Lo and Behold, Google Backs Off on Sponsoring a Drag Event

When you write columns for a living and spend as much time as we at PJ Media do scrolling through one affront to the Republic after another, it’s easy to get a little down in the mouth from time to time. Once in a while, you start to feel like every news story in your daily doom scroll is a piece of *ahem* feces cheerfully floating in your personal punchbowl.

I was feeling a little depressed over the usual drumbeat of desperation a few weeks ago and decided to drop a line to Andrew Klavan. Sometimes you just need to talk to someone with more age and experience than yourself. At this stage in my life, there aren’t many people around who are older than me.

In my rather self-pitying email, I told him I was wondering if I was making any kind of a dent in anything or just wasting everyone’s time. Klavan responded by cheerfully cuffing me upside the head with the words, “Hey Lincoln. Cowboy up, pal.” He reminded me that we are living in a fallen world and that the Left has had 50+ years to muck things up. He also noted that it will take more than a year or two to right or bail out the ship of state. And he also pointed out that things have been shifting in favor of conservatives of late, so the news is not all bad. And if the Great God Google can be made to blink, something must be going right.

The tech behemoth was in the midst of its Pride celebrations. To cap off the Month of Rainbows, Google had planned to sponsor the “Pride and Drag Show,” which featured the headliner Peaches Christ. Apparently, Peaches Christ is a very popular drag performer among those who follow such things. The event was slated for a bar called Beaux in San Francisco. So let’s do a quick recap: Google was sponsoring a drag performance at a bar in San Francisco. All systems should have been “go.” After all, who would have the stones to play David to that Goliath? That’s a social suicide run if there ever was one.

But somebody did stand up. In fact, several hundred somebodies decided to stand up. A group of employees at Google signed a petition stating that the performance “sexualizes and disrespects Christian co-workers,” according to CNBC. The petition stated in part, “Their provocative and inflammatory artistry is considered a direct affront to the religion, beliefs, and sensitivities of Christians.” The company told CNBC that the show was no longer a “Google-recognized diversity, equity, and inclusion event.” Employees were “encouraged” to attend a gathering at the office. I’ll bet they were “encouraged,” all right.

Google did not say if the petition was a factor in the decision. It instead claimed that the event planners did not follow the proper protocol for a company outing. But at the risk of engaging in post hoc ergo propter hoc, the fact is that people were brave enough to object on religious grounds. And Google backed off. Some employees groused that the complaints were, according to CNBC, “subjective and feed into political culture wars.” Others were irked that by removing the event, Google caved to pressure from the petitioners because as we all know, the only time one can cave to pressure is when it comes from the Left. I guess entitlement is one of the employee benefits at Alphabet.

Klavan was right, and I owe him a scotch. The tide is turning, but it is going to take a while to cure the myriad of socio-economic STDs that have been afflicting the nation for decades. It’s a game of inches, but it can be done. And no matter who we send to Congress or who ends up fighting to sit behind the Resolute Desk ordering in-flight movies on Air Force One, change lies with the people at ground level, people who are willing to take the heat in order to achieve a victory.