TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Taiwan Tongzhi Hotline Association (TTHA) said on Thursday (Oct. 29) that it is one of 70 LGBTQ+ support groups worldwide to have received funding from Google.org, a charitable arm of the tech giant.

The pandemic has made fundraising for non-governmental organizations more difficult this year. Even so, TTHA thanked Google.org. for the monetary backing in a statement released on Thursday.

Google.org has allocated over US$1.2 million (NT$35 million) in funds for global LGBTQ+ advocacy groups this year. TTHA did not disclose how much it has received from the organization.

With the funding, the association will be able to maintain operations and services this year, said the association’s secretary-general Olivia Tsai (蔡瑩芝). TTHA has also launched a podcast program to promote issues related to the lesbian community, she said.

The association has enough funds to organize a second-edition procession dedicated to the cross-gender community, according to Tsai. The procession will be held on the eve of the Taiwan Pride parade scheduled for Oct. 31.

Established in 1998, TTHA is the first NGO to focus on promoting gay rights and providing help to the gay community in Taiwan. It has since grown to advocate for the broader LGBTQ+ community.

Google said it will streamline Saturday’s event via the YouTube channel Taiwan Rainbow Civil Action Association, the organizer of this year’s pride parade. Later, it will launch a rainbow-colored route of the parade on Google Maps, bringing back the feature the tech firm made available last year.