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At least 11 states and a pair of regions have complied with a recent directive from the federal government to remove mentions of transgender issues and the existence of trans and non-binary people from a federal sex education initiative, officials stated.

The administration set a recent cutoff for stripping these references, warning the loss of millions in federal funds. Almost every of the agreeing jurisdictions have Republican-controlled state legislatures and predominantly GOP governors.

Legal Challenges and Financial Disputes

An additional sixteen jurisdictions and Washington DC have initiated legal action against the administration's demand, arguing it violates Congressional authority, which created the $75 million sex education program, known as the PREP initiative.

All jurisdictions participating in the legal challenge are governed by Democratic governors.

In a late Monday judicial ruling, a federal judge blocked the HHS agency, which oversees Prep, from cutting funding to the suing jurisdictions if they refuse to comply.

“HHS fails to show that the new grant conditions are justified, let alone offer any reasonable explanation, other than an excuse, for its actions,” wrote Ann Aiken, a federal jurist in the state. “The department offers no proof that it made factual findings or took into account the statutory objectives.”

Program Goals and Government Scrutiny

The program seeks to educate teenagers on healthy relationships and how to prevent pregnancy and the spread of sexually transmitted infections.

In the spring, the federal government demanded all jurisdictions obtaining Prep funds to provide a copy of their curriculum to HHS and its subsidiary, the ACF office, for a health content assessment.

Four months later, the government sent letters to 46 states and territories, informing them that, during the evaluation, it had found “material in the educational programs that fall outside the purview of the program's legal framework.”

Specifically, the government claimed it had uncovered evidence of “gender ideology,” a phrase often used by conservative factions to describe the idea that gender is a fluid social construct and that transgender individuals exist.

Specific Examples of Requested Changes

The administration instructed one state to remove a lesson that said: “Young people may express themselves in ways that differ from their biological sex.”

It instructed another state to eliminate 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.”

Additionally, sex educators in numerous states could no longer be instructed to “show tolerance and understanding for all students, irrespective of personal characteristics, including race, cultural background, faith, social class, orientation or gender identity,” based on the letters sent to states.

Government Comments and Jurisdictional Reactions

“Accountability is coming,” declared a federal official, acting assistant secretary of the Administration for Children and Families, in a statement. “Federal funds will not be used to poison the minds of the next generation or promote dangerous ideological agendas.”

Multiple states and territories stated they would eliminate the content or had already done so. These include eleven specific states, as well as the two territories.

Another pair of jurisdictions, the states, reported their Prep curricula never contained the terminology referenced in the government's notices.

Effects on Adolescents and Psychological Well-being

Together, these states are home to over 120,000 trans people aged 13 to 17, according to projections from a research institute.

“When the aim is to help adolescents and give them a safe space, I’m not sure why we are stomping on the at-risk teenagers in the population,” said an advocate, who heads Rise that offers health instruction in Tennessee.

“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 out you to your parents – when you know that that’s not safe – that’s horrible for mental health.”

Almost 50% of trans and non-binary youth contemplated self-harm in the past year, based on a 2024 survey from a mental health organization. Educational backing for these adolescents is associated with lower rates of attempted suicide, the organization found.

Earlier Incidents and Continuing Conflicts

Previously, the Trump administration ordered a state to cut references to gender identity from its educational program.

When the Democratic-led state refused, the government withdrew its funding, eliminating about $12 million in government money and stopping sex education programs in educational institutions, juvenile detention facilities and group homes for foster children.

The state agency is appealing the withdrawal. To date, it has been unsuccessful in replace the withdrawn money.

The government has also told educators who receive money from additional national programs, the $50 million Sexual Risk Avoidance Education (SRAE) and the $101m TPPP initiative, that they cannot teach about “gender ideology.”

An recent court order prevented the administration from changing one program, while the latest ruling stops it from modifying SRAE in the suing jurisdictions that sued over the initiative.

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