Illinois legislators and advocacy group Equality Illinois issued a joint statement Thursday calling out State Farm after the insurance giant pulled support for a gender identity school book program.
Facing backlash, Bloomington, Illinois-based State Farm ended its partnership this week with the GenderCool Project, a “youth-led” nonprofit organization that distributes children’s books about being transgender, inclusive and nonbinary to schools and libraries. Now the insurance company is feeling the heat from LGBTQ advocates.
“When it came to our attention that State Farm had reversed this partnership with the GenderCool Project, we found that to be reprehensible,” said state Sen. Mike Simmons, a North Side Democrat and the first openly gay state senator in Illinois. “In 2022, we need allies who are for real, and who are really going to stand with the LGBTQIA+ community, particularly when we are under siege right now in so many parts of the country.”
