Google has made a quiet but noticeable change to its popular Calendar app, removing events like Women’s History Month, Black History Month, and LGBTQ+ holidays. Users who relied on Google Calendar to stay updated on cultural observances have recently discovered these events no longer appear.
The tech giant explained that the decision was made for practical reasons. According to a Google spokesperson, manually adding and maintaining hundreds of cultural events worldwide had become too complex and unsustainable. In mid-2024, Google switched to displaying only public holidays and national observances sourced from timeanddate.com while allowing users to add personal events manually.
Google Calendar is a widely used tool, with over 500 million users globally. However, the removal of these observances aligns with broader policy shifts within the company. Reports suggest that Google and other major tech firms have been scaling back diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. This comes as the company navigates regulatory changes and political shifts, particularly following Donald Trump’s anticipated return to the White House.
In February, Google’s parent company, Alphabet, announced it was ending its hiring goals for underrepresented groups and reassessing its DEI programs. As a federal contractor, Google stated it must comply with evolving government policies, including recent executive orders affecting DEI programs.
Another controversial move by Google involved renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America” for U.S. users, following an executive order. These policy adjustments indicate a shift in how the company approaches inclusivity and cultural recognition, raising concerns among users and advocacy groups.
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