After a leaked email showed State Farm encouraged its employees to promote transgenderism to children as young as 5 years old, swift backlash and criticism led the company to abandon the program.
The Jan. 18, 2022 email was recently leaked to non-profit organization Consumers’ Research by a concerned State Farm employee. The correspondence revealed State Farm was recruiting its insurance agents in Florida to participate in The GenderCool Project – which aims to have conversations with young children about being transgender and non-binary.
The email encouraged its Florida agents to take part in the controversial program by donating a bundle of three books on transgenderism and gender identity – provided by the project – to “their local teacher, community center or library of their choice.”
“State Farm is partnering with The GenderCool Project to help diversify classrooms, 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 to employees read.
“The project’s goal is to increase representation of LGBTQ+ books and support our communities in having challenging, important and empowering conversations with children age 5+.”
“We are seeking six agents in Florida that would be interested in participating in this unique project by receiving these books in March, then donating them to their community by the end of April.”
The three books marketed by State Farm and The GenderCool Project are “A Kids Book About Being Transgender,” “A Kids Book About Being Non-Binary,” and “A Kids Book About Being Inclusive.” Each contain several descriptions about gender identity in an attempt to blur the lines between biological sex and gender.
However, State Farm seemingly values its revenue and customer base more than the left-wing non-profit’s agenda. As soon as its own customers expressed concerns about the controversial program, the company told a news outlet that it no longer supports the project – and it took less than a day.
The below statement from State Farm was given to the Washington Examiner late on Monday, the same day Consumers’ Research revealed the recruitment email.
“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. Conversations about gender and identity should happen at home with parents. We don’t support required curriculum in schools on this topic. We support organizations providing resources for parents to have these conversations.”
“We no longer support the program allowing for distribution of books in schools. We will continue to explore how we can support organizations that provide tools and resources that align with our commitment to diversity and inclusion. 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.”
It is currently unknown if any State Farm employees in Florida actually participated in donating the controversial books. And although the email only specifically referenced Florida, it also indicated that State Farm’s promotion of The GenderCool Project was a “nationwide” effort.
For instance, an April 2, 2022 Facebook post showed a Tacoma, Washington-area private school thanking State Farm for donating the books and “helping [Seabury School] be an inclusive environment.”
If company employees did donate the three-book bundle to schools in Florida, the texts will explicitly violate the Parental Rights in Education Bill recently signed into state law. The policy will prohibit classroom discussion of gender identity and sexual orientation in the state and is set to take effect on July 1.
“We would hope State Farm would…cooperate with the governor’s office or law enforcement in [Florida] and retrieve any of these books that may have been donated to public schools that by law now do not belong here,” Consumers’ Research Executive Director Will Hild said in a zoom call with reporters.
