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No fewer than 11 states and two territories have complied with a new directive from the Trump administration to remove mentions of transgender issues and the presence of transgender and non-binary individuals from a national sexual health program, authorities confirmed.

The government established a recent cutoff for stripping these references, warning the loss of substantial government funding. Nearly all of the agreeing jurisdictions have Republican-controlled state legislatures and mostly GOP governors.

Legal Challenges and Funding Disputes

An additional sixteen jurisdictions and Washington DC have filed a lawsuit against the administration's demand, claiming it violates Congressional authority, which created the $75 million sex education program, known as the Personal Responsibility Education Program (Prep).

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

In a recent court order, a federal judge blocked the HHS agency, which manages the program, from withholding funding to the suing jurisdictions if they do not adhere.

“HHS fails to show that the new grant conditions are reasonable, let alone offer any valid reason, other than an excuse, for its decisions,” stated the judge, a federal jurist in Oregon. “HHS provides no evidence that it made informed determinations or took into account the statutory objectives.”

Program Goals and Government Scrutiny

The program aims to inform teenagers on positive interactions and how to avoid unplanned parenthood and the spread of STIs.

In the spring, the Trump administration required all states and territories receiving program money to submit a version of their educational materials to the department and its agency, the Administration for Children and Families, for a health content assessment.

By late summer, the administration sent letters to numerous jurisdictions, informing them that, during the evaluation, it had discovered “content in the educational programs that deviate from the scope of the program's legal framework.”

Specifically, the government claimed it had identified evidence of “gender ideology,” a phrase often used by rightwing groups to refer to the idea that identity is a changeable cultural concept and that trans and non-binary people are real.

Notable Cases of Requested Changes

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

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

Moreover, sex educators in numerous states could no longer be instructed to “demonstrate acceptance and respect for all students, regardless of personal characteristics, including race, cultural background, faith, social class, sexual orientation or identity,” based on the notices sent to states.

Government Comments and Jurisdictional Reactions

“Accountability is coming,” declared Andrew Gradison, interim leader of the Administration for Children and Families, in a statement. “Federal funds will not be used to negatively influence of the next generation or advance dangerous ideological agendas.”

Several jurisdictions and territories confirmed they would eliminate the content 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, Alabama and South Dakota, reported their educational programs never contained the terminology mentioned in the administration’s letters.

Impact on Youth and Psychological Well-being

Collectively, these jurisdictions are inhabited by more than 120,000 transgender individuals aged 13 to 17, based on estimates from a university department.

“If our goal is to support youth and give them a secure environment, I’m not sure why we are stomping on the at-risk teenagers in the community,” said an advocate, who heads Rise that provides sex education in Tennessee.

“If authorities state that there’s something wrong with you and the educators aren’t allowed to tell you things or they have to disclose your identity to family – when you know that that’s not secure – that’s horrible for mental health.”

Almost 50% of trans and non-binary youth contemplated self-harm in the previous twelve months, 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.

Earlier Incidents 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 declined, the government revoked its Prep grant, eliminating approximately $12m in government money and stopping sex education programs in schools, youth centers and care facilities.

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

The government has also told educators who obtain funding from additional national programs, the $50m SRAE program and the $101 million Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program (TPPP), that they cannot teach about “gender-related concepts.”

An early October judicial ruling prevented the administration from altering TPPP, while the latest ruling stops it from modifying SRAE in the suing jurisdictions that sued over Prep.

The ACF office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.