🔗 Share this article

No fewer than eleven jurisdictions and a pair of regions have complied with a recent demand from the Trump administration to remove mentions of transgender issues and the existence of trans and non-binary people from a federal sexual health program, officials confirmed.

The government established a recent cutoff for removing these mentions, warning the withdrawal of millions in federal funds. Almost every of the complying states have GOP-led state legislatures and mostly Republican state leaders.

Legal Challenges and Financial Conflicts

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 $75m sexual health initiative, known as the Personal Responsibility Education Program (Prep).

All jurisdictions involved in the legal challenge are governed by Democrat governors.

In a recent judicial ruling, a federal judge blocked the HHS agency, which oversees the program, from cutting financial support to the Democratic states if they do not adhere.

“The agency does not demonstrate that the updated requirements are justified, let alone offer any reasonable explanation, other than pretext, for its actions,” wrote the judge, a federal jurist in Oregon. “The department offers no proof that it made informed determinations or took into account the statutory objectives.”

Program Goals and Government Scrutiny

The program seeks to educate adolescents 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 version of their curriculum 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 found “material in the curricula that deviate from the purview of Prep’s authorizing statute.”

Specifically, the administration said it had uncovered evidence of “gender ideology,” a phrase often used by conservative factions to refer to the idea that identity is a fluid social construct and that trans and non-binary people are real.

Notable Cases of Requested Changes

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

It instructed another state to eliminate a line from a middle school lesson that stated: “Individuals regardless of identity need to know how to avoid pregnancy and STDs.”

Additionally, health instructors in many jurisdictions could no longer be told to “show tolerance and understanding for all students, regardless of personal characteristics, including race, cultural background, religion, economic status, orientation or gender identity,” according to the notices dispatched to states.

Official Statements and State Responses

“Accountability is coming,” said 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 promote harmful political doctrines.”

Multiple states and regions confirmed they would remove the content or had completed the process. 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 educational programs never contained the terminology referenced in the administration’s letters.

Effects on Adolescents and Mental Health

Together, these jurisdictions are home to more than 120,000 trans people between the ages of 13 and 17, based on estimates from a research institute.

“When the aim is to help adolescents and give them a safe space, I’m not sure why we are targeting the at-risk teenagers in the population,” commented an advocate, who leads Rise that offers health instruction in one state.

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

Nearly half of transgender adolescents seriously considered suicide in the past year, according to a 2024 survey from a mental health organization. Educational backing for these adolescents is linked to lower rates of self-harm attempts, the group found.

Earlier Incidents and Ongoing Disputes

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

When the Democratic-led state refused, the government withdrew its funding, cutting about $12 million in government money and stopping sex education programs in schools, youth centers and group homes for foster children.

The state agency is appealing the termination. To date, it has been unable to make up for the lost funding.

The government has also told educators 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 ideology.”

An early October court order blocked the administration from changing TPPP, while the Monday court order prohibits it from modifying SRAE in the Democratic states that sued over the initiative.

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