Google reportedly pulls support for Pride drag event after hundreds of employees voice disapproval

Google has quietly pulled out of a Pride event in response to hundreds of employees reportedly signing a petition against the event.

Google had reportedly been planning to sponsor a “Pride and Drag Show” event at the LGBTQ+ bar Beaux in San Francisco this Tuesday.

CNBC notes that “Google sponsors a series of Pride events in San Francisco and other locations for employees and the public” every year. And this particular year, the event at Beaux, which was to feature the performer “Peaches Christ,” was supposed to have been the “closing event.”

But then something happened.

“A few hundred employees signed [a] petition opposing the drag performance, claiming it sexualizes and disrespects Christian co-workers, and accused Google of religious discrimination,” according to CNBC.

“Their provocative and inflammatory artistry is considered a direct affront to the religion beliefs and sensitivities of Christians,” the petition reportedly reads.

What happened next is remarkable: Google actually bent the knee.

“Google confirmed to CNBC that it no longer categorized the performance as a Google-recognized diversity, equity and inclusion event. The company set up a separate social gathering at Google offices that it is now encouraging employees to attend instead.

The news prompted a whirlwind of celebration on social media:

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In a statement, a Google spokesperson blamed an “internal team” for the fiasco, claiming that the team planned the drag event “without going through our standard events process.”

“While the event organizers have shifted the official team event onsite, the performance will go on at the planned venue — and it’s open to the public, so employees can still attend,” the spokesperson said.

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“We’ve long been very proud to celebrate and support the LGBTQ+ community. Our Pride celebrations have regularly featured drag artists for many years, including several this year,” they added.

However, the spokesperson abstained from confirming whether or not Google pulled out of the event because of the petition.

As for the petition, CNBC says it “states that organizers complained to People Operations, Google’s human resources department, and claimed the venue violates one of Google’s event guidelines, which bans sexually explicit activity. The petition also demands an apology from organizers and promoters of the event.”

CNBC further notes that not all employees were down with the petition. Some complained that the petition’s complaints were too subjective and alleged that the petition was feeding the political culture wars.

“Employees also criticized Google leadership for what they viewed as the quiet removal of the event from the internal website and a buckling to petitioners’ pressure. A company spokesperson said changes to the event were communicated to a team employee resource group last week,” according to CNBC.

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All this comes as more and more companies are bending the knee to critics, many of them parents, who’re concerned about LGBT+ culture being shoved down not only their throats but the throats of their children as well.

Most notably, Starbucks allegedly removed all its “Pride” decorations:

The company denied those reports, however.

“Despite public commentary, there has been no change to any of our policies as it relates to our inclusive store environments, our company culture and the benefits we offer our partners. We continue to encourage our store leaders to celebrate with their communities including for U.S. Pride month in June, as we always have,” wrote Starbucks CEO Laxman Narasimhan last week, adding that the coffee giant does not approve of anyone “seeking to use our partners’ cultural and heritage celebrations to create harm or flagrantly advance misinformation for self-interested goals.”

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