Keywords Studios Celebrates Pride
For many countries, June signals the beginning of Pride season, a colourful celebration of the LGBTQ+ community. While many LGBTQ+ community members and allies celebrate with parades, queer visibility takes on a different meaning for everyone.
We honor that from its roots, Pride is an ongoing call for equitable treatment. Pride marks an opportunity to recognize and celebrate LGBTQ+ rights and representation, while also acknowledging there is still work to be done.
From marching and sponsoring LGBTQ+ organizations to implementing improvements within our organization, Keywords Studios is proud to support and embrace our own diverse community. Our staff are at the heart of everything we do, and celebrating and supporting our differences is what makes Keywords Studios what it is today.
To mark Pride season this year, we have compiled a series of updates and milestones from across our studios.
Why we celebrate Pride
Dr Athena-Maria Enderstein,
Diversity and Inclusion and Corporate Social Responsibility Manager for Europe
Diversity is a key feature of the Keywords identity, with our community of studios growing globally. In 2020, we initiated a purposeful diversity, equity, and inclusion journey. We established a Global Diversity and Inclusion Council with members from all of our regions and partnered with Women in Games; we also welcomed a dedicated DEI manager for Europe and an Engagement manager for the Americas. We are identifying existing good practices in our studios, and are launching regional DEI programs.
This is an incremental process, there is a lot of learning to do and a lot of change to achieve. With the same passion and creativity we apply in making games, we are addressing underrepresentation, tackling inequalities, and developing our practice of inclusivity to create an environment where all Keywords Colleagues can thrive.
A key part of this is supporting our Keywords and gaming industry communities, ensuring Keywords Colleagues of all sexual orientations, gender identities, and gender expressions feel welcomed and appreciated. Each year with Pride, we participate in a celebration of people coming together. We reflect on the progress made and we acknowledge the discrimination and inequalities the LGBTQ+ community continues to face. This ensures that our ongoing diversity and inclusion actions are impactful and sustainable.
Raising Community Awareness
For several years, Keywords Studios has been supporting and marching in Pride around the world and 2022 is no different. Upcoming marches are planned in Seattle, Montreal and Mexico City, while earlier this year Keywords Studios marched in Tokyo Pride for the first time.
Keywords Studios are involved in many Pride events this year, including Montreal, Seattle and Mexico City.
To support and raise awareness of the LGBTQ+ community in the video games industry, Keywords Studios recently sponsored the Gayming awards. The event acknowledged and celebrated diversity and inclusivity within games and interactive media, while also giving a platform and voice for under-represented people championing inclusivity in video games.
Supporting local charities
Several studios had bake sales to raise funds during Pride, including Liquid Violet, who had an Equali-tea bake sale to raise funds for Stonewall, while Keywords Studios in Madrid baked cookies to raise money for Kif-Kif foundation.
Waste Creative in London is raising funds during Pride through the launching of a unique range of merchandise, created in-house. All proceeds will go to Mermaids UK.
Learn more and support
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