Pride Month 2020: Here’s how big tech is celebrating

In the past few weeks, tech companies including Apple, Microsoft, Facebook, Nintendo and Snap, among others, have either launched Pride-themed accessories or rolled out new features for Pride Month. From Apple launching Pride-themed Apple Watch bands to Microsoft unveiling Pride Collection which includes skins for Surface devices and Pride t-shirts, here’s how tech brands are celebrating Pride Month.

Apple

To celebrate Pride Month 2020,  Apple has launched two new bands for the Apple Watch. The first is a rainbow band which is instantly recognisable, while the second one is a Nike Pride Edition Sport Band. The latter one is a white band with rainbow colours located inside the holes of the band. There are also new Apple Watch faces that’s part of watchOS 6.2.5. Apple has been releasing new Pride-themed bands as well as watch faces since 2016 to celebrate Pride month. Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, has never shied away from admitting that he is gay. “Let me be clear: I’m proud to be gay, and I consider being gay among the greatest gifts God has given me,” Cook told Bloomberg Businessweek in 2014.

Nike Pride Edition Sport Band. (Image credit: Apple)

Microsoft

Microsoft is celebrating Pride Month by launching the Pride collection which includes t-shirts, hoodies, and skins for Surface 2-in-1s. Meanwhile, Xbox is also creating Pride Month with collections of games that have been selected by LGBTQI+ communities. The ‘Play with Pride’ collection includes games like Borderlands 3, Life is Strange, and The Outer Worlds. Xbox is donating $250,000 to LGBTQI+ non-profit organisations around the world to celebrate Pride month. In addition, Microsoft has made a dedicated page where LGBTQ+ people from Microsoft discuss topics related to Pride.

Instagram

For Pride Month, Instagram has rolled out new features, including hashtags, stickers, and filters. For instance, when users use words such as #LGBTQ #Pride2020 #EqualityMatters #BornPerfect and #AccelerateAcceptance, they will appear in a rainbow gradient rather than the standard black text. The popular social platform also introduced new rainbow rings for Instagram Stories. To get the rainbow ring, all you have to do is use one of Instagram Pride stickers and post it your story. Your story ring will then remain as a rainbow ring every time you post a story until the end of Pride month.

The virtual Pride event is part of Global Pride 2020. (Image credit: Global Pride Crossing/Twitter)

Nintendo

Nintendo’s Animal Crossing, one of the most popular video games on the market right now, is hosting a virtual Pride festival called Global Pride Crossing. The Global Pride Crossing event will be a part of Global Pride 2020 and will be running throughout the pride month, starting on June 18. Players will get a chance to visit Pride Island, which will host a virtual pride festival. The island will have a rainbow march, a message board, a hall of fame, a dance club, and a catwalk, as part of this virtual pride festival. In addition, players can buy pride-themed outfits for their characters to wear in the game.

Snapchat, Facebook

Snapchat is celebrating Pride Month by creating new augmented reality (AR) lenses for Pride Month. A total of five new AR lenses have been released partnership with L.A.’s Pride Media. Facebook, on the other hand, has Pride-themed rainbow frames and filters.