Google’s philanthropic branch, Google.org, is donating $1 million to preserve an oral history of the Stonewall riots, one of the modern era’s earliest and certainly the most famous actions in the fight for LGBTQ rights.
The funding will go to The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center to start the project, Sen. Chuck Schumer announced yesterday.
“With this money, The Center will collaborate with the National Park Foundation to better education the community about its extraordinary history,” Schumer said.
Individuals present at the riots will have a chance to have their stories preserved so that future generations will know what really happened over several days in the summer of 1969, as members of the community fought back against police harassment specifically and a society that refused to accept them generally.
Never Miss a Beat
Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights.
William Floyd, Google’s head of external affairs in New York, is credited with coming up with the idea.
The Stonewall Inn was named a national monument last year. There has been some concern that the Trump administration could take away the designation after the president signed an executive order instructing the secretary of the Interior to look at the designations made over the past 21 years.
“The National Park Service is committed to telling the stories that reflect all of America’s history,” said Joshua Laird, commissioner of the National Parks of New York Harbor.
“I pledge to you, that I will do everything in my power to make sure the designation of Stonewall is set in stone,” said Schumer. “No repeal.”
He added that the grant sends “an unmistakable message to President Trump and Washington that we’re going to fight to defend Stonewall, because at its core, what happened here at Stonewall was deeply patriotic.”
