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At least eleven jurisdictions and two territories have complied with a new directive from the federal government to eliminate mentions of transgender issues and the existence of trans and non-binary people from a national sex education initiative, officials confirmed.

The administration established a recent cutoff for stripping these references, warning the loss of millions in federal funds. Almost every of the complying states have Republican-controlled lawmaking bodies and mostly GOP governors.

Court Battles and Funding Disputes

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

All states participating in the lawsuit are governed by Democratic governors.

In a late Monday court order, a U.S. judge blocked the HHS agency, which oversees the program, from cutting funding to the suing jurisdictions if they refuse to comply.

“The agency does not demonstrate that the updated requirements are justified, nor does it offer any valid reason, other than pretext, for its decisions,” wrote Ann Aiken, a U.S. district judge in Oregon. “HHS provides no evidence that it made factual findings or considered the legal goals.”

Initiative Aims and Federal Review

The program seeks to educate adolescents on positive interactions and how to prevent unplanned parenthood and the transmission of STIs.

In the spring, the Trump administration demanded all jurisdictions obtaining program money to submit a version of their curriculum to the department and its subsidiary, the ACF office, for a “medical accuracy review”.

Four months later, the government sent letters to numerous jurisdictions, stating that, during the evaluation, it had found “content in the curricula that fall outside the scope of the program's legal framework.”

Specifically, the government claimed it had uncovered evidence of “gender-related concepts,” a term often used by rightwing factions to refer to the notion that identity is a changeable social construct and that transgender individuals exist.

Specific Examples of Required Alterations

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

It instructed North Carolina to delete a line from a middle school lesson that read: “Individuals regardless of identity need to know how to prevent pregnancy and STDs.”

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

Government Comments and Jurisdictional Reactions

“Accountability is coming,” declared Andrew Gradison, acting assistant secretary of the Administration for Children and Families, in a statement. “Government money will not be used to poison the minds of the youth or advance dangerous ideological agendas.”

Several jurisdictions and territories stated they would eliminate the references 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.

Two other states, Alabama and South Dakota, reported their educational programs never included the language mentioned in the administration’s letters.

Effects on Adolescents and Mental Health

Collectively, these jurisdictions are home to more than 120,000 transgender individuals between the ages of 13 and 17, according to projections from a research institute.

“If our goal is to help adolescents and give them a safe space, I’m not sure why we are targeting the most vulnerable youth in the population,” commented an advocate, who heads Rise that provides sex education in Tennessee.

“If authorities state that there’s something wrong with you and the teachers aren’t allowed to provide information or they have to out you to your parents – when you know that that’s not secure – that’s detrimental to psychological well-being.”

Nearly half of transgender adolescents seriously considered suicide in the previous twelve months, according to a 2024 survey from a mental health organization. Educational backing for these adolescents is linked to lower rates of attempted suicide, the group found.

Previous Actions and Ongoing Disputes

Previously, the federal government ordered a state to remove references to gender identity from its Prep curriculum.

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

The California health department is appealing the termination. So far, it has been unsuccessful in replace the lost funding.

The government 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 TPPP initiative, that they may not teach about “gender ideology.”

An recent judicial ruling prevented the government from altering TPPP, while the Monday court order stops it from modifying SRAE in the suing jurisdictions that challenged Prep.

The ACF office did not immediately respond to a inquiry.