had his Xbox Live account suspended for having “fort gay WV” listed as his location. Okay, this PC thing has gone too far the wrong way.

According to Microsoft, this is a slur. Gay is a slur? When it's not even being used as in description of sexuality? Moore tried to reason with the Microsoft service rep, “I figured, I’ll explain to them, 'Look in my [billing] account. Fort Gay is a real place'." But the employee was unreceptive, and warned Moore if he put Fort Gay back in his profile, Xbox Live would cancel his account and keep his $12 monthly membership fee, which he’d paid in advance for two years. Zing! “I told him, Google it — 25514!” Google your gay? Easy there, pal.

Oddly, this shouldn't have been a problem. A change to Xbox Live policy earlier this year made it okay to express your sexuality in your profile or gamer tag, after controversy arose over users being banned for identifying themselves as gay and lesbian. But locations? Look out Intercourse, Pennsylvania and Cumming, Georgia! The temporary suspension on his profile caused Moore to miss a tournament, which his team lost. How dare you rob an unemployed factory worker who enjoys first-person shooters of his only satisfaction in life!

The mayor of Fort Gay (how sweet is that on a door placard?) complained to a local news station about it, and Moore was able to reach a supervisor who understood the concept of zip codes and town names. Eventually Microsoft apologized to Moore and the city of Fort Gay for the misunderstanding. There's also a West Virginia town named Mount Gay, and let's hope there's not another issue. And what of international players in Wetwang, England, Dildo, Canada, and Fucking, Austria?