Hours before the 2014 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony is set to kick off, Google is putting some of its most valuable real estate — their logo — to good use: to show their support for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender olympians on their way to Sochi.
As pictured above, the standard logo has been replaced with a rainbow of color, with each hue silhouetted by a winter sport athlete.
In the off chance that you’ve somehow missed it, LGBT rights with regards to the Olympics happening in Russia has been a concern for quite some time. These concerns grew particularly strong last year, after the Russian government enacted a law banning the distribution of any material on the topic of gay rights. Meanwhile, homophobic violence in the region has reportedly surged. The International Olympic Committee has gone back and forth on whether or not Olympians were allowed to express themselves on the matter.
A quote at the bottom of the page highlights a particularly poignant section of the Olympic Charter:
“The practice of sport is a human right. Every individual must have the possibility of practicing sport, without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play.” –Olympic Charter
Meanwhile, the logo itself links to a search for the Olympic Charter in its entirety.
Good on you, Google.
