Gay Apple customer outraged after he ‘received receipt from store employee with homophobic slur printed on it in place of email address’

        The receipt Mr Catanzarite claims he was given with the homophobic slur after shopping at an Apple store 

 A gay Apple customer claims he was handed a receipt with a homophobic slur on it after shopping in one of their stores. Adam Catanzarite visited the Apple store at Pioneer Place in Portland last month to purchase a pair of $29 earphones. But when he checked his receipt days later, the place reserved for the customer's email address had been replaced with the words f@g.com.

                            The slur was printed on the receipt where the customer's email address is usually placed

An outraged Mr Catanzarite then took to his Facebook page, where he uploaded a picture of the receipt and hit out at Apple. In the post he said: 'I know first-hand that this is an example of the type of #homophobic beliefs and actions that lead young people to harm themselves.

 'This type of action is NOT OKAY, especially from a company that prides itself on being LGBTQ inclusive and welcoming.'
It is thought that when asked for his email address, Mr Catanzarite refused to give it to the employee and the letters could have innocently been entered as a way of filling out the email address field. It is claimed Mr Catanzarite was offered a refund as an apology and a store gift card, which he says he gave away. But now he has called on Apple to offer training to employees so they can learn the impact the word can have.

                         The post Mr Catanzarite wrote on Facebook after finding the gay slur on his receipt from Apple

In a separate Facebook post he explained: 'Historically, my communities have faced a history that is filled with extreme violence by individuals who are victims of their own homophobia and the society that says homophobic behavior is okay.
'The employee who entered f@g.com should not be fired (take a minute to let that settle in if you need to), but should be given an opportunity to learn about the impact of the use of the word and how these words impact the individuals who have been oppressed by them.
'Apple should give this employee an opportunity to get the resources they need to better serve their customers.'

                Mr Catanzarite had been shopping at the Apple store in Pioneer Place, pictured in Portland, Oregon

A spokesman for Apple told the Oregonian that they were aware of the incident but declined to comment further. It comes after a bar in Washington DC came under fire earlier last year for also allegedly printing a homophobic slur on a customer's receipt. Transgendered woman Amira Gray visited Bistro 18 with a group of friends and was handed a receipt with the words 'Gay b*****s' printed on it. Ms Gray made a legal complaint and said in a statement: 'As a transgender woman I was extremely hurt, embarrassed, and upset.'

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