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Bungie says it is committed to providing trans healthcare

Bungie says it is committed to providing trans healthcare

Destiny studio Bungie has said that it is "committed" to making sure that its trans employees can access the healthcare they need.

The developer made this promise in a statement to Kotaku, following the publication of a letter by senior visual designer Signy Davis on Twitter describing how the company's healthcare insurance provider – Premera – has denied the treatment they need.

Overall, Davis is positive about working at Bungie, but said that ensuring trans employees can access the care they need is essential.

"I believe in Bungie's commitment toward bettering our inclusion, diversity, and equity," she wrote. "This commitment is reflected in the kindness, professionalism, and friendship I've been shown since my first day on the job. I want to grow at Bungie and make career-defining work. But I can't while I'm actively fighting for my life. I can't be hopeful for my future while our health insurance continues to deny my humanity.

"I know many people at Bungie care about this issue and are doing their best to right this wrong. I am thankful for the open and ongoing conversations I've had and hope to continue having with Bungie HR. But major gaps of coverage and the medical insurance industry's repeated attempts to erase transgender people is actively harming me and my fellow coworkers now, today.

"I am tired of seeking care and receiving trauma instead. I recognize this is a complex and multi-layered problem, but I hope for change and soon. Bungie and the industry need to act now, together, to secure equal treatment and health care access for transgender and gender-expansive people."

Speaking to Kotaku, Bungie said that it was speaking to the Trans@Bungie group to find out where to go from here.

"We are grateful for Bungie employees speaking up on issues that impact them," the studio said. "We have had an employee reach out internally to share their lived experience and that it was important to them to also share publicly to help create awareness for this issue. We support them and appreciate their willingness to engage with us to address the issues that they and other trans/non-binary employees have faced when pursuing gender-affirming care.

"We are committed to the long-term work needed to address the issues raised. We have been engaged in conversations with many of our employees who are a part of Trans@Bungie to center their experiences to inform and shape that work."


PCGamesInsider Contributing Editor

Alex Calvin is a freelance journalist who writes about the business of games. He started out at UK trade paper MCV in 2013 and left as deputy editor over three years later. In June 2017, he joined Steel Media as the editor for new site PCGamesInsider.biz. In October 2019 he left this full-time position at the company but still contributes to the site on a daily basis. He has also written for GamesIndustry.biz, VGC, Games London, The Observer/Guardian and Esquire UK.