U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) kicked off LGBTQ Pride month Wednesday morning claiming President Joe Biden has a “radical” LGBTQ policy and will cut off federal funding to schools that refuse to follow it.
“Biden will be cutting off Pell Grants,school lunches & billions of other federal education dollars to any school or college that refuses to follow his new & radical transgender & LGBT policies,” Sen. Rubio tweeted, apparently unaware the “T” in LGBT stands for transgender.
The executive branch has the constitutional responsibility to enforce federal laws, including civil rights laws, and the authority to set and enforce policy and tie it to federal funds.
Senator Rubio offered nothing to support his claim. His press secretary was unavailable and did not immediately return a phone call to NCRM.
Rubio might be referring to a March 31 press release from U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, who traveled to Rubio’s home state of Florida to observe the annual Transgender Day of Visibility.
“On Transgender Day of Visibility and every day, the Biden-Harris administration is proud of our nation’s transgender students and educators,” said Secretary Cardona in the press release. “Transgender students should have every opportunity to thrive in school. We know while many transgender students experience valuable support at school, many others face significant challenges because of hostility directed at them by others. This includes a growing number of state laws that bully and intimidate LGBTQI+ students and their families. To transgender students everywhere, I want you to know that we see you, we hear you, we recognize what is happening, and we’re here to support you.”
In a separate statement dated three days prior, Secretary Cardona warned Governor Ron DeSantis over the Florida Republican’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill, saying, “we will be monitoring this law upon implementation to evaluate whether it violates federal civil rights law.”
It’s unclear if that is what Sen. Rubio was referring to, but Secretary Cardona made clear the U.S. Dept. of Education enforces federal civil rights laws.
Rubio’s tweet generated thousands of responses, including these: