Willie R. Tubbs, FISM News
The Biden Administration, through the United States Department of Agriculture, has floated the idea of a new rule that would strip federal education dollars from states that refuse to implement Biden’s vision for LGBT practice in U.S. education.
As first reported by The Center Square, these dollars would primarily be those earmarked for use by college students receiving Pell Grants or other forms of federal money for college or K-12 students who receive free or reduced lunch.
“USDA is committed to administering all its programs with equity and fairness and serving those in need with the highest dignity,” Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said. “A key step in advancing these principles is rooting out discrimination in any form – including discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.”
In May, the USDA announced it would soon alter its interpretation of Title IX, the federal law that prohibits discrimination based on sex, to include the concept of discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
“[State] and local agencies, program operators and sponsors that receive funds from [the USDA Food and Nutrition Service] must investigate allegations of discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation,” USDA said in a statement. “Those organizations must also update their non-discrimination policies and signage to include prohibitions against discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation.”
Title IX has never been framed or interpreted so broadly, which has not opened the door for lawsuits should USDA proceed with a plan that would, if successful, apply pressure to states that have limited teachers’ ability to discuss sex in the classroom or restricted transgender students’ access to bathrooms or sporting competitions.
Those states would be forced to choose between continuing their policies or putting at further risk the poorest children in their districts.
Joe Biden has threatened to take away children’s school lunch money to pursue his radical agenda.
He’s targeting states like ours that make it clear biological men do NOT belong in girls’ bathrooms and sports.
If you act on this, Joe, we’ll see you in court and we will win. pic.twitter.com/i8oU0aYTfL
— Kristi Noem (@KristiNoem) June 1, 2022
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem was the first prominent Republican to respond to the news of the pending rule change, and she also became the first conservative to threaten to hale Biden into court.
“Joe Biden has threatened to take away children’s school lunch money to pursue his radical agenda,” Noem tweeted. “He’s targeting states like ours that make it clear biological men do NOT belong in girls’ bathrooms and sports. If you act on this, Joe, we’ll see you in court and we will win.”
But Noem was not alone in her disgusted reaction.
“We will not allow Biden to force Floridians to choose between children’s food and parents’ rights,” Christina Pushaw, press secretary for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, told the Washington Free Beacon. “That is the kind of ‘decision’ that a totalitarian regime would force upon its citizenry.”