Pride Has No Borders
Behind the designs of our 2022 Pride campaign, from the new Xbox controller to fresh creations in Teams & Outlook
By Tracy Jones
We are honoring Pride at one of the most difficult moments in recent times. While the war in Ukraine rages on, attacks on Black and Asian people persist, and mass-shootings rock the U.S., murders of transgender people are escalating. Globally, 375 transgender people were killed just last year, marking 2021 as the deadliest year for transgender people. Legal rights also continue to erode; in this year alone, U.S. state lawmakers proposed 240 anti-LGBTQIA+ bills and many of the countries we operate in provide no legal protections for LGBTQIA+ individuals. Those taken away from us too early were our lovers, spouses, friends, parents, siblings, citizens of the world and this violence must stop.
This June, LGBTQIA+ employees at Microsoft and our allies invite everyone to join us in our call for justice and equity across all borders, be they geographical or ideological. At Microsoft, Pride is not a new affair. We introduced sexual orientation in our non-discrimination policies in 1989 and in 1993 we became one of the first companies to offer employee benefits for same-sex domestic partnerships. GLEAM, our LGBTQIA+ employee resource group, was founded in 1993 and today boasts over 3,000 members in 60 different countries. The group continues to be an active driver of change.
In the past few years, the desire to use the power of our platform to share messages of inclusion and support has grown. Every year, the GLEAM community selects a theme for Pride that responds to the current challenges and helps push LGBTQIA+ inclusion forward. “In 2018, we declared, ‘we’re here and we’re not going away.’ 2019, we told everybody to ‘take action.’ 2020, we encouraged dialogue. 2021, we called for unity,” said iAsia Brown, army veteran, Azure Program Manager, and GLEAM member. In response to the attacks on the LGBTQIA+ community around the world, we declare 2022 as the year that Pride has no borders.
The design behind the Pride flag burst
While the Pride rainbow flag is a radiant symbol, Microsoft designers felt that a singular approach to LGBTQIA+ communities would miss a nuanced level of complexity and unity. “LGBTQIA+ people are not a monolith and many sexual and romantic orientations, gender identities, and expressions have their own flags. It’s a community of communities, stronger together,” said Marketing Director Aleksey Fedorov. Last year, through our designs, we embraced 18 different LGBTQIA+ flags. After receiving positive reactions worldwide, we challenged ourselves to enable greater inclusion in 2022. The result is the embracing of 35 different flags.
In the early years, Pride was an internal celebration of LGBTQIA+ identities but with the realization that a greater impact could be made on a global scale, GLEAM brought their vision of Pride to the world and to our products. On the product side, the Pride Xbox controller returns this year with a twist, and variations on the Pride theme have been integrated into Microsoft Teams and Outlook mobile. On the culture side, we’re showcasing the vibrancy of our community through storied portraits of Microsoft employees worldwide. Combining the flags, personal statements, and backdrops of employee countries, these portraits aim to honor, elevate and electrify.
Expansion of the elegant Pride backgrounds in Teams
Teams is a vital tool within the landscape of hybrid work, which is why we’ve been working hard to make it more expressive than ever before. “Around the world, people rely on Teams backgrounds to show their solidarity and express themselves. Giving people more ways of expressing their identity can help empower a sense of self,” said Shyla Lindsey, Senior Designer on the Microsoft brand team. She led the effort to add sixteen new beautiful, 3D rendered, flag-inspired Teams backgrounds. Two previous flags, Pride and Pangender, were also updated with new colors. Movement, materiality, and natural light give the backgrounds depth and dimension. The team incorporated natural elements to symbolize growth, beauty, and the vibrancy of the LGBTQIA+ communities. Teams now proudly hosts 35 Pride flags.
Outlook mobile + Pride themes is evergreen
“We don’t leave our identities at the office door, and our aspiration for bringing Pride to Outlook and Office apps was a way of creating more LGBTQIA+ affirming spaces,” said Designer Shelby Hutchinson. In Outlook mobile, Pride, Bisexual, Lesbian, Transgender and Nonbinary flags are seamlessly incorporated into the application’s interface. When Hutchison started working with rainbow accents to integrate into Outlook mobile, she took it personally. “I thought the accents were nice, but I felt like when you’re a member of that community, it’s really an integral part of who you are and how you show up,” she said. She didn’t think her identity was something to hide or subtly display. “I really wanted to open up the screen a little bit. I didn’t want the rainbow to take away from the content. I wanted the colors of those flags to be able to shine through the content,” she said. It was her way of inspiring one’s world as they navigate through it.
Since the pandemic canceled endless Pride parades and in-person celebrations, designing the Pride themes for Outlook mobile gave her a bridge to overcome separation and connect with her community. “At the end of the day, I’m still human. I should have all the same basic human rights as anyone else,” said Hutchison. When the Pride themes were first implemented, LGBTQIA+ members felt seen. Since the Pride themes stay year-round on Outlook mobile, we are looking to add more flags like Asexual, Intersex, and others in future releases.
Launching the Xbox Pride controller
“Gaming saved my life,” said iAsia. During her 16-year military career, the gaming world became her safe space to talk. It has been that way for many people like iAsia, which is why gaming is a matter of Pride. Team Xbox has been driving LGBTQIA+ inclusion across many spaces for years, but one thing they always dreamed of doing was bringing Pride to one of its most visible products, the Xbox controller.
Last year, amid the pandemic, a design team led by Elliot Hsu created a bright, multi-colored Xbox Pride controller where numerous LGBTQIA+ flags zoomed around the controller’s front plate like lightning bolts. At the time, mass producing and manufacturing the controller was impossible, so the team sent it to selected LGBTQIA+ gamers and creators around the world. “We thought we’d put it out just in support of Pride, showing people that Xbox is committed to these values and then it backfired,” said Hsu. Social media lit up. People unanimously praised the controller but were disappointed and confused as to why they couldn’t purchase it. An online petition was started to free the controller. After hearing your call, we’re officially bringing the Pride controller to life to honor you and your dedication as a Pride gamer. This is your moment.
Designing the Pride controller was a process involving dozens of explorations. Inspired by ribbons, threads, and lines, the Xbox design team experimented with how to best represent the flags and their shapes. They even went back to Microsoft’s history to research some of the geometric forms they used before, like the Windows 95 pipe-inspired screensavers. In the end, the team chose continuity with their original design since it expressed unity, intersectionality, and Pride beyond borders. The second challenge was bringing 34 of the community flags together within the small surface area of the controller’s front plate. Numerous explorations eventually led to the design you see, which evokes power, unity, and prominence.
And, knowing that Pride is unique to everyone, we are releasing a customizable Pride controller through Xbox Design Lab to underscore the uniqueness of the LGBTQIA+ experience. Choose from a broad color palette, metallic finishes, rubberized grips, and even add engraving to make your Pride controller uniquely yours. Our aspiration is to highlight gaming as a matter of Pride and every time a Pride controller is purchased, a portion of the proceeds go to LGBTQIA+ charities.
The Xbox Pride controller is now officially available at Xbox Design Lab.
Amplifying Impact
Beyond creating awareness and bridging communities, resourcing is equally critical and we are proud that Microsoft and Microsofties have donated over $8M to organizations that support LGBTQIA+ communities. In recognition of launching Pride 2022, we’re contributing an additional $170,000 to OutRight Action International, African Rainbow Family, National Center for Transgender Equality, Mermaids, Lavender Rights Project, and Fulcrum UA to help fight for LGBTQIA+ equity and equality. Discover our campaign at Microsoft Unlocked .
Together, we hope to make positive changes for all LGBTQIA+ communities because no matter where you are on Earth, our lives and stories spring from the same well of humanity. Rise, nobody can define who you are. Hear us now. No borders!
To the many teams across Microsoft that contributed to this incredible project, this could not have happened without you. Thank you.
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