Microsoft, EA, and Gearbox sign open letter opposing anti-trans Texas bill

65 companies including Microsoft, Electronic Arts, and Gearbox Entertainment have signed an open letter opposing the Texas anti-trans bill.

In February, Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued a bill that would call for child protective services to investigate families on the matter of abuse if their transgender children were receiving gender-affirming health care. Now, 65 companies have openly opposed the Texan bill in the hopes of Abbott abandoning his discriminatory efforts against the LGBTQ+ community (via Kotaku).

The open letter, which was organized by the LGBTQ organization the Human Rights Campaign, “call[s] on [the] governor to abandon anti-LGBTQ+ efforts”. The Texas director of the HRC, Rebecca Marques, shared an ad copy of the open letter on Friday (March 11).

60+ companies doing business in Texas to ask policy makers to abandon efforts to discriminate against our employees, their families and our customers.#txlege https://t.co/T23VaIkXf0

— Rebecca Marques (@_RebeccaMarques) March 11, 2022

“Our companies do business, create jobs, and serve customers in Texas,” the open letter reads. “We are committed to building inclusive environments where our employees can thrive inside and outside of the workplace. For years we have stood to ensure LGBTQ+ people – our employees, customers, and their families – are sage and welcomed in the communities where we do business.”

Microsoft, EA, and Gearbox are all members of Texas Competes, a pro-LGBTQ business network, and Gearbox previously opposed the bill in the past.

“The recent attempt to criminalise a parent for helping their transgender child access medically necessary, age-appropriate healthcare in the state of Texas goes against the values of our companies. This policy creates fear for employees and their families, especially those with transgender children, who might now be faced with choosing to provide the best possible medical care for their children but risk having those children removed by child protective services for doing so. It is only one of several efforts discriminating against transgender youth that are advancing across the country.”

The letter continued: “We call on our public leaders – in Texas and across the country – to abandon efforts to write discrimination into law and policy. It’s not just wrong, it has an impact on our employees, our customers, their families, and our work.”

In other news, Elden Ring hacker Malcolm Reynolds claims to be a “necessary evil” after soft-banning players.