Posted in: Comics | Tagged: dark horse, jay edidin, mariah mccourt, transgender

Amidst Criticism, Dark Horse Expands Employee Health Plan to Include Services for Transgender Employees

Dark Horse Comics announced today that, effective October 1, they will expand their employee health plan "to provide additional coverage for medical transition services for transgender employees." The company released a statement on Twitter detailing the changes and apologizing "for any pain caused by the previous lack of coverage for transgender-specific health care."

The company had been publicly criticized for touting support of Pride month despite not providing vital health care for transgender people in its medical benefits plan. By the time Dark Horse finally acquiesced to widespread online criticism, Jay Edidin, who says he left Dark Horse partially as a result of Dark Horse's previous policy, had been taking the company to task on social media for several weeks (click for thread), and explained how the medical policy had an impact beyond just the services excluded (thread). Meanwhile, Mariah McCourt was in the process of collecting signatures for an open letter to Dark Horse asking them to end discrimination when Dark Horse issued today's announcement under mounting pressure.

Earlier this month, Dark Horse issued a statement saying the company "is dedicated to inclusivity and diversity," which promised to "explore all options" in choosing its medical plan for the next year. The statement was criticized for failing to make any concrete commitments to improve the policy.

But the latest statement promises that changes will take place as soon as the new year's health plan takes effect.

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