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Updated June 30th, 2020 at 16:01 IST

Google celebrates life & legacy of American LGBTQ+ activist Marsha P. Johnson

Marking the end of the pride month that is celebrated every year throughout June, Google Doodle is celebrating the life of LGBTQ+ activist Marsha P Johnson.

Reported by: Aanchal Nigam
Google
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Marking the end of the pride month that is celebrated every year throughout June, Google Doodle is celebrating the life of LGBTQ+ activist and self-identified ‘drag queen’ Marsha P Johnson on June 30. Expressing gratitude for all the work, the doodle has been illustrated by Los-Angeles based guest artists Rob Gilliam that shows cheerful Johnson with her iconic headgear. Moreover, on this a year ago, she was posthumously honoured as a grand marshal of the New York City Pride March and is widely regarded as one of the pioneers LGBTQ+ rights movement in the United States. Gilliam, the artist of the doodle admitted ‘owing’ so much to Johnson for leading the movement that ensured rights and freedoms for the LGBTQ+ community.

"As a queer person of colour I owe Marsha so much. She was the catalyst for our liberation, the driving force behind the movement that has given many of us the rights and freedoms that we previously couldn't even dream of. Marsha created a space for us in western society through her empowering bravery and refusal to be silenced," said artist Rob Gilliam.

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More about Marsha P Johnson

Born as Malcolm Michaels Jr on August 24, 1945, in New Jersey, Marsha P Johnson had moved to New York City’s Greenwich Village after graduation in 1963. It was amid the cultural hub of LGBTQ+ people in New York when she legally changed her name to Marsha P Johnson and allegedly the ‘P’ stands for her response to those who questioned her gender, that is ‘Pay It No Mind’. 

Widely beloved for her charisma, Johnson is also credited as one of the key leaders of the Stonewall uprising of 1969 which is denoted as the critical turning point of the rights movement of the LGBTQ+ community. In 1970, she founded the Street Transvestite (now known as Transgender) Action Revolutionaries or STAR along with her transgender activist friend Sylvia Rivera. STAR was the first US-based organisation to have been led by a trans woman of colour.

To express gratitude for her work and inspiration, Google said, “Thank you, Marsha P. Johnson, for inspiring people everywhere to stand up for the freedom to be themselves.”

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Published June 30th, 2020 at 16:01 IST

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