🔗 Share this article

At least eleven jurisdictions and a pair of regions have complied with a recent demand from the federal government to remove references of transgender issues and the existence of transgender and non-binary individuals from a federal sex education initiative, officials confirmed.

The government set a Monday deadline for removing these mentions, warning the loss of substantial government funding. Almost every of the agreeing jurisdictions have Republican-controlled state legislatures and predominantly Republican state leaders.

Legal Challenges and Financial Disputes

An additional sixteen jurisdictions and the nation's capital have filed a lawsuit challenging the government's requirement, arguing it violates Congressional authority, which established the $75 million sexual health initiative, known as the Personal Responsibility Education Program (Prep).

All states involved in the lawsuit are governed by Democrat state executives.

In a recent court order, a federal judge prevented the HHS agency, which manages the program, from cutting funding to the suing jurisdictions if they do not adhere.

“HHS fails to show that the new grant conditions are justified, let alone offer any reasonable explanation, other than an excuse, for its actions,” wrote Ann Aiken, a federal jurist in Oregon. “The department offers no proof that it made informed determinations or took into account the statutory objectives.”

Initiative Aims and Government Scrutiny

Prep seeks to educate teenagers on positive interactions and how to avoid unplanned parenthood and the spread of sexually transmitted infections.

In the spring, the Trump administration demanded all jurisdictions receiving Prep funds to provide a copy of their educational materials to HHS and its subsidiary, the ACF office, for a “medical accuracy review”.

Four months later, the administration dispatched notices to 46 states and territories, informing them that, during the evaluation, it had found “content in the educational programs that deviate from the purview of Prep’s authorizing statute.”

Specifically, the administration claimed it had identified evidence of “gender ideology,” a phrase often used by rightwing groups to refer to the notion that identity is a changeable social construct and that transgender individuals are real.

Notable Cases of Required Alterations

The government instructed one state to drop a curriculum that stated: “Young people may identify in ways that differ from their assigned gender.”

It told another state to eliminate a line from a educational module that stated: “People of all sexual orientations and gender identities need to know how to avoid pregnancy and STDs.”

Additionally, sex educators in numerous states could no longer be told to “demonstrate acceptance and respect for all students, regardless of personal characteristics, including ethnicity, cultural background, faith, social class, orientation or identity,” based on the letters sent to states.

Government Comments and Jurisdictional Reactions

“Accountability is coming,” declared Andrew Gradison, acting assistant secretary of the Administration for Children and Families, in a announcement. “Federal funds will not be used to negatively influence of the next generation or advance dangerous ideological agendas.”

Several states and territories confirmed they would remove the references or had already done so. These include eleven specific states, as well as the two territories.

Two other states, the states, said their Prep curricula never included the terminology mentioned in the administration’s letters.

Effects on Adolescents and Mental Health

Together, these states are inhabited by over 120,000 transgender individuals between the ages of 13 and 17, based on projections from a university department.

“If our goal is to support youth and give them a secure environment, I’m not sure why we are targeting the at-risk teenagers in the population,” commented Cindi Huss, who leads an organization that provides sex education in one state.

“When the government says that there’s something incorrect about you and the teachers aren’t allowed to tell you things or they have to out you to your parents – when you know that that’s not secure – that’s detrimental to psychological well-being.”

Almost 50% of trans and non-binary youth seriously considered suicide in the previous twelve months, according to a 2024 survey from a suicide-prevention group. Educational backing for these adolescents is linked to lower rates of attempted suicide, the group found.

Previous Actions and Ongoing Disputes

Previously, the Trump administration instructed a state to cut references to gender identity from its educational program.

When the Democratic-led state declined, the administration revoked its funding, cutting about $12 million in federal funding and stopping sex education programs in educational institutions, juvenile detention facilities and care facilities.

The state agency is challenging the termination. So far, it has been unsuccessful in make up for the lost funding.

The Trump administration has also told instructors who receive money from two other federal sex education initiatives, the $50m Sexual Risk Avoidance Education (SRAE) and the $101 million Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program (TPPP), that they cannot teach about “gender-related concepts.”

An recent judicial ruling prevented the government from altering TPPP, while the latest ruling prohibits it from modifying the other program in the Democratic states that challenged Prep.

The Administration for Children and Families did not immediately respond to a inquiry.