State Farm Cancels LGBTQ Children’s Book Program In Response To Outrage

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The Tennessee Conservative [By Paula Gomes] –

A Tennessee Conservative reader who contacted her State Farm agent of more than 10 years to cancel her policy due to the GenderCool Project partnership was pleasantly surprised when State Farm responded quickly to her concerns. She said, “Just wanted to share as a reminder to conservative readers that speaking up and taking action WORKS and to thank you for encouraging our voices to be heard!”

In an email that she received from her agent, she was assured that the company had “heard their customers and their agents and worked swiftly.” The agent said that a “low level employee out of Florida got the company involved in [the partnership] without using the proper channels.”

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Concerned State Farm employees leaked an internal email to Consumers Research that shows that the insurance company was actively recruiting agents and employees across the country to take part in a project with GenderCool “to increase representation of LGBTQ+ books and support our communities in having challenging, important, and empowering conversations with children Age 5+.”

Jose Soto, a Corporate Responsibility Analyst for State Farm, sent the email in January to Florida agents announcing that the company was “partnering with The GenderCool Project to help diversify classroom, community center and library bookshelves with a collection of books to help bring clarity and understanding to the national conversation about Being Transgender, Inclusive and Non-Binary.”

The email went on to say that 550 agents and employees nationwide would have the “opportunity” to donate a 3 book bundle to a local teacher, community center or library of their choice.

In his email, Soto invited 6 agents in Florida to participate in the project and “highlight our commitment to diversity on their social media pages.”

According to GenderCool’s website, the organization has partnered with or received support from other big name companies including Dell, Intuit, Nike, NBC Universal, Adobe, General Mills, Capitol One, Intel, Indeed, HP, Bank of America, Bayer, Prudential, Allstate and USDA, a federal agency. 

State Farm said in a statement on their website on May 23rd:

State Farm’s support of a philanthropic program, GenderCool, has been the subject of news and customer inquiries. This program that included books about gender identity was intended to promote inclusivity.

We support organizations that provide resources for parents to have conversations about gender and identity with their children at home. We do not support required curriculum in schools on this topic.

As a result, we have made the decision we will no longer be affiliated with the organization. We will continue to explore how we can support our associates, as well as organizations that align with our commitment to diversity and inclusion, including the LGBTQ+ community.

We recognize and value the diversity of all people and support a culture of respect and inclusion in the communities in which we live and work, as well as our workplace.

About the Author: Paula Gomes is a Tennessee resident and reporter for The Tennessee Conservative. You can reach Paula at paula@tennesseeconservativenews.com.