A Bungie employee is calling for industry change in the face of continuing "discrimination against trans and gender expansive people."
Bungie senior visual designer Signy Davis tagged her employer, Bungie's new parent company Sony, as well as several online publications in her call for change at Premera and the wider health insurance industry as a whole. Premera is Bungie's health provider, which Davis said has consistently denied her gender-affirming surgery.
"I've spent the last two years of my life fighting 'cosmetic only' denials for gender-affirming surgery, including a needed surgical revision denial as recent as June 2, because of Premera's continued discriminatory practices and Bungie's lack of priority and action," wrote Davis. "Premera and other health insurance companies across the country have and continue to dehumanize trans and gender expansive people when seeking life-saving care."
Davis added that she believes Bungie's commitment to "inclusion, diversity, and equity." However, two years is a long time to wait for gender confirmation surgery, which Davis calls a sure sign of discrimination against trans people in the health insurance industry.
"Bungie and the industry need to act now, together, to secure equal treatment and health care access for transgender and gender-expansive people. This must be a priority. This is an opportunity for Bungie and the industry to demonstrate that their transgender and gender-expansive employees matter, to listen, and act to combat this blatant discrimination.
"I can't be hopeful for my future while our health insurance continues to deny my humanity," Davis added. "I am tired of seeking care and receiving trauma instead."
In a statement to Kotaku, a Bungie spokesperson responded to Davis' call for industry change with gratitude.
"We are grateful for Bungie employees speaking up on issues that impact them. 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," said Bungie. "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."
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