🔗 Share this article

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

The administration set a recent cutoff for removing these mentions, threatening the withdrawal of substantial government funding. Almost every of the complying states have GOP-led lawmaking bodies and predominantly Republican governors.

Legal Challenges and Financial Conflicts

An additional sixteen jurisdictions and Washington DC have filed a lawsuit challenging the administration's demand, arguing it violates legislative power, which created the $75 million sexual health initiative, known as the Personal Responsibility Education Program (Prep).

All jurisdictions participating in the lawsuit are governed by Democrat state executives.

In a recent judicial ruling, a U.S. judge blocked the HHS agency, which oversees Prep, from withholding financial support to the Democratic states if they do not adhere.

“The agency does not demonstrate that the updated requirements are justified, nor does it offer any reasonable explanation, other than pretext, for its actions,” stated Ann Aiken, a federal jurist in Oregon. “The department offers no proof that it made factual findings or took into account the statutory objectives.”

Initiative Aims and Federal Review

The program aims to inform adolescents on healthy relationships and how to avoid unplanned parenthood and the spread of STIs.

In the spring, the federal government required all jurisdictions receiving program money to submit a copy of their educational materials to HHS and its subsidiary, the Administration for Children and Families, for a health content assessment.

By late summer, the government dispatched notices to 46 states and territories, informing them that, during the evaluation, it had discovered “material in the curricula that deviate from the scope of Prep’s authorizing statute.”

In particular, the government claimed it had uncovered evidence of “gender-related concepts,” a phrase often used by rightwing factions to describe the idea that gender is a fluid cultural concept and that trans and non-binary people exist.

Specific Examples of Required Alterations

The administration instructed Illinois to drop a curriculum that said: “Adolescents may identify in ways that don’t conform with their assigned gender.”

It told North Carolina to delete a line from a middle school lesson that read: “People of all sexual orientations and gender identities need to know how to prevent pregnancy and STDs.”

Moreover, health instructors in numerous states could no longer be told to “show tolerance and understanding for all participants, regardless of individual traits, including ethnicity, heritage, religion, economic status, orientation or gender identity,” according to the notices sent to states.

Official Statements and State Responses

“Oversight is imminent,” said Andrew Gradison, acting assistant secretary of the ACF office, in a statement. “Government money will not be used to poison the minds of the youth or promote harmful political doctrines.”

Multiple states and regions stated they would eliminate the content or had completed the process. These consist of eleven specific states, as well as the two territories.

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 Psychological Well-being

Collectively, these jurisdictions are inhabited by more than 120k transgender individuals between the ages of 13 and 17, based on projections from a research institute.

“When the aim is to support youth and give them a safe space, I’m not sure why we are targeting the most vulnerable youth in the population,” commented Cindi Huss, who heads an organization that offers health instruction 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 safe – 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 recent study from a suicide-prevention group. School support for these youths is associated with reduced numbers of self-harm attempts, the organization discovered.

Earlier Incidents and Ongoing Disputes

Previously, the federal government ordered a state to remove mentions to transgender topics from its Prep curriculum.

When the jurisdiction refused, the administration withdrew its Prep grant, eliminating about $12 million in federal funding and stopping health initiatives in educational institutions, juvenile detention facilities and group homes for foster children.

The state agency is challenging the termination. To date, it has been unable to replace the lost funding.

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

An early October court order blocked the administration from altering TPPP, while the latest ruling prohibits it from changing the other program in the Democratic states that sued over Prep.

The ACF office did not provide a prompt reply to a inquiry.