On Monday morning, as Streiff reported, an organization called Consumers First published information regarding a partnership between State Farm and The GenderCool Project to “have ‘550 agents and employees’ nationwide donate a 3-book bundle about Being Transgender, Inclusive and Non-Binary to their ‘local teacher, community center or library of their choice.’” The memo was authored by Jose Soto, whose email signature identifies his title as “Corporate Responsibility Analyst” located in Florida.
The goal of the program, Soto wrote, was to “increase representation of LGBTQ+ books and support our communities in having challenging, empowering, and important conversations with children Age 5+.”
Understandably, the news upset many of State Farm’s customers, and they made their feelings known. The insurance giant has now ended their partnership with The GenderCool Project according to an internal email reviewed by RedState Monday afternoon, and the company unequivocally states that conversations with children about gender and identity are not the business of the schools.
State Farm’s support of philanthropic program, The GenderCool Project, has been the subject of news reports and customer inquiries….
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Conversations about gender and identity should happen at home with parents. We don’t support requiring curriculum in schools on this topic. We support organizations providing resources for parents to have these conversations. We will no longer support that program.
According to State Farm agents who spoke with RedState on condition of anonymity, the vast majority of agents do not agree with the partnership that Soto entered into. They stated that Soto is a mid-to-lower level employee in Florida, far from the corporation’s headquarters in Bloomington, Illinois, and is at least four levels down the organization chart from Victor Terry, State Farm’s Chief Diversity Officer.
An internal investigation on how this partnership even came to be is no doubt underway.
