Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) blasted President Joe Biden for requiring schools to comply with federal LGBT protections or risk losing funding for school lunches.
DeSantis has vowed to stand by Florida’s move to ban classroom instruction on sexual identity in spite of “Biden’s intentionally destructive policies like denying school lunches.”
“I mean, give me a break! Totally off his rocker to be doing that,” DeSantis said. “We’re fighting on that, don’t worry. So, we’re just prepared to be able to defend the taxpayers and the hard-working people in the state of Florida, and I couldn’t be prouder for doing that.”
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service announced that the National School Lunch Program for low-income students would not be provided to schools that do not adopt the Biden administration’s interpretation of Title IX, holding a provision against sexual discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
“USDA is committed to administering all its programs with equity and fairness, and serving those in need with the highest dignity,” Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said. “A key step in advancing these principles is rooting out discrimination in any form — including discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.”
Under the new interpretation, all programs receiving FNS funds, including public schools, must update their policies to ban discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation and investigate any alleged violations.
“What you’re seeing here is really the Biden administration saying, ‘You’re going to do what I want, or I’m going to take your lunch money,’” Fight for Schools Executive Director Ian Prior told Fox News. “For the federal government to come in and really tie school nutrition and school lunch programs to this radical ideology is terrifying, and it’s appalling.”
DeSantis also appeared at the Pepsi Gulf Coast Jam Festival in Panama City Sunday night as the weekend of music wrapped up.
“This state is free because we’ve led and we’ve made the decisions to keep it free,” DeSantis told the music festival crowd. “That can change very quickly with each of these elections, so what I want to ask all of you to do is join our efforts this November to keep this state free.”
Last year’s Gulf Coast Jam was the first major music festival to be held in the United States since before the COVID-19 pandemic. DeSantis praised the festival for carrying on and has touted his state’s intentionality in returning to pre-pandemic norms.
* Article from: The Washington Examiner
