Web-searching success story Google has taken a public stand against Proposition 8, an anti-gay marriage measure on the November ballot in California.

Google's co-founder Sergey Brin released a statement on the issue, noting that "while there are many objections to this proposition – further government encroachment on personal lives, ambiguously written text – it is the chilling and discriminatory effect of the proposition on many of our employees that brings Google to publicly oppose Proposition 8.

"While we respect the strongly-held beliefs that people have on both sides of this argument, we see this fundamentally as an issue of equality. We hope that California voters will vote no on Proposition 8 – we should not eliminate anyone's fundamental rights, whatever their sexuality, to marry the person they love."

Brin acknowledged that it is unusual for the Google company to comment on non-tech issues: "Because our company has a great diversity of people and opinions – Democrats and Republicans, conservatives and liberals, all religions and no religion, straight and gay – we do not generally take a position on issues outside of our field, especially not social issues."

In May, the California Supreme Court overturned a ban on same-sex marriages, but Proposition 8 brings the issue onto the election ballot this November.

An official website has been set up opposing the proposition – it is linked below, along with the statement from Google.