Withholding food from children in order to force compliance is considered a form of child abuse, and yet that’s basically what the Biden administration is doing through its draconian new guidelines for schools.
At issue is funding for school breakfast and lunch programs for underprivileged kids. According to new rules from the USDA, schools that receive funding for these programs must “update their non-discrimination policies and signage to include prohibitions against discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation.”
In practical terms, this means that public, private, and religious schools nationwide must embrace the Biden administration’s radical gender ideology or risk losing funding for school lunches for the students entrusted to their care. The policy also forces Christian and religious schools to abandon their convictions about the value of male and female if they want to receive funds.
With these new guidelines, the USDA has basically adopted the stance of an abusive, domineering parent who says, “Obey me or you won’t get any lunch!”
Thankfully, many states are standing up against this egregious governmental overreach. In fact, 22 states are now suing the Biden administration over the new USDA rules, arguing that they “inappropriately expand the law far beyond what statutory text, regulatory requirements, judicial precedent, and the U.S. Constitution permit.”
South Dakota governor Kristi Noem has been at the forefront of this pushback. This week she told Fox News, “This White House has threatened to take away all of our school lunch resources for poor and underprivileged kids if we don’t comply with their mandates… Not only are they coming forward with higher taxes and more spending, they’re willing to hurt children.”
When will the madness end? We’re talking about lunches for schoolkids! Is the Biden administration really prepared to let underprivileged students go hungry if their school isn’t eager to hire transgender teachers or indoctrinate students with pro-LGBT ideology? It would seem so.
It’s worth noting, too, that the Administration is grossly out of step with the American public when it comes to these issues. Recent polling reveals that:
- Nearly two thirds of Americans oppose changes to Title IX (the 1972 federal law that addressed equal educational opportunities for women but is now being hijacked to include transgenderism and homosexuality)
- 71% oppose biological males competing in women’s sports
- 61% favor requiring parental consent prior to school counseling about gender dysphoria
- 69% favor allowing parental opt-out for children’s participation in sex education classes
If you have children or grandchildren in school, even Christian school, I hope you’re paying attention. It’s not just lunchtime that’s at risk, it’s our kids’ hearts and minds.