A California-based church and preschool is fighting back after being cut off from participating in a federal food program due to the government’s accusations that the school is not following the mandate prohibiting sex discrimination. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is citing a Title IX violation by the school after they reinterpreted the law in 2022 to include sexual orientation and gender identity under the umbrella term of sex discrimination. While families of the LGBTQ community are welcomed and attend the school, the USDA is requiring the school to follow two new “nondiscrimination provisions” that are at odds with their biblical view.
CBN News reports that the USDA is forcing the church and preschool to “give up the right to hire employees who share their faith and live out that faith,” and their internal policies would be prohibited from corresponding with their “religious beliefs about sexuality.” The provisions include changes such as permitting biological boys to use the girls’ restroom and bending Christian ideals in order to participate in the federal food program.
Attorney Jeremiah Galus, senior counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), explained that “The church and the preschool are trying to teach children about Jesus and what it means to have a relationship with Jesus and their creator God…And to do that, you need people who believe that it’s important, that understand it and are able to share that belief and articulate that belief clearly.”
Galus argued that the church and preschool serve families in need “because of their faith.” The school does not even discriminate against admitting families who belong to the LGBTQ community as there are some members of the community that go to the school because they like the Christian values taught.
Speaking of the families who are members of the LGBTQ community Galus said, “They are glad to have them there and those families understand that this is a Christian school and they’re happy with the Christian education that’s being provided…So, there are no rights being violated here by the church or the preschool. The only rights being violated are being done by the state and federal officials.”
Galus said that many of the families are in “lower income brackets, with 40% qualifying for free food under the federal government.” He argued that to revoke the federal food program from the school on the grounds that they follow USDA’s guidelines that directly contradict the beliefs upon which their school was founded and functions is “religious discrimination.”