Google Calendar Users Noticed the Sudden Absence of Pride Month Among Other Holidays

Although June has long been recognized as Pride Month in the United States, and even outside of the U.S., it is no longer recognized by Google Calendar as a national holiday or month of celebratory days dedicated to the LGBTQ+ community. And when some users logged onto their Google Calendar app, they were left wondering why Google removed Pride Month, seemingly out of nowhere. At least, where users are concerned.

The change on Google Calendar comes in a long list of changes made by Google and on Google Maps after multiple executive orders were signed by President Donald Trump at the start of his second term in office. Google Maps was updated to reflect the Gulf of Mexico now being named the Gulf of America, and now, changes have come to Google Calendar.

Before 2024, Google Calendar had a spot in the month of June for Pride Month. Now, however, and for the foreseeable future, there is no holiday marker on the digital calendar. Unless, of course, users add it to their personal calendars themselves, which they can still do. USA Today reported that Google shared a statement with the outlet to explain the change.

According to the statement, Google has worked with the website timeanddate.com for years to determine which nationally and globally recognized holidays would be listed on each monthly calendar. But, the statement explained, "maintaining hundreds of moments manually and consistently globally wasn't scalable or sustainable." And apparently, one of the holidays to go was Pride Month.

Google Calendars also removed a marker for Black History Month, which takes place in February. And there is no placeholder for Women's History Month either. Like Pride Month, this is Google's response to only showing public holidays and nationally recognized days that are listed on timeanddate.com.

Former President Bill Clinton first named June Gay & Lesbian Pride Month in 1999 when he was in office. Then, in 2009, when former President Barack Obama was in office, he called the month of June LGBT Pride Month. Later, former President Joe Biden renamed it LGBTQ Pride Month. Black History Month was first recognized in 1976.

There's no word on if Google will make any future updates to include these holidays once again. However, for now, removing Pride Month on Google Calendar appears to be permanent. And it's unclear what other holidays could be removed without warning.

Although Black History Month and Pride Month, among other cultural holidays, are no longer on the Google Calendar, there is still a spot on June 19 for Juneteenth. It is considered a federal holiday, and it commemorates the day slavery ended in the U.S. While some users have reported that this date was also removed from their Google Calendar, others have shared on social media that, for now, it remains.