🔗 Share this article

No fewer than 11 states and two territories have complied with a new demand from the Trump administration to eliminate mentions of gender identity and the existence of transgender and non-binary individuals from a federal sexual health program, authorities confirmed.

The government established a Monday deadline for removing these references, warning the withdrawal of substantial government funding. Almost every of the complying states have GOP-led lawmaking bodies and mostly Republican state leaders.

Legal Challenges and Funding Conflicts

Sixteen other states and Washington DC have filed a lawsuit challenging the government's requirement, claiming it infringes on legislative power, which established the $75m sexual health initiative, known as the PREP initiative.

All jurisdictions participating in the legal challenge are led by Democrat governors.

In a late Monday court order, a federal judge blocked the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which oversees Prep, from cutting funding to the suing jurisdictions if they do not adhere.

“HHS fails to show that the new grant conditions are reasonable, nor does it offer any reasonable explanation, other than an excuse, for its decisions,” stated the judge, a U.S. district judge in the state. “The department offers no proof that it made informed determinations or took into account the statutory objectives.”

Program Goals and Government Scrutiny

The program aims to educate adolescents on healthy relationships and how to avoid unplanned parenthood and the transmission of sexually transmitted infections.

In the spring, the Trump administration demanded all jurisdictions receiving program money to provide a copy of their educational materials to HHS and its subsidiary, the Administration for Children and Families, for a “medical accuracy review”.

Four months later, the government dispatched notices to numerous jurisdictions, informing them that, during the evaluation, it had discovered “content in the educational programs that deviate from the purview of the program's legal framework.”

In particular, the administration said it had identified evidence of “gender ideology,” a phrase often used by conservative factions to refer to the notion that identity is a fluid cultural concept and that transgender individuals are real.

Specific Examples of Requested Changes

The government instructed one state to remove a curriculum that said: “Young people may identify in ways that don’t conform with their assigned gender.”

It told another state to eliminate a line from a educational module that stated: “Individuals regardless of identity need to know how to prevent pregnancy and STDs.”

Moreover, sex educators in many jurisdictions could no longer be instructed to “demonstrate acceptance and respect for all participants, regardless of personal characteristics, including ethnicity, cultural background, faith, social class, orientation or gender identity,” according to the letters sent to states.

Government Comments and Jurisdictional Reactions

“Accountability is coming,” declared Andrew Gradison, acting assistant secretary of the ACF office, in a announcement. “Federal funds will not be used to negatively influence of the youth or promote harmful political doctrines.”

Multiple states and regions stated they would eliminate the content or had already done so. These include Alaska, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia and Wyoming, as well as the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Northern Mariana Islands.

Another pair of jurisdictions, Alabama and South Dakota, reported their Prep curricula never contained the terminology referenced in the government's notices.

Impact on Youth and Mental Health

Collectively, these states are inhabited by over 120k transgender individuals between the ages of 13 and 17, according to projections from a research institute.

“If our goal is to support youth and give them a safe space, I’m not sure why we are stomping on the at-risk teenagers in the population,” commented Cindi Huss, who heads an organization that provides sex education in Tennessee.

“When the government says that there’s something wrong with you and the educators aren’t allowed to tell you things or they have to disclose your identity to family – when you know that that’s not secure – that’s horrible for mental health.”

Almost 50% of transgender adolescents seriously considered suicide in the past year, based on a 2024 survey from a suicide-prevention group. School support for these adolescents is associated with lower rates of self-harm attempts, the organization found.

Earlier Incidents and Ongoing Disputes

Earlier this year, the Trump administration instructed California to remove mentions to gender identity from its educational program.

When the jurisdiction declined, the administration withdrew its funding, eliminating approximately $12m in government money and stopping sex education programs in educational institutions, juvenile detention facilities and care facilities.

The California health department is appealing the termination. So far, it has been unable to replace the withdrawn money.

The Trump administration has also informed educators who receive funding from two other federal sex education initiatives, the $50m SRAE program and the $101m Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program (TPPP), that they cannot teach about “gender-related concepts.”

An early October judicial ruling blocked the administration from altering one program, while the latest ruling stops it from modifying SRAE in the suing jurisdictions that sued over Prep.

The ACF office did not provide a prompt reply to a request for comment.