(LifeSiteNews) – In a rare instance of acquiescing to “anti-woke” backlash, far-left internet giant Google dropped its association with a San Francisco drag event after a group of employees expressed their objections.
CNBC reports that among multiple pro-LGBT events Google sponsored to commemorate June “Pride Month” this year was a “Pride and Drag Show” to “wrap up this amazing month” at the San Francisco homosexual bar Beaux. This particular show featured drag performer Joshua Grannell, better known by the stage name “Peaches Christ.”
A “few hundred” Google employees signed a petition against the company’s sponsorship of the event, which they claimed was “provocative and inflammatory artistry” that constituted a “direct affront to the religion beliefs and sensitivities of Christians,” on top of violating the company’s guidelines against events featuring sexually explicit activity.
Google later withdrew its sponsorship of the event and replaced it with a gathering at Google’s own offices. Google spokesperson Chris Pappas claimed that “Pride and Drag” was planned “without going through our standard events process,” while adding that the company has “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.”
The event went on without Google’s former support at Beaux, with Grannell expressing defiance at the backlash in comments to USA Today, referencing another drag group known for anti-religious imagery.
“In my world, Jesus has a sense of humor,” the drag performer said. “Yes, I did host a ‘Hunky Jesus’ contest. Yes, I support the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. Yes, my show is called ‘Midnight Mass’. But the Jesus and the God I believe in does not care.”
“This is another example of the really disturbing rise in anti-queer and anti-gay rhetoric that is using drag performers and trans people as scapegoats,” Grannell complained.
Drag has emerged as one of LGBT activists’ favored tools for exposing and acclimating children to the concepts of gender fluidity and sexual experimentation, via “family-friendly” drag shows at schools and community events such as baseball games and particularly Drag Queen Story Hour (DQSH), a series of events in which crossdressers read books to children, often at public libraries.
Organizers admit that such uses of drag are intended to give “kids glamorous, positive, and unabashedly queer role models” in a space where they “are able to see people who defy rigid gender restrictions” and be molded into “bright lights of change in their communities.” Most recently, LGBT allies in the mainstream media have drawn mockery and condemnation for attending to sanitize the meaning of a “we’re coming for your children” chant at a New York City drag march.
As for Google, the global leader in online video, web searching, and numerous communication and productivity tools has long been notorious not only for its strong left-wing bias, but for its willingness to use its considerable influence to mold public opinion. Google has also established a history of manipulating its metrics and discriminating against certain content on the basis of political viewpoint, including on the topics of abortion, gender, COVID-19, climate change, and election integrity, including acting directly against LifeSiteNews on numerous occasions.
That such a powerful and consistently liberal company as Google made even this small concession may be a sign of potency for the public’s ongoing discontent with so-called “woke corporations.” Consumer boycotts have contributed to financial losses for prominent companies such as Disney, Target, and Anheuser-Busch in retaliation for wading into contentious social issues, most commonly relating to homosexuality and gender.