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No fewer than 11 states and a pair of regions have complied with a recent directive from the Trump administration to remove mentions of gender identity and the presence of transgender and non-binary individuals from a federal sexual health program, authorities stated.

The government established a Monday deadline for stripping these mentions, warning the loss of millions in federal funds. Almost every of the complying states have Republican-controlled state legislatures and mostly Republican state leaders.

Court Battles and Financial Disputes

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

All states involved in the lawsuit are governed by Democrat governors.

In a late Monday judicial ruling, a federal judge blocked the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which oversees the program, from cutting funding to the Democratic states if they refuse to comply.

“The agency does not demonstrate that the updated requirements are justified, let alone offer any valid reason, other than pretext, for its decisions,” stated Ann Aiken, a U.S. district judge in the state. “HHS provides no evidence that it made factual findings or considered the legal goals.”

Initiative Aims and Federal Review

The program seeks to educate teenagers on positive interactions and how to avoid unplanned parenthood and the spread of sexually transmitted infections.

In the spring, the federal government demanded all states and territories receiving Prep funds to provide a version of their curriculum to HHS and its subsidiary, the ACF office, for a health content assessment.

By late summer, the administration sent letters to numerous jurisdictions, stating that, during the review, it had discovered “content in the curricula that deviate from the scope of Prep’s authorizing statute.”

In particular, the government said it had uncovered evidence of “gender-related concepts,” a phrase often used by rightwing factions to refer to the notion that gender is a fluid cultural concept and that transgender individuals are real.

Specific Examples of Requested Changes

The government instructed one state to remove a lesson that stated: “Adolescents may express themselves in ways that differ from their biological sex.”

It told another state to delete a line from a middle school lesson that stated: “People of all sexual orientations and gender identities need to know how to avoid unplanned pregnancy and infections.”

Moreover, sex educators in numerous states could no longer be instructed to “demonstrate acceptance and respect for all participants, irrespective of personal characteristics, including ethnicity, heritage, faith, social class, orientation or identity,” according to the letters dispatched to states.

Government Comments and State Responses

“Oversight is imminent,” declared a federal official, acting assistant secretary of the ACF office, in a announcement. “Federal funds will not be used to poison the minds of the youth or advance dangerous ideological agendas.”

Multiple jurisdictions and territories confirmed they would remove the references or had completed the process. 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, Alabama and South Dakota, said their educational programs never contained the language referenced in the administration’s letters.

Impact on Youth and Mental Health

Together, these jurisdictions are inhabited by more than 120k trans people between the ages of 13 and 17, based on projections from a university department.

“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,” said Cindi Huss, who leads Rise that offers health instruction in Tennessee.

“When the government says that there’s something incorrect about you and the teachers aren’t allowed to tell you things or they have to out you to your parents – when you know that that’s not safe – that’s horrible for mental health.”

Almost 50% of transgender adolescents seriously considered suicide in the previous twelve months, based on a 2024 survey from a suicide-prevention group. School support for these adolescents is linked to reduced numbers of attempted suicide, the group found.

Earlier Incidents and Continuing Conflicts

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

When the Democratic-led state refused, the administration withdrew its Prep grant, cutting about $12 million in government money and halting health initiatives in schools, juvenile detention facilities and care facilities.

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

The Trump administration has also informed instructors who receive funding from two other federal sex education initiatives, the $50 million SRAE program and the $101m TPPP initiative, that they may not teach about “gender ideology.”

An early October judicial ruling blocked the administration from changing one program, while the latest ruling prohibits it from modifying the other program in the Democratic states that challenged Prep.

The ACF office did not immediately respond to a inquiry.