The Trump administration has told US states and territories they will lose federal funding for their sex education programs if they do not remove references to transgender people.
In letters sent to 46 states, territories and Washington DC on Tuesday, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) demanded they “remove all references to gender ideology” within 60 days or risk losing funding from the Personal Responsibility Education Program, or Prep.
The Prep initiative was created in 2010 to help prevent teen pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections.
“Accountability is coming,” said Andrew Gradison, acting assistant secretary of ACF, which is part of the Department of Health and Human Services.
“Federal funds will not be used to poison the minds of the next generation or advance dangerous ideological agendas. The Trump administration will ensure that Prep reflects the intent of Congress, not the priorities of the left.”
Last week, the Trump administration terminated a grant worth millions of dollars to California after the state refused to remove references to gender identity, transgender people and non-binary people from its sex education curriculum.
This threat has now been extended to a further 40 states, as well as territories and Washington DC. In the letters sent to the jurisdictions, the Trump administration cites examples of each curriculum that it claims are outside the scope of Prep, such as mentions of transgender people, gender expression and diversity.
The amount of federal funding at stake depends on each state. New York, for example, could lose the most, at $6m, while Delaware’s grant is the smallest of the states, at $333,000.
The administration’s demand to states is just the latest move by Trump to remove federal recognition of trans people and defund any program that mentions them.
The president has already issued executive orders declaring there are only two unchangeable sexes, banning trans girls from female sports teams, stopping trans people from joining the military and blocking federal funding to hospitals that provide transition support for young people.
Critics of Trump said the move will cause harm to young people.
“If it’s a day ending in y, President Trump is attacking kids’ safety, health and access to education as part of his culture war,” a spokesperson for Gavin Newsom, California’s governor, told NBC in a statement.
“Studies consistently show us that LGBTQ+ students, especially trans and non-binary youth, face higher rates of bullying, harassment and suicide,” said Jorge Reyes Salinas, communications director for the LGBTQ+ civil rights organization Equality California.
“Especially now, we’re seeing those numbers skyrocket. Inclusive education reduces stigma and saves lives.”
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