Google doodles – the artistic renderings that replace Google’s classic logo in accordance with major holidays, events and commemorations – have become a standard feature of cyber life, bringing variety and cultural recognition to even the most mundane web activities.
However, as of June 1, 2011, the colors of the rainbow were notably absent from the vocally LGBT-friendly company’s homepage – a Pride month oversight that prompted curiosity, frustration and speculation among some gay and lesbian Google users.
The Atlantic’s Nicholas Jackson explains that, beginning on June 5, Google added a search-term-specific rainbow to the end of its search bar – a miniature rainbow that appears when users type in key words like “gay,” “lesbian” or “transgender.” However, the Pride rainbow instantly disappears when searchers add qualifiers to those terms (“transgender pride,” for example, or “gay rights”), a feature that is causing some to question Google’s approach – and wonder if fear over an anti-gay backlash might be to blame.
With a strong track record on the side of LGBT rights, equality and activism, Google surprised users who expected a more prominent (and permanent) doodle in honor of LGBT Pride month to be installed on the company’s homepage. But Jackson (who is himself gay) argues in his editorial that criticism as a result of the company’s decision “should be tempered:”
“I’m disappointed in Google’s decision today,” Jackson says, “but none of this is meant to demean the company’s previous work in support of gay rights.”
Google has been ranked second only to IBM among the world’s best working environments for LGBT employees, and recently released a 90-minute video for the “It Gets Better” campaign on national television.
Geez, Stop being so darn sensitive. It’s a SEARCH ENGINE. I’m doing a paper for hitler I don’t want the swatstika to be coming up when I’m doing a search. it doesn’t matter. Go brokeback all you want.