Google has a doodle up on its homepage throughout the world today celebrating the Olympic Games, but also making a statement in favor of gay rights.
Not only does the doodle resemble a rainbow flag, Google has actually quoted the Olympic Charter on its homepage underneath the search box. It says:
“The practice of sport is a human right. Every individual must have the possibility of practicing sport, without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play.” –Olympic Charter
The link simply takes you to Google’s search results for “olympic charter,” which points to the document on Olympic.org as the top result underneath the news box. From there you can access it in PDF form.
The quote Google uses appears as number 4 under “Fundamental Principles of Olympism”.
The charter is the set of rules and guidelines for the games, and has been used throughout history to decide the outcome of various controversies. The organization has turned to it to rule on issues about citizenship, performance-enhancing drugs, and sexism, among other things.
Obviously Google is aiming the doodle and message at Russian anti-gay law, and these appear on Google’s Russian homepage just like the rest of its international properties.
Image via Google
