Say what you want about Google being the mother of big brothers, there’s many reasons why I’m a huge fan of the company, and this is an addition to that list.

Google is going to begin covering a cost that gay and lesbian employees must pay when their partners receive domestic partner health benefits, largely to compensate them for an extra tax that heterosexual married couples do not pay. The increase will be retroactive to the beginning of the year. Read the story over at The New York Times.

There are two reasons why I’m pretty excited about Google doing this, even though I’ll likely never work for the company. The first reason is obvious: Google is gay friendly. The second reason is that Google’s decision to compensate gay employees who pay higher taxes on their insurance when covering their partner puts a big name on an issue that most people don’t consider while engaging in the debate on LGBT equality and gay marriage. The laws of our nation and states decriminate against same-sex couples and the cost of this descrimination can easily be tens of thousands of dollars. As long as our government favors one committed relationship over another, it is descrminating. To me, this is a clear violation of the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution which states that, “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

Sadly, our Attoney General Ken Cuccinelli doesn’t believe LGBT people are citizens covered by the 14th Amendment, and would probably sue if Congress tried to tell Virginia to legalize gay marriage…just as he’s done with Health Care Reform and EPA regulations.

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