Google Launches International Campaign For Recognition of Same-Sex Marriage 804
Apple and many other tech companies have offered benefits to same-sex couples (and sometimes made them a sticking point) for quite some time now, but Google is taking its position of inclusion for sexual minorities outside the company itself; the company has announced an international campaign to promote legal marriage equality for same-sex couples, called "Legalize Love." According to CNN's version of the story, while this represents Google's policies overall, the campaign will at first "focus on countries like Singapore, where certain homosexual activities are illegal, and Poland, which has no legal recognition of same-sex couples." dot429 quotes
Mark Palmer-Edgecumbe of Google, speaking in London Saturday at a summit where the initiative was announced: "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. It is obviously a very ambitious piece of work."
Also at CNET.
Why not get government out of marriage? (Score:5, Interesting)
As far as the government is concerned marriage should be treated like any other contract. They should have no say in the contents. If there is a breech take it to court and let a jury decide. Then purge out of law any benefits or tax considerations based on material status and just people as individuals.
Polygamy (Score:5, Interesting)
I generally support gay rights, but I've always been a little meh on the idea of gay marriage. What I'd really like to hear is for a gay marriage advocate to explain to me why polygamy should be illegal yet gay marriage should be legal. If we should let two guys or two girls get married because they really love each other and want to be together forever and all of that, then why shouldn't we let a guy marry two or three or more girls (or whatever other combination you can think of) if they all really love each other and want to be together in that way? It isn't something completely absurd like marrying dogs or cars or something - there have been and still are many societies where polygamy is normal and accepted and widely practiced. So why not?
Re:Polygamy (Score:5, Interesting)
Polygamy should be legal, for all the reasons you suggest. As long as all the participants are of sound mind and everything's consensual, who has any right to tell people they can't engage in polygamy?
The government shouldn't have any say in this sort of thing whatsoever.
Just get marriage off the books entirely (Score:2, Interesting)
There is *no* reason that "marriage" needs to be defined in law at all.
Just let people love and live however they see fit. If:
- two men
- two women
- a man and 5 women
- a woman and 3 guys
- a group of people
- or any other combination
choose to live together, so be it. Who is anyone to say how someone else can love and choose to live with one or more other people?
Let religions define marriage each in their own way, if they want to--but preserve the separation of church and state.
Let everyone regardless of religion, live with whomever they want.
There is *no* reason to have to declare your relationships to the state. Seems very silly to do so, and is really just another form of tax:
- marriage license
- marriage certificate
- lawyers bills
- divorce filing
- divorce decree
- alimony
(note I don't include child support in this list--a separate matter entirely)
Why bother with all that. Just cohabitate. Stay together happily, or split up and go separate ways. Don't bother filing and updating your status with the government each time your life changes. It's none of their business.
Re:World Pride 2012 (Score:4, Interesting)
How can you be proud of something you didn't choose? It's like me saying that I'm proud of the color of my eyes. I understand that these people had a difficult time until very recently, and many still do in some countries, but proud of what exactly?
--
Sundar Pichai is the utter asshole whose incompetence resulted in the shutdown of Google's Atlanta office. Fuck you Sundar!
Re:Faggotry (Score:5, Interesting)
If companies publicly show support for certain things, I can avoid them. If they quietly throw millions of dollars at those causes, I won't know that I should.
Re:Marriage =/= legal union. (Score:5, Interesting)
Here in Norway you can go to a municipal clerk, but churches, mosques and other organizations like humanitarians can get a "license to marry" if they do their paperwork. So the priest is the one actually marrying you both in the legal and religious sense, but the paperwork will be exactly the same. Unlike the municipal clerk they are not required to marry anyone though, so they can have their own rules on who they'll marry and not. I think those two varieties cover pretty much all of Europe, it's a legal procedure in some way not just a marriage contract.
Re:So now Google is literally a bunch of faggots? (Score:5, Interesting)
I support Freedom, and support the Support of Freedom wherever it comes from.
Google fights a good fight here.
Re:Marriage =/= legal union. (Score:5, Interesting)
I'm a proponent for civil unions as a replacement for the legal institute of marriage. It is as simple as changing the name, but returns the term "marriage" to organized religion.
After all, the term "gay civil union" is much easier for the public to digest than "gay marriage". It would be functionally the same, but would be written into law much faster.