ABOVE: Google Doodle of trans activist Marsha P. Johnson (Photo courtesy Twitter).
Google commemorated the legacy of trans activist Marsha P. Johnson by depicting the LGBTQ+ trailblazer in a vibrant illustration on the search engine’s homepage June 30, the last day of Pride Month.
The tech company chose Johnson to be the face of its Google Doodle for June 30 because this day marks the first anniversary since she was posthumously designated as a grand marshal of the New York City Pride March during World Pride in New York, CNN reported. The impact of Johnson’s work on LGBTQ+ visibility was also important to Google to highlight.
Johnson is considered a “beloved and charismatic fixture in the LGBTQ+ community” for her pivotal role in the 1969 Stonewall riots, the company shared, which are “widely regarded as a critical turning point for the international LGBTQ+ rights movement.” In 1970, she founded the LGBTQ+ activist organization Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR) with trans activist Sylvia Rivera. The organization was the first organization in the U.S. to be led by a trans woman of color and was the first to open North America’s first shelter for LGBTQ+ youth.
“Thank you, Marsha P. Johnson, for inspiring people everywhere to stand up for the freedom to be themselves,” Google said in a statement.
Elle Hearns, founder and executive director of the Black trans advocacy group the Marsha P. Johnson Institute, believes that the Google Doodle of Johnson will help expand the overall significance and prominence of LGBTQ+ history.
“‘Today’s Doodle will help teach her story to many more around the world, and about the work that has been historically ignored and often purposely left out of history books,’” Hearns said. “‘Today’s Doodle of Marsha reminds people that Black and LGBTQ+ history is bigger than just a month; it is something to be honored every single day.’”
The digital illustration has not gone unnoticed by people online. NOH8 Campaign, an LGBTQ charity, shared the Google Doodle on Twitter, while users anchorage40 and chloeivyroseseo expressed satisfaction at seeing Johnson being given this spotlight.
Google unveils a new logo illustration honoring LGBTQ+ rights activist Marsha P. Johnson #NOH8 https://t.co/NZN3q9hb6F
— NOH8 Campaign (@NOH8Campaign) June 30, 2020
Can I just say that the google doodle today of Marsha P. Johnson makes me so happy and joyful every time I look at?
It’s been a turbulent month but happy pride everyone 🏳️🌈— Dr Kat Raines (@anchorage40) June 30, 2020
Seeing Marsha P. Johnson as the Google doodle on the last day of pride month has made me immensely happy. We wouldn’t have pride without Black trans womxn 🏳️🌈💕 pic.twitter.com/fzdOQuDUD0
— Chloe Ivy Rose 🍃 (@chloeivyroseseo) June 30, 2020
Google also plans on donating $500,000 to the Marsha P. Johnson Institute. The institute is dedicated to elevating, supporting and nourishing the voices of Black, transgender people by “organizing, advocating and creating an intentional community to heal, develop transformative leadership and promote [their] collective power,” according to its official website.
Statues of both Johnson and Rivera are currently planned to be built and placed in the Lower Manhattan neighborhood of Greenwich Village in New York City. These statues would be the “the world’s first monuments in honor of transgender people.”
