On the last day of Pride month, Google has paid tribute to LGBTQ+ activist, performer and self-identified drag queen Marsha P Johnson. Today’s Google Doodle is illustrated by Los Angeles-based guest artist Rob Gilliam. It celebrates Johnson with a bright burst of colours and the widest smile!
On this day in 2019, Marsha was posthumously honoured as a grand marshal of the New York City Pride March.
Johnson is a beloved personality in the LGBTQ+ community and is credited as one of the most important leaders of the 1969 Stonewall uprising - a critical moment in the international LGBTQ+ rights movement. The following year, Johnson founded the Street Transvestite (now Transgender) Action Revolutionaries (STAR) with fellow transgender activist Sylvia Rivera. STAR was the first organisation in the USA to be led by a trans woman of colour.
In a statement, Google mentioned - “Google.org is donating $500,000 to the Marsha P. Johnson Institute, which works to end violence against Black Trans women across the United States and create a world where they are safe, valued, and treated with human dignity.”
Google will be providing direct cash assistance to Black Trans people through COVID-19 relief efforts.
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