Already one of the most gay friendly companies in North America, Internet giant Google wants to take their lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) message to the world. The company announced its inclusive “Legalize Love” campaign will officially launch in Poland and Singapore on Monday, with the rest of the world to follow. According to reports on the initiative, it “will tackle places where it is illegal to be gay, or where there are other anti-gay laws or where the culture is homophobic.” The company's Mark Palmer-Edgecumbe said: “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.” Google will cooperation and work together with non-government organizations (NGO's) to lobby the governments on rights issues. Singapore is specifically mentioned, says Palmer-Edgecumbe, because it “wants to be a global financial center and world leader [and being] a world leader means you have to treat all people the same, irrespective of their sexual orientation.” LGBT rights activists in Singapore told Bikyamasr.com that after the Pink Dot demonstration that saw some 15,000 people gather to push LGBT inclusion in personal rights in the city-state, they hope that the new Google campaign can help spur on the battle for decriminalization in the Southeast Asian city. Being gay in Singapore is still a crime, but activists believe society and local culture are changing their attitudes towards the LGBT community.
