Search engine
behemoth Google does not typically make political
endorsements. But it did recently when
company cofounder Sergey Brin made a post
on a Google blog Friday that stated
opposition to Proposition 8, the ballot measure that could
take away same-sex marriage rights in California.
Wrote Brin: "As
an Internet company, Google is an active participant
in policy debates surrounding information access, technology
and energy. Because our company has a great diversity
of people and opinions -- Democrats and Republicans,
conservatives and liberals, all religions and no
religion, straight and gay -- we do not generally take a
position on issues outside of our field, especially
not social issues. So when Proposition 8 appeared on
the California ballot, it was an unlikely question for
Google to take an official company position on.
"However, while
there are many objections to this proposition --
further government encroachment on personal lives,
ambiguously written text -- it is the chilling and
discriminatory effect of the proposition on many of
our employees that brings Google to publicly oppose
Proposition 8. While we respect the strongly held beliefs
that people have on both sides of this argument, we
see this fundamentally as an issue of equality. We
hope that California voters will vote no on
Proposition 8 -- we should not eliminate anyone's
fundamental rights, whatever their sexuality, to marry
the person they love."
Google is
headquartered in Mountain View, Calif.
Other media
outlets coming out against Proposition 8 include The New York Times, which ran an editorial
Monday urging California voters to reject the measure.
(Neal Broverman, The Advocate)
