June is Gay Pride Month in the U.S. and the LGBT community in World of Warcraft marked the event with a large-scale celebration on the Proudmoore server.

GayGamer reports that this year's event was the fifth such gathering:

There were a variety of activities including Pre-Parade Festivities, March, Meetup with Alliance, Nude Duel Championship final round, March to Ratchet, Dance Boat Party to Booty Bay, Azeroth's Next Top Model Competition, Crafting Faire and Post-Parade Dance Party in the Bay.

It's great to see events like this happening in WOW and City of Heroes.

Via: Destructoid

BioWare's recent censorship of discussions about potential gay characters in the upcoming Star Wars: The Old Republic did not escape notice by the Penny Arcade crew.

Click here for the full comic.

Jamie Durrant, a gay graphics designer whose credits include AAA titles such as Fable, Black & White and The Movies, has settled a harassment complaint against Microsoft.

As GamePolitics recently reported, Durrant, formerly of Peter Molyneux's Lionhead Studios, claimed that Xbox coworkers targeted him with abusive comments and notes.

Pink News cites a Microsoft statement on the settlement:

We are pleased to have reached an amicable resolution to this matter with Mr. Durrant. The terms of the settlement are confidential, but we can confirm that Mr. Durrant will not continue his employment at Lionhead as part of the agreement.

Microsoft has a longstanding commitment to diversity. We attract, recruit and respect diverse talent and we have included sexual orientation in our anti-discrimination policies for 20 years.

Our efforts have been recognised by a wide range of groups, including the Human Rights Campaign Foundation in its 2009 Corporate Equality Index. We do not tolerate breaches of our code of business conduct and take any complaints extremely seriously.

Via: gamesindustry.biz

Game publisher Electronic Arts, Xbox maker Microsoft and leading retailer GameStop are among 259 corporations that have been awarded perfect scores for their treatment of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender employees, consumers and investors.

The announcement comes by way of advocacy group the Human Rights Campaign Foundation and is contained in its 2009 Corporate Equity Index. HRC Foundation President Joe Solmonese commented:

The 2009 Corporate Equality Index shows that corporate America understands that a diverse workforce is critical to remaining successful and competitive. In the absence of a federal law that prohibits workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity or expression, it is up to employers to take the lead and implement policies that ensure all their employees are protected.

Game-related companies which also received perfect scores include retailers Best Buy and Target; PC manufacturers Dell and HP; chip maker Intel; online auction site Ebay; and search companies Google and Yahoo. Also on the list, Apple, increasingly seeming like an up-and-coming game biz player.

GP: We've been beating on EA and Microsoft of late over a couple of (well-deserved) issues, but must give credit where it is due. Well done!