Black History, Pride Month and other events quietly vanish from Google calendars

• Pride Month, Black History Month, Indigenous People Month, Jewish Heritage, Holocaust Remembrance Day, and Hispanic Heritage were all removed from the desktop website and mobile app, according to multiple outlets and an Axios review.
• The change was widely reported in February, but Google said it made the changes in 2024. The Verge first reported on it Friday.

Zoom in: A Google spokesperson told Axios it wasn't feasible to continue manually adding events from around the world rather than using an automated system.

• The company said it returned to its previous model, globally using public holidays and national observances from timeanddate.com.
• The website lists Black History Month, Women's History Month, Pride Month and others as "annual monthly observance." It also designates federal and religious holidays and observances.

What they're saying: "Google continues to actively celebrate and promote cultural moments as a company in our products," the company said in a statement, referring to Black History Month and Lunar New Year over the past two weeks.

Context: Google this month announced the end of its goal to boost employees from historically underrepresented groups and said it would review other diversity efforts.

• The moves are meant to comply with Trump administration rules for government contractors — as the president's agenda has targeted DEI initiatives across the public sector.

The company also attracted attention for saying it would change the "Gulf of Mexico" to "Gulf of America" for its U.S. map users, following a name change ordered by Trump.

• Reality check: The U.S. does not exclusively control the body of water and doesn't have full say over what it's officially named.

Go deeper: Google scraps minority recruitment goals, will review DEI programs

Editor's note: This story has been updated with a response from Google.