Google Calendar Removes Black History Month, Pride Month, and Other Cultural Observances

Google shifts focus to national holidays, sparking user backlash

Google has quietly removed references to key cultural observances such as the start of Black History Month, Women’s History Month, and LGBTQ+ Pride Month from its popular online and mobile calendar platforms. The change, which went largely unnoticed until recently, has sparked criticism from users who rely on Google Calendar to keep track of significant historical and cultural events.

Previously, Google Calendar automatically displayed observances like Black History Month on February 1 and Women’s History Month on March 1. However, as of 2025, these dates no longer appear. The Verge first reported on these removals after users voiced concerns on social media and Google’s support pages. Google later confirmed that the changes began in mid-2024.

A Google spokesperson explained that the company initially started manually adding a wide range of cultural events from different countries. However, maintaining hundreds of observances globally proved unsustainable. “Some years ago, the Calendar team started manually adding a broader set of cultural moments in a wide number of countries around the world,” the spokesperson stated via email. “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.”

This move coincides with broader shifts in Google’s corporate policies, particularly around diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Following the election of President Donald Trump, Google began scrapping its diversity hiring goals, aligning with changes in the political landscape. One of Trump’s first executive orders after taking office in January 2025 was to dismantle federal DEI programs, placing officials overseeing those initiatives on leave.

In line with these shifts, Google has made other controversial updates to its services. For instance, the company announced changes to Google Maps, renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America” to reflect updates from official government sources under the Trump administration. Additionally, Google Maps will now refer to Alaska’s Denali as “Mount McKinley,” following federal naming conventions reinstated by Trump.

Google Calendar has also removed the start of Indigenous Peoples Month on November 1 and LGBTQ+ Pride Month on June 1. According to the company, these decisions are part of a broader effort to standardize the calendar’s content. “In mid-2024, we returned to showing only public holidays and national observances from timeanddate.com globally, while allowing users to manually add other important moments,” the spokesperson added.

Timeanddate.com, a Norway-based company with about 40 employees, provides data on public holidays and time-related information. While Google’s decision streamlines the calendar experience, it places the responsibility on users to manually add cultural observances they deem important.

The changes have not gone unnoticed. Google Calendar users have expressed frustration across social media platforms and on Google’s user support pages. Some users are upset about the removals, while others previously criticized the inclusion of such observances, highlighting the polarized reactions to Google’s approach.

This shift raises questions about the role of technology companies in acknowledging cultural diversity. As Google continues to align its products with evolving political and social dynamics, users are left to decide how they will personalize their digital calendars to reflect the events and milestones that matter most to them.