WASHINGTON, DC – Pennsylvania U.S. Senator John Fetterman today released the following statement on a resolution offered by Senator Roger Marshall (R-KS) that would overturn recent guidance from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to prevent discrimination against LGBTQ+ students in school nutrition programs.
“I can’t even believe that this resolution is even real. This makes it possible for some random lunch lady to deny lunch to a hungry child because she says her god tells her to. School lunch should be free, and certainly free of judgment.
“Don’t we have better things to do in the upper chamber than picking on kids because of who they are?”
Background: Under provisions of the Congressional Review Act, S.J. Res. 42, offered by Senator Roger Marshall (R-KS) would overturn recent guidance from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that brings USDA-funded nutrition assistance programs into compliance with recent Supreme Court rulings pertaining to discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and/or gender identity. In July 2020, the Supreme Court held in Bostock v. Clayton that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and/or gender identity. Under the Biden administration, many agencies, including USDA, have issued supplemental guidance to comply with this ruling.
