South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, a Republican, promised on Thursday to safeguard women’s sports from the Biden administration’s threats to cut off funding for institutions that don’t comply with the president’s interpretation of Title IX laws.
“President Biden is holding lunch money for poor Americans hostage in pursuit of his radical agenda,” Noem noted on Thursday. “He is insisting that we allow biological males to compete in girls’ sports or else lose funding for SNAP and school lunch programs.”
“South Dakota will continue to defend basic fairness so that our girls can compete and achieve. I would remind President Biden that we have defeated him in litigation before and are ready to do so again,”
Noem went on to say that her state’s action against the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) vaccine requirement, which was struck down by the Supreme Court in January, was successful.
“Mr. President,” the governor warned, “we’ll see you in court.”
The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) has promised to interpret “the prohibition on discrimination based on sex found in Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 … to include discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity,” as a response to Noem’s warning, as reported.
Simply put, this means that all schools that ban biological males from participating in women’s sports or using women’s locker rooms or restrooms will discriminate against these biological males based on their gender identity or sexual orientation.
“Under the leadership of the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA and FNS are issuing this interpretation to help ensure its programs are open, accessible, and help promote food and nutrition security, regardless of demographics,” the USDA said.
“This action is in line with President Biden’s Executive Order on Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation and is consistent with the Supreme Court’s decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, in which the Court held that the prohibition on sex discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 extends to discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity,” the department said.
State and local governments, as well as program operators and sponsors who receive FNS funds, will be compelled to “investigate allegations of discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation,” according to the USDA, and these organizations will also be urged to keep updating their policies to “include prohibitions against discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation.”
The department hesitated to respond to The Daily Wire’s request for comment.
The USDA said Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack released a statement saying that USDA is “is committed to administering all its programs with equity and fairness and serving those in need with the highest dignity.”
At least 13 states have passed legislation prohibiting biological males from participating in women’s sports. Some politicians believe that the policy reversal will have a significant impact on how women and girls approach athletics in the future.
“A key step in advancing these principles is rooting out discrimination in any form – including discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity,” Vilsack explained.