The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) runs a food and nutrition service program. Children from low-income families in any school can receive subsidized lunches under the program.
Title IX is a federal program that prohibits discrimination based on gender. Title IX also exempts religious schools from rules that would violate their faith.
In California, 40% of the students at the Church of Compassion's Dayspring Learning Center have qualified for and receive federal nutritional assistance. But in December of 2022, the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) blocked the children from receiving free lunches because the school won't agree to the Biden administration's radical LGBTQ+ agenda.
Indiana Representative Jim Banks is demanding answers. He just fired off a letter to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack.
Banks asks four key questions of the Biden administration, and is insisting on simple yes or no answers instead of typical bureaucratic gibberish. Here are the key questions:
• "Yes or no: would your Department's Title IX SOGI rule change block religious schools, including Christian, Jewish, or Muslim institutions, from participating in USDA's Food and Nutrition Service programs, as well as other related programs?
• Title IX exempts religious schools from rules that would constitute a violation of their faith. Why is this administration, as well as state-level agencies tasked with administering federal programs, not honoring these exemptions?
• Yes or no: would your Department's Title IX SOGI rule change prevent Indiana public schools with female-only sports teams and locker rooms from participating in your department's nutritional assistance programs?
• Nearly 30 million schoolchildren across the country rely on FNS programs for breakfast and lunch costs. Is it truly this administration's position that those children do not deserve nutrition because their school disagrees with the Biden administration's redefinition of the word 'sex'?"
