Google hides Gay flag

Happy Pride month, all.

Seems Google is afraid

of us!

Google hides Gay

Pride rainbow

By John D. Sutter, CNN June 24, 2011 6:10 a.m. EDT | Filed under: Web

If you Google terms like "gay" or "homosexuality" this month, a rainbow pops up by the search bar.
   
 (CNN) -- Google creates "doodles” for

all kinds of random occasions.

The search engine changed -- or doodled --

the logo on its home page in celebration of

the painter Paul Cezanne's 172nd birthday;

Robert Louis Stevenson's 160th birthday;

the first day of school in Poland; and

Pac-Man's 30th anniversary. All of these,

with the exception of Poland, which

appeared only in that country, were

automatically visible to everyone who

visited Google.com.
   

But for Gay Pride Month -- which, in case

you didn't notice the parade in the city

center, is happening now -- the company

took a much less visible approach.

It's one that's stirred up criticism from

the gay community.

There's never been an actual Google

Doodle in honor of Gay Pride. Instead,

during June, a little rainbow pops up

next to Google's search bar only when

users search for certain "pride-related"

terms, including, "gay," "lesbian,"

"homosexuality," "LGBT,"

"marriage equality," "bisexual" and

"transgender."

"During the month of June, Google is

celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual and

transgender (LGBT) Pride," the company

said in an e-mail. "For some Pride-related

search queries, we are showing a rainbow

at the end of the search bar."
   

So why hide this feature beneath specific

searches?

A company spokeswoman did not provide

specifics. (End of CNN story)
   

Shout out at Google, folks.

Stop being second class citizens!

JEFF PATCHER - Gay and Proud!