A Biden administration rule barring states from discriminating against poor LGBTQ people in the distribution of food stamps and other nutrition assistance programs survived a legal challenge by almost two dozen Republican-led states.
The lawsuit filed in July exaggerated the impact that the federal regulation would have on religious freedom, and improperly tied the new rule to unrelated issues around transgender rights, U.S. District Judge Travis R. McDonough said in the decision Wednesday in Knoxville, Tennessee.
“This case is about food stamps and nutrition education, not bathrooms, sports teams, free speech or religious exercise,” the judge said.
