Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita and 25 other state attorneys general are calling on President Biden to withdraw the recent U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Guidance, which the AGs say erodes the principles of Title IX by implementing new, expansive sex discrimination laws for schools that receive nutritional assistance from the federal government.
Rokita
“This administration has gone too far by forcing sexuality and transgender extremism into every part of our daily lives,” Rokita said. “The new guidelines totally distort and dissolve the progress of women’s rights in our country. Instead of ensuring the current law, Title IX, is upheld, President Biden insists on catering to woke elites and ignoring the true problems Hoosiers and all Americans are coping with today.”
On May 5, 2022, the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), announced it would implement the new adaptations.
As a result of this the rule changes, any state, local agency, or program receiving federal funds through the Food and Nutrition Act and the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) administered by the USDA must comply or lose federal funding.
The National School Lunch Program serves nearly 30 million schoolchildren each day, many of whom rely on it for both breakfast and lunch. Approximately 100,000 public and non-profit private schools and residential childcare institutions receive federal funding to provide subsidized, free, or reduced-price meals for qualifying children.
“Expanding the concept of “discrimination on the basis of sex” to include gender identity and sexual orientation is harmful to Indiana schools and schools across the country,” Rokita said.
Rokita argues the new guidance is unlawful because it was issued without providing states the opportunity to respond as required by the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). Further, he says, it misapplies the Supreme Court’s holding in Bostock v. Clayton County and forces regulatory measures on state agencies and operators receiving federal financial assistance from the USDA.
Click here to read the letter sent by Attorney General Rokita and 25 other attorneys general.