Google Launches Gay Rights Campaign

Google officials announced this weekend the launch of a new worldwide gay rights campaign that will support workers in countries that criminalize homosexuality, CNN reported.

The "Legalize Love" campaign will be put into motion in countries such as Singapore, which has outlawed same-sex activity; and Poland, which does not recognize marriage equality and has oppressed Pride demonstrations.

"We want our employees who are gay or lesbian or transgender to have the same experience outside the office as they do in the office," Google executive Mark Palmer-Edgecumbe said. "It is obviously a very ambitious piece of work."

The worldwide campaign will work on creating partnerships with local companies and support grassroots organizing efforts. Officials from Citigroup and Ernst & Young have announced the companies have agreed to work with the gay-friendly Google campaign, CNN notes.

"'Legalize Love' is a campaign to promote safer conditions for gay and lesbian people inside and outside the office in countries with anti-gay laws on the books," Google said in a written statement.

This isn't the first time the search engine company has supported gay rights. In 2008 Google's co-founder and president Sergey Brin said he disagreed with Proposition 8 and in 2010 the company announced that it would add pay to cover a tax for same-sex benefits -- a tax straight married couples do not have to pay. Additionally, CNN points out that Google has made the Human Rights Campaign's "best place to work" list.

Some media outlets first reported that the "Legalize Love" campaign was going to focus on legalizing gay marriage around the world but a Google spokesman said that was not correct. He claims that the campaign will work on human rights and employment discrimination.

"Though our business and employees are located in offices around the world, our policies on non-discrimination are universal throughout Google. We are proud to be recognized as a leader in LGBT inclusion efforts, but there is still a long way to go to achieve full equality. 'Legalize Love' is our call to decriminalize homosexuality and eliminate homophobia around the world," Google said in a statement.