Attorneys for a Tampa Christian school have filed a motion to stop the enforcement of federal nondiscrimination guidelines that include sexual orientation and gender identity so that the school can continue receiving school lunch funding.
Grant Park Christian Academy filed the motion Wednesday in the Middle District of Florida, arguing that the Biden administration’s redefinition of the word “sex” in Title IX to cover sexual orientation and gender identity is a violation of free speech rights and the plaintiff’s right to free exercise of religion.
Classes at the academy start Aug. 10, so school officials want to resolve the school lunch funding issue as soon as possible to ensure the academy's 56 students continue to have the ability to receive free lunches.
The motion contends that if the academy accepted the current federal requirements to receive the funds, administrators could not enforce a policy of sex-specific restrooms based on biological differences and would be bound to use pronouns contrary to a student’s sex.
“Were Grant Park Christian Academy to comply and change its policies for restrooms, dress codes, hiring or daily conversations, it would violate its religious beliefs,” the motion states.
Defendants in the lawsuit include Nikki Fried, Florida’s commissioner of agriculture and consumer services, whose department administers the federal program. Department spokeswoman Erin Moffet referred the Florida Record to previous comments Fried made about the controversy, which the commissioner called a “manufactured crisis.”
The only requirement for Florida schools to take part in the school lunch program is to hang an updated nondiscrimination poster in food service areas, Fried said, adding that Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz has encouraged schools to challenge the poster requirement and put schools at risk of losing their lunch funding.
“Commissioner Diaz is now actively encouraging Florida schools to disobey the guidance, refuse to hang the poster and feel free to deny nutritious meals to children on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, including gender identity and sexual orientation, age or disability,” Fried said.