Celebrating the past, present, and future of the LGBTQ+ community.

A Living Monument to 50 Years of Pride

The LGBT Community Center of New York City, with support from Google.org, has worked to preserve LGBTQ+ history for future generations by extending the Stonewall National Monument from its physical location in New York City to a digital experience that can be accessed by everyone, everywhere.

Stonewall Forever is the result of the LGBT Community Center’s efforts. It’s a living monument to Pride, connecting diverse voices from the Stonewall era to the millions of voices in today’s LGBTQ+ community. The monument features digitized historical artifacts, oral histories capturing the early days of the movement, a short documentary by Ro Haber that highlights unheard stories from the LGBTQ+ community, and photos and messages from people around the world.

You can experience Stonewall Forever online and become a part of the living history of the LGBTQ+ community by adding your own story to the digital monument. If you’re in Christopher Park in New York City, you can also experience it live through an augmented reality (AR) app.

Add your story to the monument

When Pride began

On June 28, 1969, the Stonewall Inn was raided by the New York City police – a common police practice at the time for bars frequented by the LGBTQ+ community.1 But that night, instead of giving in, a group of brave individuals stood up. What followed were five nights of protests for LGBTQ+ rights, setting in motion the next 50 years of Pride.

After that, LGBTQ+ rights’ organizations began to spring up across the US and around the world. On June 27 and 28, 1970, the first Pride parades commemorating Stonewall took place in New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Chicago.2

To celebrate this year’s historic Pride, Google is launching Pride Forever, a campaign that’s rooted in sharing LGBTQ+ history with our users. In the last 50 years of the LGBTQ+ rights movement, there have been many successes but also some stumbles–and there’s still a long way to go. But the legacy of Stonewall lives on in every coming out, every struggle, every victory, and every Pride march.

Today, Pride parades span 174 cities in 46 countries worldwide,3 keeping alive the legacy of those who stood up 50 years ago. This year, Googlers in 51 locations around the world will join Pride marches to celebrate the past, present, and future of the LGBTQ+ community.

The State of Pride

Same-sex marriage

Legal in 28 countries
Illegal in 167 countries4

Right to change legal gender

Legal in 90 countries
Illegal in 20 countries5

LGBTQ+ discrimination protection

Legal protections against discrimination in 52 countries
No protections in 143 countries6

Serve in the military regardless of sexual orientation

Legal in 175 countries
Illegal in 20 countries5

Forming an LGBTQ+ NGO

Legal in 168 countries
Illegal in 25 countries7

Constitutions that protect sexual minorities

Equal treatment explicitly guaranteed in 5 countries
Not guaranteed in 188 countries8

50 years of LGBTQ+ history

• 1 “Stonewall Riots,” History.com, A&E Television Networks, LLC, updated on August 21, 2018.
• 2 "#TBT: What Gay Pride Looked Like in 1970,” The Advocate, Pride Publishing, Inc, updated on June 5, 2014.
• 3 “Pride Events: World Cities (A–Z),” World Gay Pride Calendar, gaypridecalendar.com, accessed May 1, 2019.
• 4 Pew Research Center, accessed May 29, 2019.
• 5 Equaldex, accessed May 1, 2019.
• 6 International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, accessed May 29, 2019.
• 7 “Seven striking statistics on the status of gay rights and homophobia across the globe,” Los Angeles Times, accessed on May 15, 2017.
• 8 “This is the state of LGBTI rights around the world in 2018,” World Economic Forum, accessed on June 14, 2018.
• 9 "Stonewall Riots,” History, A&E Television Networks, LLC, updated August 21, 2018.
• 10 “Remembering Brenda: An Ode to the ‘Mother of Pride,’” The Advocate, Pride Publishing Inc., updated June 17, 2014.
• 11 “Chronological overview of LGBT persons rights in Sweden,” Government Offices of Sweden, Swedish Government, updated July 12, 2018.
• 12 “How Did the Rainbow Flag Become a Symbol of LGBT Pride?,” Encyclopaedia Brittanica, Encyclopaedia Brittanica Inc., accessed May 1, 2019.
• 13 “AIDS: the Early Years and CDC’s Response,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, updated October 7, 2011.
• 14 “Georgina Beyer becomes first transgender woman elected to Parliament in the world,” New Zealand History, New Zealand Government Crown Copyright, accessed May 1, 2019.
• 15 “What was the first country to legalize gay marriage?,” The Washington Post, WP Company LLC, updated June 26, 2015.
• 16 “The history of transgender rights in the UK,” All About Law, All About Careers Ltd., updated November 12, 2018.
• 17 “Transsexual athletes OK for Athens,” CNN.com, Cable News Network LP, LLLP, updated May 18, 2004.
• 18 “Italy elects Europe’s first transgender MP,” Pink News, PinkNews Media Group Ltd, updated April 19, 2006.
• 19 Trans rights: Meet the face of Nepal’s progressive ‘third gender’ movement,” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media Ltd, updated February 12, 2016.
• 20 “Ireland becomes first country to legalise gay marriage by popular vote,” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media Ltd, updated May 23, 2015.
• 21 “Taiwan unveils Asia’s first draft law on same-sex marriage,” Reuters, Thomson Reuters, updated February 20, 2019.
• 22 “Section 377: How India brought an end to the criminalisation of its LGBT+ community,” Independent, Independent Digital News and Media Ltd, updated September 6, 2018.
• 23 “Pride Events: World Cities (A–Z),” World Gay Pride Calendar, accessed May 1, 2019.