Google’s gay pride about to earn them a trip to the No-Spin zone. at mrshl

Google’s gay pride about to earn them a trip to the No-Spin zone.

June 17th, 2008 by mrshl

Users who type the word “gay” into Google are being presented with a little extra in their search results: a rainbow flag between the results and ads.

The rainbow flag (also known as a gay pride flag) represents an open statement of support for the LGBT community, and can commonly be seen in businesses or on vehicles of members of the LGBT community or by those who support this community. By display the flag, Google is sending a message that it supports gay rights.

Now there is absolutely nothing wrong with Google’s stand, and credit to them for making it, but gay rights and the religious right in America don’t make great bedfellows. Google is making overtly political statements in its key search area, a stand that for Google is actually unprecedented as far as I can recall. When the right wing media and blogosphere find out that Google is making these statements, it’s only a matter of time until someone calls for a boycott.

Wait, you think the same right-wing nut jobs who mistook Rachel Ray and her scarf as apologia for Islamic extremism might have a problem with Google expressing clear support for gays and lesbians?

Google has already been getting flack for not being patriotic enough to honor certain holidays with one of their famous doodles:

Perhaps the most extreme condemnations come from the editors of the populist WorldNetDaily.com, who have all but accused Google of advancing the cause of godless communism. "Google consistently ignores patriotic American holidays such as Memorial Day and Veterans Day," WorldNetDaily’s editors wrote last October, "but today it acknowledged an accomplishment of the communist Soviet Union, which launched the Sputnik satellite fifty years ago." The news site, which has also complained that Google’s search rankings keep its stories in the basement, even ominously reported that the company misspelled its logo when commemorating Valentine’s Day last year. "Previous Valentine’s Day logos for Google, obtained by WND, have no such possible confusion for spelling," the site noted. Could Google even have it in for love?

If these dorks can’t get over Sputnik, they’re going to have a really hard time tasting the rainbow. Wake me when it’s over.