NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – More than 20 Republican attorneys general filed a lawsuit Tuesday against President Joe Biden’s administration over a Department of Agriculture school meal program that prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
The challenge, led by Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery, claims the federal government is trying to force states and schools to meet anti-discrimination requirements that “misconstrue the law.”
The coalition of attorneys general expects a similar outcome to a different challenge earlier this month when a Tennessee judge temporarily barred two federal agencies from enforcing directives issued by the Biden administration that expanded protections for LGBTQ people in schools and workplaces.
The judge sided with the attorneys general, ruling that the directives infringed on states’ right to enact laws, such as barring students from participating in sports because of their gender identity or requiring schools and businesses to provide bathrooms and showers to accommodate transgender people.
“This case is, once again, about a federal agency trying to change the law, which is the exclusive prerogative of Congress,” Slatery said in a statement. “The USDA simply does not have that authority. We have successfully challenged the Biden Administration’s other attempts to rewrite the law, and we will challenge this as well.”
In May, the USDA announced that it would include discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity as a violation of Title IX, the 1972 law that guarantees gender equity in “any educational program or activity that receives federal financial assistance.” The directive requires states to review allegations of discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation, as well as update their policies and signage.
The agency warned that states and schools that receive federal funds, which include the national school lunch program overseen by the USDA, have agreed to follow civil rights laws. While the agency says it wants voluntary compliance, it has also pledged to refer violations to the Justice Department. It is unclear whether the federal government would withhold funding for school meal programs as part of its implementation.
The directive followed a landmark civil rights decision by the US Supreme Court in 2020 that, under a provision called Title VII, protects gay, lesbian and transgender people from discrimination in the workplace.
According to the lawsuit, the attorneys general allege that the USDA’s new directive is based on a “misinterpretation” of the Supreme Court’s ruling and failed to provide states and other groups with an opportunity for public comment.
The attorneys general involved in the lawsuit filed Tuesday are from Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee and Texas, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia.
A USDA spokesman did not immediately return a request for comment.