🔗 Share this article

No fewer than eleven jurisdictions and a pair of regions have complied with a new demand from the Trump administration to eliminate mentions of transgender issues and the presence of transgender and non-binary individuals from a national sexual health program, officials stated.

The government established a recent cutoff for removing these references, warning the withdrawal of substantial government funding. Nearly all of the complying states have GOP-led lawmaking bodies and predominantly Republican state leaders.

Court Battles and Financial Disputes

Sixteen other states and Washington DC have initiated legal action challenging the government's requirement, arguing it violates legislative power, which established the $75m sexual health initiative, known as the PREP initiative.

All jurisdictions participating in the legal challenge are led by Democratic state executives.

In a recent court order, a federal judge prevented the HHS agency, which oversees Prep, from withholding funding to the Democratic states if they refuse to comply.

“The agency does not demonstrate that the updated requirements are reasonable, nor does it offer any reasonable explanation, other than an excuse, for its actions,” wrote the judge, a U.S. district judge in the state. “HHS provides no evidence that it made informed determinations or took into account the statutory objectives.”

Program Goals and Government Scrutiny

The program seeks to inform teenagers on healthy relationships and how to prevent pregnancy and the spread of STIs.

In April, the Trump administration required all states and territories obtaining program money to submit a copy of their curriculum to the department and its agency, the ACF office, for a “medical accuracy review”.

By late summer, the administration dispatched notices to numerous jurisdictions, stating that, during the evaluation, it had discovered “content in the curricula that deviate from the purview of the program's legal framework.”

In particular, the administration claimed it had uncovered evidence of “gender-related concepts,” a phrase often used by rightwing factions to describe the idea that identity is a fluid social construct and that transgender individuals are real.

Specific Examples of Requested Changes

The administration instructed Illinois to drop a curriculum that stated: “Young people may identify in ways that don’t conform with their biological sex.”

It instructed North Carolina to eliminate a line from a educational module that stated: “People of all sexual orientations and gender identities need to know how to prevent pregnancy and STDs.”

Additionally, sex educators in many jurisdictions could no longer be told to “demonstrate acceptance and respect for all participants, irrespective of individual traits, including ethnicity, heritage, faith, economic status, orientation or identity,” based on the notices sent to states.

Government Comments and Jurisdictional Reactions

“Oversight is imminent,” said Andrew Gradison, interim leader of the ACF office, in a statement. “Federal funds will not be used to poison the minds of the next generation or promote dangerous ideological agendas.”

Several jurisdictions and regions stated they would eliminate the references or had already done so. These consist of Alaska, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia and Wyoming, as well as the two territories.

Another pair of jurisdictions, the states, said their Prep curricula never contained the language mentioned in the government's notices.

Impact on Youth and Psychological Well-being

Collectively, these jurisdictions are inhabited by more than 120,000 transgender individuals between the ages of 13 and 17, according to estimates 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 leads an organization 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 tell you things or they have to disclose your identity to family – when you know that that’s not safe – 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. School support for these youths is associated with lower rates of attempted suicide, the organization discovered.

Previous Actions and Continuing Conflicts

Earlier this year, the Trump administration instructed a state to cut references to gender identity from its Prep curriculum.

When the Democratic-led state refused, the administration revoked its Prep grant, cutting about $12 million in federal funding and stopping health initiatives in schools, juvenile detention facilities and care facilities.

The California health department is appealing the termination. To date, it has been unable to replace the lost funding.

The Trump administration has also informed educators who receive money from additional national programs, the $50 million Sexual Risk Avoidance Education (SRAE) and the $101m Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program (TPPP), that they may not teach about “gender-related concepts.”

An early October court order blocked the administration from changing one program, while the latest ruling prohibits it from changing SRAE in the Democratic states that sued over the initiative.

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