Googlers came out en masse this year to celebrate Pride around the world, in cities ranging from Dublin to Pittsburgh. Pride celebrations are a time for family, friends and members of the LGBT* community to reiterate their commitment to equality and honor the trailblazers whose efforts made it possible for us to stand out and proud today.

Nearly 300 Googlers marched with colorful balloons down Market Street for San Francisco's 40th annual Pride parade. We braved the rain in Boston, enjoyed the sun in New York, rode a trolley in Chicago and marched with the Israel Gay Youth Organization in Tel Aviv and Haifa. Googlers will be participating in EuroPride, held in Poland this year, as well as many other parades, including Tokyo for the first time. And we'll be celebrating Pride season in Singapore too.

This year, we have another reason to celebrate. Google will be grossing-up imputed taxes on health insurance benefits for all same-sex domestic partners in the United States, retroactive to January 1, 2010. Starting July 1, we'll also be providing the equivalent of the Family and Medical Leave Act for all same-sex domestic partners. And we've worked with our carriers to update their definition of infertility—it's now defined as the inability to conceive a child with no stipulations on trying for one year.

Google supports its LGBT employees in many ways: raising its voice in matters of policy, taking a moment to remember the plight of transgender people around the world and going the extra mile to ensure that its employees are treated fairly.

There's a lot be proud of this year but we know the best is yet to come. We look forward to many more years of Pride celebrations. Take a glimpse at the global festivities below.



*LGBT stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered but, without letting the acronym get too unwieldy, is also intended to include people who identify as queer, asexual or intersexed, amongst others.

Posted by Cynthia Yeung, Strategic Partner Development Team