Here's what the issue is. There was a recent Supreme Court decision regarding Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The USDA is arguing that it can extend that decision to apply to Title IX as well. The group is twenty Republican attorneys general is saying, no, you can't, at least not the way that the Department of Education of going about it.
From the second linked article:
The question is going to be whether the courts read Title IX the same way they read Title VII. If they do, or if they more to the point, courts read Title IX as permitting federal agencies like the Department of Education, to understand “because of sex” to include sexual orientation, and gender identity, if courts decide Title IX can withstand or can include that interpretation, then anything inconsistent with the federal law on that point will be illegal and will be invalid.
To go from that to "Republican attorneys general want to starve LGBT kids" is quite the stretch.
Republican attorneys general sue federal government over LGBTQ school meal guidance
The attorneys general allege that the Agriculture Department’s new directive is based on a “misreading” of a Supreme Court ruling.
July 27, 2022, 12:42 PM EDT
By The Associated Press
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 that the federal government is attempting to force states and schools to follow anti-discrimination requirements that “misconstrue the law.”
{snip}
In May, the USDA announced that it would include discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity as a violation of Title IX, the sweeping 1972 law that bars sex-based discrimination in “any education program or activity receiving 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.
{snip}
Education
A Florida law professor breaks down the state's battle with the federal government over Title IX
WUSF Public Media - WUSF 89.7 | By Cathy Carter
Published August 1, 2022 at 5:00 AM EDT
Recently released federal guidelines would extend protections under the law to include schools’ “obligations not to discriminate based on sex stereotypes, sex characteristics, pregnancy or related conditions, sexual orientation and gender identity.”
Florida's education commissioner is telling school districts not to comply with federal guidelines concerning gender and sexual orientation.
WUSF's Cathy Carter recently spoke with Stetson University law professor Louis Virelli, about the state and federal showdown over the interpretation of Title IX, which prohibits discrimination in education.
Professor, the commissioner said federal guidelines aimed at preventing discrimination against students based on such things as gender identity would “vastly expand the application” of Title IX.
Well, a little bit of background on why this happened. So, Title VII is a federal statute that involves discrimination in employment and the Supreme Court recently read the language in Title VII, the employment discrimination statute that says you may not discriminate because of sex, to include sexual orientation and gender identity. Once the Supreme Court said that the language “of sex” in Title VII included sexual orientation and gender identity, the federal government then interpreted Title IX to mean the same thing. The federal government announced that it was going to do this under new guidelines. It did not pass a regulation saying sexual discrimination in education includes discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, but it did say we will start to read the statute that way. That is an important announcement. Even though it is not itself a statement of law, it describes how the federal government is going to view something that is law, Title IX. That's why we see this cascading series of events, because when the federal government understands the statute to mean something, it acts as if the statute says that. That's what interpretation is. And that's what the federal government is doing. That federal law, when it is inconsistent with state law, wins. That's because the US Constitution says it does, in Article Six of the US Constitution. It is what we call the Supremacy Clause. It says that federal law is supreme. And what that means is when federal law and state law are in conflict with each other, the federal law wins.
So where do you think this matter is headed? Are Florida and other states for that matter, headed to the courts over this issue?
Yes, failing to comply with federal guidelines, when they are a viable interpretation of a federal statute, which is law, will be illegal.
The question is going to be whether the courts read Title IX the same way they read Title VII. If they do, or if they more to the point, courts read Title IX as permitting federal agencies like the Department of Education, to understand “because of sex” to include sexual orientation, and gender identity, if courts decide Title IX can withstand or can include that interpretation, then anything inconsistent with the federal law on that point will be illegal and will be invalid.
{snip}
= new reply since forum marked as read
