22 States Sue USDA for Right to Discriminate Against Trans People
Twenty-two state attorneys general have filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration to require the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to give money for school meals to schools that discriminate against LGBTQ students.
The case is over a rule from the USDA, which established that states involved in the school meal program have already agreed to abide by federal civil rights laws, including Title IX. Title IX bans discrimination in education on the basis of sex. The Biden administration has interpreted Title IX to also ban anti-LGBTQ discrimination.
Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery released a statement in which he claims that the USDA overstepped its authority by issuing the rule and infringed on states’ rights to ban trans students from participating in school athletics or require them to use the appropriate restroom.
Slatery was quoted, “This case is, yet again, about a federal agency trying to change law, which is Congress’ exclusive prerogative. The USDA simply does not have that authority.”
To be clear, the USDA did not say that school lunch funding would be withheld if states do not comply with civil rights legislation, but that cases would be referred to the Department of Justice.
The decision came as a result of the Supreme Court’s ruling in 2020’s Bostock v. Clayton County, in which the court ruled that Title VII’s ban on employment discrimination on the basis of sex prohibits anti-LGBTQ discrimination. President Biden followed up the ruling by signing two executive orders that instructed federal agencies to fully implement the understanding that anti-LGBTQ discrimination is inherent in sex discrimination.
The states involved in this lawsuit are Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and West Virginia.
It feels somewhat ridiculous to have to point out the absurdity of nearly half of the states in America suing the government for the “right” to discriminate against trans people.
