Allstate Video With Gay Couple As New Parents Angers Group

Jan. 06--A conservative group is angered by an Allstate video showing two gay men discussing their new baby.

American Family Association, based in Tupelo, Miss., is calling on consumers to sign a petition expressing their displeasure to the Northbrook-based home and auto insurer.

"The Allstate promotion does not share the reality that this child will grow up without the nurture that only a mother can provide," the association says on its website. "Nor does Allstate recognize the emotional trauma and questions this child will endure growing up in a home with two men."

The association said children "raised in homosexual environments tend to struggle emotionally more than their peers, are more susceptible to drug and alcohol abuse, and often suffer severe depression as young adults."

"Allstate has abandoned God's design for the family, and thus promotes a lifestyle that is not good for children," the association says.

It urges visitors to its website to sign a petition to urge "Allstate to stop its promotion of normalizing homosexual parenting when children's welfare is at stake."

"Your promotion depicting two homosexual men raising an infant girl is extremely disappointing," said the petition. The website says more than 28,000 people have signed it.

The association also recommends that Allstate policyholders contact their local agents to share their disappointment.

The 2-minute video discusses various firsts in the couple's lives over the past year.

"A year ago we didn't even know we were going to be parents," one man said. "We got a call, and we had a baby." The video shows the baby and the couple's multigenerational family.

The video ends with Allstate saying, "Allstate is here to help protect your firsts and every moment in between. Share your firsts with #HerestoFirsts."

On Wednesday, Allstate spokeswoman Laura Strykowski said "Allstate's commitment to inclusive diversity influences how we do business."

"It helps us connect with our customers and each other," she said. "Allstate is proud to support the LGBT community as we strive to provide the best products and services to protect all of our customers from life's uncertainties and ensure they're in Good Hands, regardless of gender, race, creed or sexual orientation."

Allstate isn't the first company to be taken to task by the association. It also publishes an annual "naughty or nice" list around the holidays, paying homage to retailers who don't water down mentions of "Christmas."

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