Search engine Google, which has been suffering from a few privacy scares lately, wants to bring its liberal supporters back by taking a tough line on gay marriage.

Google wants to appear to be in the forefront of supporting same sex marriage it is starting a "Legalize Love," a campaign that pressures governments to do the right thing.

While this is all fair enough, after all it is only really in the US, the Vatican and other socially backward countries that see anything wrong with homosexuality, you have to wonder why Google as a tech company is running such a campaign.

It is pretty good when corporations can see that a piece of social legislation makes sense, but at the same time actually putting the thumbscrews on politicians publicly by launching a global campaign called "Legalize Love" is a little strange. The first targets are not also the home countries of the US, but Singapore and Poland.

Google's Mark Palmer-Edgecumbe is quoted as saying that Singapore wants to be a global financial center and world leader and Google can push them on the fact that being a global center and a world leader means they have to treat all people the same, irrespective of their sexual orientation.

Google wants this campaign to be active in every country in which it has an office. However, it is placing the greatest heat initially on those places that actually have anti-gay legislation. Google insists this campaign, even though it is called "Legalize Love," isn't an attempt to get gay marriage legalised.

Officially 'Legalize Love' is a campaign to promote safer conditions for gay and lesbian people inside and outside the office. It is all good liberal publicity. We would have thought that Google might be a little braver and have more of an effect if it concentrated on their own country first. [Still, it's not the first time Google ruined Santorum's day. Ed]