Google Calendar has removed dates for Black History Month, Pride Month, and Women’s History Month in a move the company says was long overdue.
Speaking with PinkNews A Google spokesperson explained “Some years ago, the Calendar team started manually adding a broader set of cultural moments in a wide number of countries around the world. We got feedback that some other events and countries were missing — and maintaining hundreds of moments manually and consistently globally wasn’t scalable or sustainable.”
As a result, in mid-2024, Google returned to displaying only public holidays and national observances sourced from timeanddate.com, while allowing users to manually add other significant events.
The change follows broader shifts in Google’s approach to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). The company recently scrapped its goals to recruit staff from minority groups, joining Amazon and Meta in rolling back DEI policies. The decision aligns with former president Donald Trump’s pledge to “end the onslaught of useless and overpaid DEI activists.”
Google also made headlines for updating Google Maps to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America” within the United States, following an order from Trump, BBC reported.
Several major corporations, including Walmart, Ford, Lowe’s, Harley-Davidson, and Jack Daniel’s, have also discontinued their DEI programs, largely in response to a campaign led by conservative commentator Robby Starbuck. McDonald’s recently announced it would follow suit.
