Christian Group Launches Campaign against Nationwide’s ‘Radical’ DEI Initiatives

Nationwide, a top U.S. insurance company known for its catchy jingle of being “on your side,” is causing customers to wonder exactly whose side they’re on. With vast diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) measures, the company seems to be including a very specific LGBT-centric demographic, while excluding those with Christian and conservative values in the process.

In the Center for Christian Virtue’s (CCV) “Nationwide: Not On Your Side” campaign, which launched on Tuesday, the group has highlighted a variety of the controversial policies the insurance giant has adopted in the name of DEI. For instance, the Ohio-based company supports transgender programs geared toward youth, participation in Pride marches, as well as the allowance of men in women’s private spaces through the Ohio Unfairness Act. CCV also emphasized that Nationwide “received a perfect score on the 2021 Corporate Equality Index — a survey conducted by transgender activist group the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) that scores companies based on their adherence to LGBTQ+ ideology.”

Even though “Nationwide has positioned itself as a family-friendly business to its rural and agricultural clients,” said CCV President Aaron Baer, they have also advocated “for some of the most radical legislation at the Ohio Statehouse, and financially [supported] organizations that host drag queen story hours and other absurd events that harm children.”

Nationwide, through sponsorship of Pride parades, also has affiliation with Stonewall Columbus — an organization that’s promoted explicit content involving “intercourse advice for gay men,” as well as hosted events such as “queer speed dating” and “Trans Taco Tuesdays.”

The CCV press release stated their campaign was designed to expose “Nationwide Insurance’s woke political activism to its rural and conservative customers” and is part of the “ongoing effort to expose how corporate America is pushing a woke agenda” at large. As Baer said in an exclusive comment to The Washington Stand, “For far too long, Nationwide has been a two-faced company. Enough is enough. Nationwide should care more about what Ohio farmers think than the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index.”

Baer insisted, “We’re not going to stop until all Ohio farmers know Nationwide is not on your side.” This mindset falls in line with how a lot of Americans seem to be responding to the DEI that’s infiltrated corporate America.

In recent months, several companies have backed off their DEI initiatives in light of the pushback from displeased customers. Lowe’s, Harley-Davidson, Ford, and Tractor Supply Co. are some of the latest brands to ultimately choose profit over politics, forgoing their controversial “equity and inclusion” efforts. These companies also ceased participating in the HRC Corporate Equality Index.

In response to CCV’s campaign, Family Research Council Senior Fellow Meg Kilgannon told TWS, “What I love about this is that state level groups are pushing back against powerful national lobbyists and big businesses.”

She continued, “These corporate giants can cost grassroots groups lots of time and money when they support, sometimes by Corporate Equality Index default, extreme legislation not popular with voters or their customer base.” But as Kilgannon pointed out, “The CCV campaign may be the first of many others across the country,” and she encouraged “all family policy groups to look at their most active opposition and see if some of their corporate support can be called into question or even removed.”

Kilgannon concluded, “Kudos to the brave family defenders at CCV in Ohio! We need more like them in all 50 states.”