Xbox apologises over 'gay' suspension

Xbox say policing the system for offensive content is a challenge

Microsoft has apologised to a town in America after suspending one of its residents from Xbox Live.

Twenty-six-year-old Josh Moore was banned because officials said he'd broken Xbox's code of conduct by saying he lives in Fort Gay, West Virginia - a name branded offensive by the company.

Despite his contacting Microsoft and the enforcement team at Xbox Live to reassure them that it was a real place they refused to check its validity.

Josh said: "At first I thought, 'Wow, somebody's thinking I live in the gayest town in West Virginia or something'."

The contract for Xbox Live players says users cannot "create a gamertag, avatar or use text in other profile fields that may offend other members".

Game loss

It also lists potentially dangerous topics such as drug use, hate speech and racial, ethnic or religious slurs.

Because of his suspension, which lasted a few days, he missed a key game last week which his team went on to lose.

The unemployed factory worker mainly plays shooters like Medal of Honour, Call of Duty and Ghost Recon.

He said: "I'm not even gay and it makes me feel like they were discriminating."

Even the town's Mayor David Thompson got involved but with little success.

He told local news reporters Xbox said the town's name didn't matter and that the word gay was inappropriate in any context.

But Stephen Toulouse, director of policy and enforcement for Xbox said the suspension was down to a mistake caused by miscommunication.

He said: "Some took the phrase 'fort gay WV' and believed that the individual who had that was trying to offend.

"Unfortunately one of my people agreed with that. When it was brought to my attention we revoked the suspension."

He added that staying ahead of slang and policing Xbox for offensive content is a constant challenge.