It’s the first-ever Pride parade for Overwatch 2. Midtown has been redecorated in festive rainbows, but some colors are now markedly absent. The NYPD cars that previously appeared have been repainted with dull, green and blue shades, turning them into regular old SUVs.
Last year, the No Police at Pride movement gained traction, and it looks like Blizzard has taken note. Historically, the police and queer people haven’t had the best relationship. The movement welcomes members of the police, just so long as they aren’t in uniform, as many queer people see the uniform as a symbol of oppression, not freedom.
Perhaps the most high-profile Police at Pride issue related to San Francisco’s 2022 parade. Uniformed officers were originally banned entirely before a compromise was reached and a small number were allowed to participate.
We reached out to Blizzard to ask for further context on the SUV color change but received no response by the time of publishing. If it’s not a direct nod to the No Police at Pride movement, it could also be a mark of respect to the Stonewall riots. The 1969 event is widely considered to have transformed the queer rights movement after a police raid of a gay bar, the Stonewall Inn, turned violent. The bar was located in Greenwich Village, New York, the same city the Midtown map takes inspiration from.
Overwatch 2 recently announced two of its heroes, Pharah and Baptiste, are queer. This news came just before a report revealed there had been 29 substantiated reports of harassment at Activision Blizzard in 2022, a more than four-fold increase from the seven reports in 2021.
