Richard "Ric" Weiland (1953-2006) was a software developer, programmer, philanthropist, and active member of the Northwest gay community. He enjoyed creating costumes and dressing up for LGBTQ parties in Seattle. In the Pacific Northwest, a patterned flannel shirt is a wardrobe staple and often associated with the rugged masculinity of lumberjacks. Weiland strategically modified this Eddie Bauer shirt to make it body-revealing. Weiland was the first full-time employee hired by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in 1975 at the newly founded Microsoft company. The three were high school classmates at Lakeside School and members of the Lakeside Programming Group. Weiland retired from Microsoft in 1988 at the age of 35. As the value of his stock holdings grew, he increasingly devoted himself to philanthropy, donating nearly $200 million to support HIV research, LGBTQ legal rights, and the presence of gay-straight alliances and anti-bullying policies in schools.