google celebrates pride with giant digital monument commemorating stonewall

in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the stonewall uprising, google has launched a new augmented reality interactive monument which brings users to christopher street park, in front of the stonewall inn, in new york. the project by the LGBTQ community center, the national park service, and google, is called stonewall forever and can be accessed anywhere on a desktop, phone, or augmented reality app, and aims at preserving and expanding the reach of LGBTQ rights history.

christopher street liberation day march, 1972, photo by rudy grillo, courtesy of the lgbt community center national history archive / google arts & culture

‘it was early in the morning on saturday, june 28, 1969, when the police raided the stonewall inn on christopher street, one of the few places at the time where LGBTQ people could gather openly,’ details william floyd, director of public policy for google. ‘new yorkers fought back. this altercation, known as the stonewall riots, led to angry protests that lasted for days and sparked the modern fight for LGBTQ rights around the world.‘

the living monument features thousands of colorful fragments containing pride stories, including digitized historical artifacts and photos and messages added by people around the world.

video by google

google provided support in the form of a $1.5 million grant from google.org, and volunteers from google creative lab helped bring the experience to life.whilst stonewall continues to live on in the LGBTQ community, images histories and monuments – old and new – are what ensures it is never forgotten. the stonewall forever digital installation can be viewed on the web, and through an augmented reality app that allows you to experience the stonewall national monument in new york’s christopher park.

all other images via stonewall forever

in 2016, president obama designated christopher park, the small triangle of green that sits in front of the stonewall inn, as the first national monument dedicated to telling the story of this community’s struggle.

‘gay power christopher street — west,’ 1970, image courtesy of the lgbt community center national history archive / google arts & culture

google’s online platform google arts & culture, which gives the public access to high-resolution images of artworks and cultural documents, is also preserving other archives and stories from LGBTQ history. in partnership with the center, LGBT historical society of san francisco, the national park service’s stonewall monument, and cyark, it has curated a collection of never-before-seen photos and videos, 3D models of the stonewall monuments, and a virtual walking tour of LGBT sites in the village.

there is also a short documentary, directed by ro haber, featuring an inclusive array of activists, from across generations, each giving their own interpretation of the stonewall legacy. google is also launching pride forever, a campaign honoring the past, present, and future of the LGBTQ+ community, which aims to share the last half a century of LGBTQ+ history with its users. its interactive google doodle from july 4th 2019, a slideshow exploring five decades of pride, with animated illustrations by doodler nate swinehart.