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No fewer than 11 states and two territories have complied with a recent demand from the federal government to remove references of transgender issues and the presence of trans and non-binary people from a national sex education initiative, officials stated.

The administration established a Monday deadline for stripping these mentions, threatening the loss of substantial government funding. Almost every of the agreeing jurisdictions have Republican-controlled state legislatures and predominantly Republican state leaders.

Court Battles and Funding Disputes

Sixteen other states and Washington DC have initiated legal action challenging the administration's demand, claiming it infringes on Congressional authority, which established the $75m sex education program, known as the Personal Responsibility Education Program (Prep).

All jurisdictions participating in the lawsuit are governed by Democrat governors.

In a late Monday court order, a federal judge blocked the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which oversees the program, from withholding funding to the suing jurisdictions if they refuse to comply.

“The agency does not demonstrate that the new grant conditions are reasonable, nor does it offer any reasonable explanation, other than pretext, for its actions,” wrote the judge, a federal jurist in the state. “HHS provides no evidence that it made informed determinations or took into account the statutory objectives.”

Initiative Aims and Federal Review

Prep aims to inform teenagers on healthy relationships and how to avoid unplanned parenthood and the spread of sexually transmitted infections.

In April, the Trump administration required all states and territories receiving Prep funds to provide a version of their educational materials to the department and its subsidiary, the Administration for Children and Families, for a health content assessment.

By late summer, the government sent letters to 46 states and territories, informing them that, during the review, it had discovered “content in the educational programs that fall outside the scope of the program's legal framework.”

Specifically, the government said it had uncovered evidence of “gender ideology,” a term often used by rightwing groups to refer to the idea that identity is a changeable cultural concept and that transgender individuals are real.

Specific Examples of Required Alterations

The government directed one state to drop a lesson that stated: “Young people may identify in ways that differ from their assigned gender.”

It told North Carolina to delete a sentence from a middle school lesson that read: “People of all sexual orientations and gender identities need to know how to prevent unplanned pregnancy and infections.”

Additionally, health instructors in many jurisdictions could no longer be instructed to “show tolerance and understanding for all students, regardless of personal characteristics, including ethnicity, cultural background, faith, social class, orientation or gender identity,” based on the letters sent to states.

Official Statements and State Responses

“Oversight is imminent,” said a federal official, acting assistant secretary of the ACF office, in a announcement. “Government money will not be used to poison the minds of the youth or promote harmful political doctrines.”

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

Two other states, Alabama and South Dakota, reported their Prep curricula never contained the terminology referenced in the government's notices.

Effects on Adolescents and Psychological Well-being

Together, these states are inhabited by more than 120k trans people aged 13 to 17, based on projections from a university department.

“When the aim is to help adolescents and give them a safe space, I’m not sure why we are targeting the most vulnerable youth in the community,” said Cindi Huss, who leads 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 transgender adolescents contemplated self-harm in the previous twelve months, based on a 2024 survey from a mental health organization. School support for these youths is linked to reduced numbers of attempted suicide, the group discovered.

Earlier Incidents and Continuing Conflicts

Earlier this year, the federal government instructed a state to remove references to transgender topics from its educational program.

When the jurisdiction declined, the government withdrew its Prep grant, eliminating approximately $12m in federal funding and stopping health initiatives in schools, youth centers and group homes for foster children.

The state agency is appealing the withdrawal. So far, it has been unsuccessful in make up for the withdrawn money.

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

An early October judicial ruling blocked the government from changing one program, while the Monday court order prohibits it from changing SRAE in the suing jurisdictions that sued over the initiative.

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