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No fewer than 11 states and two territories have agreed to a new demand from the federal government to remove mentions of gender identity and the existence of trans and non-binary people from a federal sex education initiative, authorities stated.

The government set a Monday deadline for stripping these mentions, warning the loss of millions in federal funds. Nearly all of the agreeing jurisdictions have Republican-controlled state legislatures and predominantly Republican state leaders.

Legal Challenges and Financial Conflicts

Sixteen other states and Washington DC have filed a lawsuit challenging the administration's demand, claiming it infringes on legislative power, which created the $75m sex education program, known as the PREP initiative.

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

In a late Monday judicial ruling, a federal judge prevented the HHS agency, which oversees the program, from cutting financial support to the Democratic states if they refuse to comply.

“The agency does not demonstrate that the new grant conditions are justified, nor does it offer any valid reason, other than an excuse, for its decisions,” stated the judge, a federal jurist in the state. “HHS provides no evidence that it made factual findings or took into account the statutory objectives.”

Program Goals and Federal Review

The program aims to educate adolescents on positive interactions and how to prevent pregnancy and the transmission of sexually transmitted infections.

In April, the Trump administration required all jurisdictions receiving Prep funds to submit a copy of their curriculum to the department and its agency, the Administration for Children and Families, for a “medical accuracy review”.

By late summer, the administration dispatched notices to numerous jurisdictions, informing them that, during the review, it had found “material in the curricula that deviate from the scope of Prep’s authorizing statute.”

Specifically, the administration said it had uncovered evidence of “gender-related concepts,” a phrase often used by rightwing groups to refer to the idea that gender is a changeable 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 differ from their assigned gender.”

It told another state to eliminate a line from a educational module that read: “People of all sexual orientations and gender identities need to know how to avoid pregnancy and STDs.”

Moreover, sex educators in numerous states could no longer be instructed to “show tolerance and understanding for all participants, irrespective of individual traits, including race, heritage, faith, economic status, orientation or gender identity,” based on the notices sent to jurisdictions.

Government Comments and State Responses

“Accountability is coming,” declared Andrew Gradison, acting assistant secretary of the Administration for Children and Families, in a statement. “Government money will not be used to negatively influence of the next generation or promote dangerous ideological agendas.”

Several jurisdictions and regions stated they would eliminate the references or had already done so. These consist of Alaska, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia and Wyoming, as well as the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Northern Mariana Islands.

Two other states, the states, reported their educational programs never contained the language referenced in the administration’s letters.

Impact on Youth and Psychological Well-being

Together, these jurisdictions are home to over 120k trans people aged 13 to 17, based on estimates from a university department.

“If our goal is to support youth and give them a secure environment, I’m not sure why we are stomping on the at-risk teenagers in the population,” said an advocate, who heads an organization that provides sex education in Tennessee.

“When the government says that there’s something incorrect about 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 secure – that’s horrible for mental health.”

Nearly half of trans and non-binary youth seriously considered suicide in the previous twelve months, according to a recent study from a mental health organization. School support for these adolescents is associated with lower rates of self-harm attempts, the group found.

Previous Actions and Ongoing Disputes

Earlier this year, the Trump administration ordered a state to remove references to transgender topics from its educational program.

When the Democratic-led state refused, the government revoked its funding, eliminating about $12 million in government money and halting sex education programs in educational institutions, juvenile detention facilities and group homes for foster children.

The state agency is appealing the termination. To date, it has been unable to make up for the withdrawn money.

The Trump administration has also informed educators who receive funding from two other federal sex education initiatives, the $50m Sexual Risk Avoidance Education (SRAE) and the $101m Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program (TPPP), that they cannot teach about “gender ideology.”

An early October judicial ruling blocked the government from altering TPPP, while the Monday court order stops it from modifying SRAE in the suing jurisdictions that challenged Prep.

The ACF office did not provide a prompt reply to a request for comment.