Google Celebrates Pioneering Transgender Activist Marsha P Johnson

On June 30, Google is concluding Pride Month on a high note by honouring Marsha P. Johnson, a pioneer in LGBTQ+ rights activism.

Marsha P. Johnson was born Malcolm Michaels Jr. on August 24, 1945, in Elizabeth, New Jersey. She moved to New York City’s Greenwich Village, a cultural hub for LGBTQ+ people in 1963. She legally changed her name to Marsha P. Johnson here. Her middle initial, ‘P’ allegedly stood for her response to those who questioned her gender, meaning ‘Pay It No Mind’.

From June 28 through July 3, 1969, Greenwich Village’s gay community rose up and fought against police violence in response to New York police raiding the Stonewall Inn. The rioting that continued for several days led to leaders such as Marsha P. Johnson shine and subsequently form the basis of the blossoming LGBTQ rights movement through organisations like Street Transvestite (now Transgender) Action Revolutionaries (STAR) with fellow transgender activist Sylvia Rivera.