Proud Voices: What Pride Means To Our Employees

This past Pride Month, we have been beyond thrilled to honor the courage, tenacity and beautiful spectrum of LGBTQ+ identities across the world, at EA and in our games. It was a month filled with events, programs and initiatives that saw us celebrate, acknowledge and reflect on the issues challenging the rights and freedoms of many members of this community around the globe.

This included the Games For Good: Make an Impact with Play tournament and donation drive, a plethora of volunteer opportunities and events around our global offices and our dev teams such as Paint with Pride, the Trans Healthcare Panel, and many more.

To cap off this wonderful month, we wanted to hear directly from EA PRIDE–our LGBTQ+ Employee Resource Group (ERG)–in their voices. We sent questions to various teams around the globe to gather their perspectives on what Pride means to them, to share memorable experiences, and to tell us what creating a culture of inclusivity means not just in June, but every day of the year.

These are our EA PRIDE community voices.

“[Pride] means a day of walking hand-in-hand with my wife without fear. It means being myself.”

Amanda Hawthorne, Inclusive Language Lead

What does Pride mean to you?

Pride to me means celebrating our gains. It means remembering Marsha P Johnson and Sylvia Rivera for defending the rights of our community. It means a day of walking hand-in-hand with my wife without fear. It means being myself.

Can you share a personal experience or memory from a Pride celebration this past month, at EA or beyond, that was particularly meaningful to you?

One of my favorite events this Pride month was actually an onsite local event at our Madrid office. We had a few local activities from t-shirt design to a massive party, but the one that really left an impression on me was our movie night. We watched the iconic Paris is Burning then had an honest conversation after about trans rights, cultural appropriation and the white gaze. As a black lesbian, navigating majority-white spaces can be anxiety-inducing but I felt very safe in the space we created.

How might we all create a culture of inclusivity that lives and breathes 24/7/365, beyond annual Heritage Month celebrations?

As the Global Professional Development Lead for EA PRIDE, this is something I often think about. Heritage months are fantastic to bring attention to our many communities but then sometimes, we can feel invisible the rest of the year. To be honest, I'm not sure I have the answer to that. There are definite things that we can do more of, like attending events year-round, engaging in posts online rather than reading and moving on. These small things would be a start but ultimately creating an inclusive culture is a long process that needs support at multiple levels, clear transparent planning and intentional resourcing.

“Pride is about being so comfortable in your true, full self that it invites and enables others to be comfortable in their own true, full selves.”

Laura Hellinger, Game Designer, BioWare

What does Pride mean to you?

For me, Pride is about being so comfortable in your true, full self that it invites and enables others to be comfortable in their own true, full selves. It’s an authenticity that displays the purest forms of joy and fulfillment in life itself, that allows all of us vital moments, no matter how big or small, to engage in fondness for life’s simplest wonders. Moments where we feel no doubt, no shame, no existential incongruence. Things simply are, and we can appreciate the inherent beauty in that truth.

Can you share a personal experience or memory from a Pride celebration this past month, at EA or beyond, that was particularly meaningful to you?

This past weekend, my family visited Disney Springs and Universal Studios Orlando. Somehow, I’ve managed to become busy enough that I completely forgot that Pride celebrations are a thing outside of the workplace. So, imagine the thrill of looking up from my phone to find Mickey’s heart-shaped hands filled with a rainbow, or rounding a City Walk corner and reading the large print that 100% of profits would benefit local non-profit organizations supporting our community. While I remain ever mindful of Rainbow Capitalism, being caught completely off by reminders that I (or, at least, my profitability!) is loudly encouraged in places of high international foot traffic – places that I grew up in, no less – gave me that sporadic injection of joy and self-love that I believe Pride is all about. It was a reminder for me that things like displays and decorations and an environment’s overall state of being is more than just seasonal fun – it’s what blankets the events of Pride month into a cohesive and 24/7 existence of Pride Month’s message that we’re here, exactly as we are, and we absolutely rock!

How might we all create a culture of inclusivity that lives and breathes 24/7/365, beyond annual Heritage Month celebrations?

As one of Austin’s local chapter ERG leads, I’ve become inspired over recent years by our increasingly intersectional approach to diversity, equity, and inclusion. We’ve barely dipped our toes into a wealth of potential learning and discovery and celebration! But, years before that, I’ve been drip-fed various experiences and articles and friendships that reinforce a singular idea: if you listen, truly open yourself up to possibility and listen, the things you discover, the people you meet, the experiences you wander into will truly delight you. That is where “inclusivity” is born – in our heartfelt connections between each other and the world around us – and the joy we feel in those connections is where “culture” evolves from. No one event, no one organization, no one trinket will ever carry the load of “creating” a truly inclusive culture, but it lives in the people in and around all of those things, and as we engage with them and develop those relationships, we will find the culture we strive for naturally blooming from and around us.

“The first time a senior person in my team used gender-inclusive language beyond the binary, I felt truly included.”

Benjamin Halbe, Senior Director, Global Audit

What does Pride mean to you?

To me Pride is equal parts joy and defiance. Joy because I get to celebrate both where we have gotten to and the ones who have come before to enable where we have gotten to today. Defiance because there is still a lot of work to be done. 

Can you share a personal experience or memory from a Pride celebration this past month, at EA or beyond, that was particularly meaningful to you?

I got to speak to our employees in India as part of a panel. This was meaningful and impactful to me in equal measure as I got to share my perspective and experience with so many folks, who all seemed interested and engaged. The questions were great and folks seemed very keen to know more. It is wonderful to be seen as a human being – as a whole person. 

How might we all create a culture of inclusivity that lives and breathes 24/7/365, beyond annual Heritage Month celebrations?

An inclusive culture is a lived daily experience. Simple things matter. Saying thank you consistently and intentionally. 

Addressing people the way they would like to be addressed. The first time a senior person in my team used gender-inclusive language beyond the binary, I felt truly included. I aspire to use that kind of language all the time now. 

And finally, showing up and being present to meet people where they are at, remembering that we are all human beings and giving everyone respect and kindness. 

“...we are delivering more cutting-edge experiences than ever before that bring together players from all corners of the world.”

A culture of inclusivity, every single day

Here at EA, we are proud of the work we have accomplished in fostering a culture of inclusivity. Because we know that together, we can continue to build allyship, a culture of belonging, and a workplace where everyone can thrive not just in a single dedicated month, but every day.

Through this commitment to inclusion, we are delivering more cutting-edge experiences than ever before that bring together players from all corners of the world – games and content where they are seen, heard, included, and celebrated.

Ready to join a company that celebrates you? Join EA to help us change the game.