Google Calendar gets backlash for removing Pride, Black History Month, and other cultural events

Google Calendar no longer includes events like Pride Month and Black History Month, citing sustainability concerns.

Google Calendar users are outraged after noticing the removal of several cultural events including Pride Month, Black History Month (BHM), Indigenous Peoples’ Month, Holocaust Remembrance Day, Jewish Heritage, and Hispanic Heritage from the platform’s default settings.

The backlash erupted when users accused Google of erasing key cultural observances due to political motives. However, Google denied this, instead claiming the decision was based on sustainability concerns.

Google spokesperson Madison Cushman Veld explained:

“We received feedback that some events and countries were missing, and maintaining hundreds of moments manually wasn’t scalable. So in mid-2024, we returned to showing only public holidays and national observances.”

Google previously partnered with timeanddate.com to display major holidays and observances, but began manually adding more cultural moments globally. The company now says this approach became unsustainable, prompting the rollback.

Critics argue the removal disproportionately affects marginalized communities, as major national holidays remain untouched. One user highlighted how this was a deliberate choice made by the platform, while others claimed it was a direct response to conservative pushback against diversity-focused celebrations.

gotta love the pandering to the alt right bigots...... nice

— ᴀʟᴇᴄ 🍃 (@alecsbutt) February 10, 2025

Just remember, this was not forced on them. Google chose to do this.

— 🇺🇸🐻 David 🇲🇽🇬🇧 (@DaveSixFour) February 10, 2025

"blacks for trump"
"gays for trump"
"latino's for trump"

where y'all at?

— 𝓐𝓷𝓰𝓮𝓵 ♡ (@thankUbardi) February 10, 2025

And we just removed Google services from our devices. You can remove holidays all you want, it won’t make them go away.

— 優木 せつ菜 🇯🇵 | Love Live Superstar S3 SZN (@Nljigakulive) February 10, 2025

While Google allows users to manually add events, many argue this change makes cultural moments less visible and accessible.

The move comes in tandem with the renaming of the Gulf of Mexico to "Gulf of America" on Google Maps after a formal decision by the Trump administration.

Google’s event removal decision aligns with growing tensions over inclusivity in tech, leaving many questioning whether this was a logistical necessity or a politically influenced move.