MeinMMO, GameStar, and GamePro celebrate Pride Month with colorful logos and a statement against hate and discrimination.
Since its inception, online gaming has always represented playing together with others. It connects gamers from various corners of the world and with different backgrounds to have fun together.
Unfortunately, it still happens that people are attacked or harassed in online games for being different. Therefore, we want to make a statement against hate, violence, and discrimination this year as well and stand for peaceful and tolerant online gaming. What we stand for in our online game communities applies to us outside of them as well.
This is what we stand for: At MeinMMO and in our company Webedia, this principle is a matter of course. It is enshrined in our commenting rules and is also part of the code of conduct in our Discord.
For this reason, all our logos on MeinMMO, GameStar, and GamePro, as well as on our Twitter and Facebook channels shine in bright colors to emphasize during Pride Month again that hate speech has no place on our platforms.
Currently, the usually colorful parades are overshadowed not only by the effects of the coronavirus but also by the protests against racism and police violence in the USA. Both MeinMMO and Webedia position themselves in solidarity with the #BlackLivesMatter movement.
Why we are coloring our logos now, explains our Webedia Germany CEO Marc-Andreas Albert, who addressed the following message to all employees and that we would like to share with you:
In light of the horrific events that have occurred in the USA, I feel compelled to write to everyone on our team so that each of us knows where we stand. Violence, racism, and hate have no place in our homes, in our lives, in our society.
But that is exactly what we are seeing.
Our values – the values of every rational person – are based on care, acceptance, protection, and respect. These bring us together, whoever we are, wherever we come from. It is up to all of us to show this now more than ever – in our professional lives, as well as in private.
This difference, which some people hate, is the difference we love.
In this spirit, I am very much looking forward to the beginning of Pride Month. A month that stands worldwide for tolerance, diversity, and peaceful coexistence in every respect. Therefore, it is important and right for me that our logos will again shine in proud rainbow colors on social media and the websites this year.
Marc-Andreas Albert, CEO of Webedia Deutschland
About the Pride Month: On June 28, 2020, the Stonewall Riots will commemorate their 51st anniversary. They are internationally regarded as the starting signal for the civil rights LGBTQ movement, which fights for equal rights worldwide and annually reminds of the ongoing struggle for equality for all with the PRIDE marches – regardless of skin color, ethnicity, origin, national origin, political opinion, religion, sexuality, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, physical or mental disability, marital form, or other legally protected constellations.
As the MeinMMO editorial team, we fully share Marc-Andreas’ views, but we also want to add a few personal words to you:
Thank you, MeinMMO community
You accompany us every day through the often turbulent events around gaming, and we want to thank you for standing up to racism, hate, and intolerance again and again. We see it in our comment section that many of you actively speak out against disrespectful or discriminatory behavior when someone shows it in their post.
We think it’s great that you stand up against it and support us with your comments. But it doesn’t matter where you do it. Whether in our comment section, in MMORPG chats, or in voice chats of multiplayer shooters. Keep it up, because you can actively combat discrimination.
We are glad to see every day that respectful interaction is practiced on MeinMMO and we owe most of this to you. We, too, will continue to stand against hate speech now and in the future. Thank you very much, and let us continue to stand together against hate and incitement.
