Google is launching a new campaign, Legalize Love, to pressurize governments into recognizing and decriminalizing homosexuality. With Legalize Love, the search giant wants to ensure its staff have "the same inclusive experience outside of the office as they do at work," and that LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) communities can feel safe and accepted wherever they are.
The campaign will focus on countries like Singapore (in which male homosexuality is illegal) and Poland (which doesn't recognize same-sex couples). Dot429 quotes Mark Palmer-Edgecumbe, Google's head of Diversity and Inclusion, explaining how this initiative will work:
"Singapore wants to be a global financial center and world leader and we can push them on the fact that being a global center and a world leader means you have to treat all people the same, irrespective of their sexual orientation."
Google has been a staunch supporter of the LGBT rights movement for a long time. It's been almost ever-present at pride parades across the world, has a Gayglers network to support homosexual employees, and has also been very public in its opposition to anti-gay legislation. Back in 2008, Sergey Brin urged Californians to say 'no' to Proposition 8 (which eliminated the rights of same-sex couples to marry), and Google later announced plans to cover some of the additional expenses that gay couples face in countries which don't have tax equality between hetero- and homosexual couples.