By: Chris Capossela, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer.
Pride at Microsoft is a grassroots movement created with and by LGBTQIA+ employees around the world. Our mission is to empower every person and organization on the planet, and we believe it is our responsibility to work towards greater LGBTQIA+ visibility, equity, and equality. We do this all year long, during Pride and every day.
Our efforts to support and advocate for the LGBTQIA+ community at Pride have grown from a few hundred employees marching in Seattle to engaging with billions of Microsoft customers each year using our amazing platform.
A more inclusive, more immersive Pride
Our Pride focuses on the intersectionality of LGBTQIA+ movements across race, ethnicity, and geography. Through stories, products, and events from the metaverse, it highlights the interconnected challenges facing LGBTQIA+ people and calls for a unified global response. To mark the launch of our campaign, we contributed a total of $170,000 to LGBTQIA+ nonprofits around the world. That’s on top of the $8 million dollars we’ve donated along with our employees since last year.
We’re excited to elevate LGBTQIA+ voices throughout the year, not just at Pride. Today, we launch Microsoft Unlocked, a new digital destination for stories from the heart and soul of innovation. Our inaugural issue is all about Pride. In the coming months, you’ll be able to explore more LGBTQIA+ stories and immersive experiences on a variety of topics like accessibility, sustainability, culture, science, radical technology, and more.
Learn more about our campaign at unlocked.microsoft.com.
Pride has no borders – dive into our Pride metaverse event on June 17
This year, Microsoft’s LGBTQIA+ communities invite everyone to join our experiential “Pride Has No Borders” metaverse. Experience Pride in virtual reality. Learn about the state of LGBTQIA+ rights in a virtual world from activists, gamers, and supporters of the LGBTQIA+ communities at Microsoft, Team Xbox, and organizations like the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, and Intersex Association (ILGA World) and OutRight Action International. Dive into a bit of Pride history in a metaverse space. Find out how we can bridge borders and bring about collective change for all.
Join us on June 17 from 10 am to 12 pm Pacific time. Tune in through AltSpaceVR on Windows or MacOS, your Windows Mixed Reality headset, HTC Vive, or Oculus Rift. They can also watch the live stream on YouTube.
We hope you can join us. Reserve your place at aka.ms/talkpride
Pride knows no borders – our most global Pride yet
Microsoft operates in more than 120 countries, many of which still do not provide legal protections for LGBTQIA+ people and even restrict or limit LGBTQIA+ identities.
In selecting the focus for this year’s Pride, members of the Global LGBTQIA+ Employee and Allies at Microsoft Employee Resource Group (GLEAM) reflected on the intersectionality of LGBTQIA+ communities, centered on the histories of Black and African American, Asian, Native American, Hispanic, and Latinos. LGBTQIA+ from around the world and highlighted the interconnected nature of the global challenges we all face.
From Thailand to Kazakhstan, from India to Ireland and more: the stories of our employees show that no city is too small, no village too remote to celebrate Pride. Their stories about protecting women’s rights, supporting Ukraine, achieving racial justice, protecting transgender lives, and creating LGBTQIA+ visibility and equity on a global scale touch on universal issues through an LGBTQIA+ lens. and invite everyone to join our global commitment to LGBTQIA+ rights.
At a time when some are trying to limit or legislate against LGBTQIA+ communities, Microsoft’s LGBTQIA+ employees proudly say that queer empathy, peace, fairness, and joy are universal. Through our campaign, we invite everyone to join to actions and calls for justice and equity across all borders: geographic, social or ideological.
Uplifting 30+ LGBTQIA+ Communities: Our Most Inclusive Pride Expression
We have designed our Pride expression with and for the LGBTQIA+ communities to celebrate their vitality and strength, and their very close connection. We continue to draw inspiration from the diversity of gender identities, gender expressions, sexual and romantic orientations. The rich, varied, global, and intersectional tapestry of the LGBTQIA+ experience is the inspiration for our design.
Last year, GLEAM adopted more than a dozen community flags to drive recognition of the expanding LGBTQIA+ communities. We have received a lot of positive feedback from our customers, many note that they feel seen and appreciated by this approach.
This year, GLEAM nearly doubles the number of communities represented in our campaign aesthetic. Thirty-three flags representing LGBTQIA+ identities, an ally flag, and a polyamorous flag are at the core of this year’s work. This vibrant and energetic statement reminds us that by uniting across groups and across borders, we can make a difference for LGBTQIA+ communities and beyond.
An innovative Xbox Pride controller
Last year, we shared a vision for an Xbox Pride controller. We produce a limited batch and share them with LGBTQIA+ gamers and creators around the world. While the control was received positively, many asked that the design be made available to everyone. We listen and expand availability, because all gamers deserve the right to be seen and heard.
The top case of the Xbox Pride controller has been redesigned from the ground up by Microsoft’s LGBTQIA+ communities to evoke even more representation. It brings together 34 community flags in a striking, interwoven, and unforgettable way that celebrates the beauty, complexity, and diversity of the LGBTQIA+ experience. This design duplicates the rendering of last year’s design.
And because Pride is one-for-all, you can truly make control yours with Xbox Design Labwhere they can customize each part with a wide color palette, metallic finishes, rubber grips and even engravings.
Create your unique Pride controller starting June 9, available everywhere it’s available Xbox Design Lab. Share your designs with us using #Pride and #XboxPride.
But this is not just a control. It is a symbol of the LGBTQIA+ communities that inspired and built it, and a call to continue efforts towards inclusion and representation in all gaming spaces. So we brought together dozens of voices from LGBTQIA+ Xbox gamers, creators, and team members into one immersive storytelling experience. We hope this experience shows why LGBTQIA+ visibility and representation matters, how it has already impacted so many people’s lives, and how much more we can do to make gaming a matter of Pride.
Our most inclusive Pride collection
Since the introduction of our first Pride products in 2018, they have been a visible celebration of intersectionality and the strength of LGBTQIA+ communities. This year, GLEAM members worked with teams across Microsoft to create the most inclusive product launch in our history:
- Xbox– Explore curated games, community stories, nonprofits, and more, all created by and with LGBTQIA+ communities.
- Control Xbox Design Lab Pride– Personalize your Xbox Wireless Controller with the Xbox Design Lab and show Pride with the bold new design. Available June 9 in all Xbox Design Lab markets.
- Xbox Gear: Look Pride with limited-edition t-shirts, bags and more.
- xbox games: Celebrate Pride with LGBTQIA+ creators on Xbox.
- Microsoft Store: explore collections of games y films curated by Microsoft’s LGBTQIA+ communities.
- Surface– Break boundaries with the Limited Edition Pride Skin for Surface Laptop 13.5″ and 15″ and Surface Pro 8. Available in the US, Canada and the UK.
- Windows– Bring the edges together with new Windows wallpapers inspired by the flags of the LGBTQIA+ communities.
- Microsoft 365– Turn on Pride in select Microsoft 365 apps* and celebrate with special themes inspired by the flags of LGBTQIA+ communities.
- Microsoft Teams– Show where you stand with over 50 new virtual backgrounds for Pride.
- Microsoft Teams mobile apps– Spread Pride across your Microsoft Teams mobile apps with the theme “Show your Pride.” Plus, new Pride themes are coming later this year.
- Outlook mobile– Embrace Pride in Outlook mobile on iOS and Android with themes inspired by the Pride, Trans, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Non-Binary flags.
- Skype: Celebrate Pride with virtual backgrounds and scenes inspired by different LGBTQIA+ flags.
- Microsoft Rewards– Join Microsoft Rewards in supporting OutRight Action International just by doing a search on Microsoft Bing.
- Bing: Explore the stories of people who have contributed to the continued progress of LGBTQIA+ equality.
- Microsoft Unlocked: Explore the Pride edition of our new digital destination for immersive stories from the heart and soul of innovation.
- Microsoft Design– Discover the stories of the designers behind this year’s Pride collection on the Microsoft Design blog and social media.
- Microsoft Life: Explore the stories of our employees from around the world.
Act on Message: Donation of a Total of $170K to LGBTQIA+ Nonprofits
We continue our longstanding support of LGBTQIA+ organizations. To recognize the launch of our Pride 2022 campaign and products, we contributed $170,000 to OutRight Action International, African Rainbow Family, National Center for Transgender Equality, Mermaids, Lavender Rights Project y Tactical UA to help in the fight for LGBTQIA+ fairness and equality.
LGBTQIA+ Equity Advocacy Since 1989
Microsoft introduced sexual orientation into our nondiscrimination policies in 1989, and we’ve been pushing for LGBTQIA+ inclusion ever since. In 1993, we began offering employee benefits for same-sex couples, making us one of the first companies in the world to do so. We publicly championed marriage equality even before it was legalized in the United States, and advocated for all types of families. Microsoft has earned a score of 100 on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Corporate Equality Index for 17 years.
Since its founding in 1993, GLEAM has honored Pride by elevating LGBTQIA+ voices and using the reach of our products to share messages of inclusion and support.
By supporting our employees through global advocacy, charitable giving, and best practices in the workplace, we hope to make a difference for the LGBTQIA+ communities and beyond. Our drive to make a positive global impact continues.
We invite everyone to join us in calling for justice and equity across borders. Share your thoughts with us on social media with #MicrosoftPride and #Pride.
* The “Show your Pride” theme is available in the following apps: iOS: Outlook, Teams, OneNote, Office, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint; Android: Outlook and Teams; Mac: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote. In Outlook, you can find Pride themes in Settings > Appearance. In all other apps, you can find the Pride theme in Settings.
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