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.

The new post talks about how Google has signed an amicus brief in support of several cases currently challenging Proposition 8 in the California Supreme Court. "Denying employees basic rights isn’t right, and it isn’t good for businesses," says Google General Counsel Kent Walker. "We are committed to preserving fundamental rights for every one of the people who work hard to make Google a success."

Google wants to make it very clear where they stand on the issue, and obviously has its employees in mind. Google is reaching out for further support.