Google comes out against Proposition 8

Google, well known for its fence sitting on most political issues, has come out against California Proposition 8, an Act if passed that would see same sex marriage made illegal in California.

In a post to the Google Blog, founder Sergey Brin notes that while Google does not generally take a position on issues outside the tech field, especially not social issues, it felt the need to do so here:

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.

It’s a first for Google and a move that will be widely welcomed in the tech, liberal and GLBT communities. However, you’d think that Google is hoping for an Obama win in November, because all the fence sitting of the past means nothing now that Google has come out against the Christian right, the core constituency of the Republican Party.

Update: the vote has been taken and Proposition 8 passed. See Proposition 8 passes: gay marriage to be outlawed in California .