It should be noted that many of the 405th staff at the Battalion, Regiment and Division levels advocated very hard for this change to not happen.
I would like to start off by saying that I appreciate and respect all of the hard work that Fangs and Art do. They try to make decisions that are in the best interest of the community and values we aim to represent. They genuinely do try their best. None of what I’m about to say should be perceived as an attack on them as individuals, but instead as a questioning of the decisions that have been made.
With that being said, they are human and like any of the rest of us they are fallible, they make decisions, often with the best intentions. But sometimes intent does not align with impact.
I stand against this decision. I advocated against it. I will continue to advocate against it and you can too. For the TLDR way to stand up, peacefully and respectfully, please read the section marked in
bold ️
The intent of this decision may have been to create brand cohesion (though I would say that is suspect due to the timing of this announcement). I would also say it was a decision rushed to be made at this time as it is a “branding” decision. As part of the branding team, and the creator of our Pride logos, I was not made aware of this decision until days prior to the beginning of Pride with the rest of Division leadership (who as stated were very vocal in their opposition).
If we wanted meaningful change to be made and enacted, as a branding exercise, would contacting the team that works on your branding not be a first logical step MONTHS not days before a demand for immediate change was made to be able to effectively come up with ways to support the community? I would say so. Anything less seems not only short sighted, but a slight to all the hard work that team does.
Timelines or concrete guidelines for these ongoing branding changes have not been supplied. The only rush was to ensure that the Pride logos were not used. There currently has been no attempt made to reach out to me nor have I been informed of any communications from any of the rest of the graphics team. The decision as stated would require widespread overhauls to all of our graphics. Leading me to believe that the rush to have no Pride representation through are logos is a thinly veiled attempt to suppress this specific cause. Which, giving the benefit of the doubt to FANGS and Art, may not have been the intent, but it is certainly the perceived impact.
I firmly disagree with this course of action and will even go as far as to say that this does not reflect the core values of the 405th and is an action in direct opposition to our Mantle: Unity. Armour. Honor.
These actions do not promote inclusivity, they act in opposition to those values by not allowing our members to be seen and respected. This is not Unity, it is division.
Our Armor is a reflection of who we are, it isn’t just the physical armor we build, but the clothes we wear, and the shielding many of us have to put on through our daily lives to fend off attacks from people who stand against our very existence. If putting some colours behind a logo adds a piece to that armour for members of our community, disallowing it leaves them with less protection, and leadership taking that away from them comes across as them no longer having there back. To top it off, the 405th seems to be in direct opposition to the core values of the groups we aim to promote. Pride Armour launched on Halo Infinite and has been included (among other causes) for years in the franchise. Social media accounts of Halo, 343, Microsoft, and even Bungie (tho no longer Halo themed) all have representation and logo changes. Microsoft even has Halo themed pride clothing in there merch store. They don’t seem to host the same concerns about brand confusion as we do and happily provided physical armor along side the metaphorical armor I alluded to.
Honour, well… this public post was not made until the day of Pride month. Multiple members of Division leadership called for this announcement days ago, instead we were asked to brainstorm ways to “work through this” and come up with several of the items stated in the initial post of this thread while almost universally stating that this was not what we wanted as your Division leadership teams. I also personally feel we are having our representation of you, our members, completely disregarded. I was personally asked by members about using the Pride logos unprompted, I then asked immediately if a statement would be made, days ago. I asked if Regiment staff were to make this announcement, individually, with no reply. Over the next several days the question was brought up by other Regiment leadership too, asking for a timely announcement to be made with the understanding that many of us do not stand behind this decision and as such would not make it on senior leaderships behalf. The announcement was finally made, on the day of Pride. To me, that sequence of events does not project Honour. Putting your volunteer staff in that position and having Division staff fight back not only against the decision, but from being turned into the scapegoats is not what Honor stands for.
Regiment staff were also told in no uncertain terms that if we didn’t back this decision, if we chose to step down from our positions of power in protest, that we would be abandoning the our communities. I personally have taken great offense to that statement as it is one of tyranny, the very thing Pride was created to fight against. I am not abandoning my friends. I am not stepping down at this juncture, however it is not off the table.
What I am doing is standing up against this decision. I am willing to accept any and all repercussions for my actions as well as for the actions of anyone else who chooses to take a stand against this blatant disrespect both to our volunteer Regiment leadership team as well as towards you as members.
I am not abandoning anyone. I will never abandon my friends, my family. But I will be a martyr. I will happily accept and welcome any demotions, punishments, and persecution for standing up for the right thing. Which is a loving, kind, caring and understanding community full of amazing people.
️ I will be flying the Pride flag in my profile in protest to this decision and I welcome anyone who would stand with me, in peaceful and respectful demonstration. I ask that no punishment be given to anyone but myself, who chooses to stand in opposition to this decision. ️
I do not think that this decision was one of malice. I believe at their core Art and FANGS are good people who have made an ill informed decision, not fully aware of how it would be perceived. Not fully grasping that the 405th is not the forums, or the armour, it is not the logos or the branding. It is people. It is volunteers giving endlessly. It is members working tirelessly making creations that amaze. It is the people who make the organization, not the other way around. As such I kindly ask that we the people do not sit by as these decisions unfold.
In any organization it is important for membership to be able to be heard when they stand in opposition to decisions. Anything less would be tyranny.
