by Owen Klinsky
Retailer TJ Maxx and automaker Kia were named as co-sponsors of a program to distribute LGBTQ-themed books to K-12 schools across the U.S., according to a Wednesday report from the conservative nonprofit Consumers Research, obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation. United States.
An initiative titled: Rainbow Libraryis run by the national organization of LGBTQ+ activists – the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Educational Network (GLASS) and sends participating teachers books promoting transgenderism and homosexuality among children as youthful as five, Consumer Research found. More than 8,100 schools in 33 states across the country participate in the program.
“TJ Maxx and Kia promote radical gender ideology among children by sponsoring the GLSEN Rainbow Library, which promotes transgender ideology in schools nationwide through books and recommended lesson plans for teachers,” Will Hild, executive director of Consumers’ Research, reads in a statement for DCNF. “By sponsoring organizations with political activist agendas like GLSEN and Rainbow Library, these companies are prioritizing informed politics over their consumers.”
One book distributed by Rainbow Library, “When Aidan becomes a brother” tells the story of a black girl who comes out as “transgender” and “discovers[s] different ways of being a boy.” GLSEN recommends this story as part of a lesson plan for second grade students, According to on the Rainbow Library website.
2023 Pew Research Center study found that almost 70% of black Americans believe that gender is assigned at birth.
Another book, this time intended for first graders, is titled “My rainbow” and depicts a mother constructing a rainbow wig for her transgender child. Yet another, titled “When we love someone, we sing to them” is intended for third-grade students and tells the story of a boy singing to another boy to confess his love.
When teachers order books from the Rainbow Library, they also receive a toolkit informing them how to make it easier for children to come out as transgender, GLSEN educator Michael Rady stated in a 2021 video. uncovered by DCNF that “when a teacher or librarian launches a Rainbow Library at their location, students start coming to them… [be]because they see this adult as someone they can trust. The program also instructs educators to maintain “confidentiality” when a student approaches them until they can determine whether the child is receiving support from adults in his or her life, with the obvious reference to the child’s parents.
The sponsors page on the nonprofit organization’s website lists parent companies Kia and TJ Maxx TJX, which also owns retailers Marshalls, HomeGoods and Sierra, as “national partners to help build the Rainbow Library” for 2023-2024.
In May 2023, Target came under fire for its collaboration with GLSEN, donation at least $2.1 million to a nonprofit organization over 10 years. Later that month, the National Education Association – the largest teachers’ union in the US – he promised your support for GLSEN.
TJX Companies participates in the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Corporate Equality Index, which: evaluates corporations based on their involvement in LGBTQ+ activism. Meanwhile, the Human Rights Campaign champions gender changes in children.
Facing pressure from a conservative activist Robby StarbuckIn recent months, many corporations have withdrawn from diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, including John Deere, Coors, Harley Davidson, Ferry AND Lowe.
Meanwhile, Republicans spent at least $215 million criticizing progressive “transgender” ideology in the 2024 election cycle, According to to data from ad tracking company AdImpact, with some Trump ads declaring: “Kamala is for them/them. President Trump is for you.”
“The recent presidential election showed that consumers do not want companies to continue promoting radical leftist ideology,” Hild told DCNF in a statement. “A reckoning is coming for companies that continue to put woke politicians and principles ahead of consumers.”
Kia’s head of corporate communications, James Bell, denied the company was sponsoring Rainbow Library in 2023 or 2024, even though the carmaker was prominently featured in the show sponsorship page. When the DCNF fielded multiple follow-up inquiries asking why Kia was listed as a “2023-2024 school year sponsor” when it did not sponsor the nonprofit in 2023 or 2024, Bell stopped responding.
Additionally, Bell’s initial response did not answer most of the questions raised in the original DCNF investigation, including when the company began funding the Rainbow Library and whether it supports pediatric gender reassignment surgery and hormone treatments.
TJ Maxx and GLSEN did not respond to DCNF requests for comment.
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Owen Klinsky is a reporter for the Daily Caller News Foundation.