Trump administration has warned 40 states, five US territories and Washington DC, to strip references to transgender people from sex education programs or risk losing federal funding. The Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Administration for Children and Families (ACF) sent letters on Tuesday, ordering health departments to remove “all references to gender ideology” from their Personal Responsibility Education Program.Personal Responsibility Education Program was a federally funded teen pregnancy and sexual health initiative created in 2010 under the Affordable Care Act. US states and territories are threatened to lose more than $81 million in grants if they fail to comply within 60 days, the agency said. “Federal funds will not be used to poison the minds of the next generation or advance dangerous ideological agendas,” acting Assistant Secretary Andrew Gradison declared, adding: “Accountability is coming.”ACF letters flagged specific content such as definitions of gender identity, instructions for facilitators to use students’ preferred pronouns, and guidance encouraging “acceptance and respect for all participants, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.” The move follows last week’s termination of California’s PREP grant after the state refused to drop what HHS called “gender ideology content.” The California Department of Public Health defended its curriculum as “medically accurate, comprehensive, and age-appropriate,” stressing it had been previously approved as compliant with federal statute.The directive marks a sharp escalation of the Trump administration’s efforts to roll back recognition of transgender identities. On his first day back in office, Trump signed an executive order limiting US recognition to “two unchangeable sexes, male and female” and banning federal promotion of “gender ideology.” Trump administration has also advanced bans on gender-affirming care for minors, barred transgender girls from girls’ sports, and reinstated restrictions on transgender people serving openly in the military.
