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No fewer than eleven jurisdictions and two territories have complied with a recent demand from the federal government to remove mentions of gender identity and the existence of transgender and non-binary individuals from a federal sex education initiative, authorities confirmed.

The administration established a recent cutoff for stripping these references, threatening the loss of substantial government funding. Nearly all of the agreeing jurisdictions have GOP-led lawmaking bodies and predominantly GOP governors.

Court Battles and Funding Disputes

Sixteen other states and the nation's capital have initiated legal action against the government's requirement, arguing it infringes on Congressional authority, which created the $75m sex education program, known as the PREP initiative.

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

In a recent court order, a U.S. judge prevented the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which oversees Prep, from withholding funding to the suing jurisdictions if they refuse to comply.

“HHS fails to show that the new grant conditions are justified, nor does it offer any valid reason, other than pretext, for its actions,” wrote Ann Aiken, a U.S. district judge in the state. “The department offers no proof that it made informed determinations or considered the statutory objectives.”

Program Goals and Government Scrutiny

Prep seeks to inform teenagers on positive interactions and how to prevent unplanned parenthood and the spread of sexually transmitted infections.

In the spring, the Trump administration required all states and territories receiving Prep funds to provide a copy of their curriculum to the department and its subsidiary, the Administration for Children and Families, for a “medical accuracy review”.

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

Specifically, the government said it had identified evidence of “gender-related concepts,” a phrase often used by conservative groups to describe the notion that identity is a fluid social construct and that transgender individuals exist.

Notable Cases of Requested Changes

The government directed Illinois to remove a curriculum that said: “Young people may express themselves in ways that don’t conform with their assigned gender.”

It told another state to delete a sentence from a middle school lesson that read: “Individuals regardless of identity need to know how to avoid unplanned pregnancy and infections.”

Moreover, sex educators in numerous states could no longer be told to “show tolerance and understanding for all participants, regardless of individual traits, including race, heritage, religion, social class, sexual orientation or identity,” based on the notices sent to states.

Official Statements and Jurisdictional Reactions

“Accountability is coming,” said Andrew Gradison, acting assistant secretary of the Administration for Children and Families, in a announcement. “Federal funds will not be used to poison the minds of the youth or promote dangerous ideological agendas.”

Several jurisdictions and regions stated they would remove the content or had completed the process. These include eleven specific states, as well as the two territories.

Another pair of jurisdictions, the states, said their educational programs never included the language mentioned in the government's notices.

Impact on Youth and Psychological Well-being

Collectively, these jurisdictions are home to over 120,000 trans people aged 13 to 17, according to projections from a university department.

“If our goal is to help adolescents and give them a secure environment, I’m not sure why we are targeting the most vulnerable youth in the community,” commented an advocate, who leads an organization that offers health instruction in one state.

“If authorities state that there’s something wrong with you and the educators aren’t allowed to provide information 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, according to a 2024 survey from a suicide-prevention group. School support for these youths is linked to lower rates of attempted suicide, the group discovered.

Previous Actions and Continuing Conflicts

Earlier this year, the federal government ordered a state to cut references to transgender topics from its Prep curriculum.

When the jurisdiction refused, the administration withdrew its Prep grant, cutting about $12 million in federal funding and halting health initiatives in schools, juvenile detention facilities and care facilities.

The California health department is challenging the withdrawal. To date, it has been unable to replace the lost funding.

The government has also told educators who receive money from two other federal sex education initiatives, the $50m SRAE program and the $101m TPPP initiative, that they cannot teach about “gender ideology.”

An recent court order blocked the administration from altering one program, while the Monday court order prohibits it from modifying the other program in the Democratic states that challenged the initiative.

The ACF office did not immediately respond to a inquiry.