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

The administration established a Monday deadline for stripping these mentions, warning the withdrawal of substantial government funding. Almost every of the agreeing jurisdictions have GOP-led state legislatures and mostly GOP state leaders.

Legal Challenges and Funding Disputes

Sixteen other states and the nation's capital have filed a lawsuit challenging the administration's demand, arguing it violates legislative power, which created the $75m sexual health initiative, known as the Personal Responsibility Education Program (Prep).

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

In a recent judicial ruling, a U.S. judge prevented the HHS agency, which oversees Prep, from withholding financial support to the Democratic states if they do not adhere.

“HHS fails to show that the updated requirements are justified, nor does it offer any valid reason, other than an excuse, for its actions,” stated the judge, a federal jurist in Oregon. “The department offers no proof that it made informed determinations or considered the legal goals.”

Initiative Aims and Federal Review

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

In April, the federal government demanded all states and territories obtaining Prep funds to provide a copy of their curriculum to the department and its subsidiary, the Administration for Children and Families, for a health content assessment.

Four months later, the government sent letters to numerous jurisdictions, informing them that, during the review, it had found “material in the educational programs that fall outside the scope of Prep’s authorizing statute.”

In particular, the government claimed it had uncovered evidence of “gender-related concepts,” a phrase often used by conservative factions to describe the notion that gender 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 curriculum that said: “Young people may identify in ways that don’t conform with their assigned gender.”

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

Additionally, sex educators in many jurisdictions could no longer be told to “show tolerance and understanding for all students, regardless of personal characteristics, including ethnicity, heritage, faith, economic status, orientation or gender identity,” based on the letters sent to jurisdictions.

Government Comments and State Responses

“Oversight is imminent,” said a federal official, interim leader of the ACF office, in a statement. “Federal funds will not be used to poison the minds of the next generation or promote dangerous ideological agendas.”

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

Two other states, the states, said their Prep curricula never included the language referenced in the government's notices.

Impact on Youth and Mental Health

Collectively, these states are inhabited by over 120k transgender individuals between the ages of 13 and 17, based on projections from a research institute.

“If our goal is to support youth and give them a safe space, I’m not sure why we are stomping on the most vulnerable youth in the population,” said Cindi Huss, who heads an organization that provides sex education in Tennessee.

“If authorities state that there’s something incorrect about 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 detrimental to psychological well-being.”

Almost 50% of trans and non-binary youth contemplated self-harm in the past year, according to a 2024 survey from a mental health organization. School support for these youths is linked to reduced numbers of self-harm attempts, the organization found.

Previous Actions and Continuing Conflicts

Earlier this year, the Trump administration instructed a state to cut mentions to gender identity from its educational program.

When the jurisdiction declined, the administration withdrew its Prep grant, eliminating approximately $12m in government money and halting sex education programs in schools, youth centers and group homes for foster children.

The state agency is challenging the termination. So far, it has been unable to make up for the withdrawn money.

The government has also told instructors who obtain money from two other federal sex education initiatives, the $50 million Sexual Risk Avoidance Education (SRAE) and the $101m Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program (TPPP), that they may not teach about “gender-related concepts.”

An recent court order prevented the government from changing one program, while the Monday court order prohibits it from changing SRAE in the Democratic states that sued over the initiative.

The Administration for Children and Families did not provide a prompt reply to a request for comment.