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No fewer than 11 states and a pair of regions have complied with a recent demand from the Trump administration to remove mentions of transgender issues and the existence of transgender and non-binary individuals from a national sex education initiative, authorities stated.

The government set a Monday deadline for stripping these mentions, threatening the loss of millions in federal funds. Almost every of the agreeing jurisdictions have GOP-led lawmaking bodies and mostly GOP state leaders.

Legal Challenges and Financial Disputes

An additional sixteen jurisdictions and Washington DC have initiated legal action challenging the government's requirement, arguing it infringes on legislative power, which created the $75m sex education program, known as the PREP initiative.

All states participating in the legal challenge are governed by Democrat state executives.

In a late Monday judicial ruling, a U.S. judge blocked the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which oversees Prep, from cutting funding to the suing jurisdictions if they do not adhere.

“HHS fails to show that the new grant conditions are justified, nor does it offer any valid reason, other than an excuse, for its actions,” stated the judge, a U.S. district judge in Oregon. “The department offers no proof that it made factual findings or took into account the statutory objectives.”

Program Goals and Government Scrutiny

The program seeks to inform teenagers on healthy relationships and how to avoid pregnancy and the spread of STIs.

In the spring, the Trump administration required all jurisdictions obtaining program money to provide a version of their curriculum to the department and its subsidiary, the ACF office, for a health content assessment.

By late summer, the government dispatched notices to numerous jurisdictions, informing them that, during the evaluation, it had found “material in the educational programs that fall outside the scope of the program's legal framework.”

In particular, the government said it had identified evidence of “gender ideology,” a phrase often used by rightwing factions to describe the idea that identity is a changeable cultural concept and that transgender individuals exist.

Specific Examples of Requested Changes

The administration directed Illinois to remove a curriculum that said: “Adolescents may identify in ways that don’t conform with their biological sex.”

It instructed another state to delete a line from a educational module that stated: “People of all sexual orientations and gender identities need to know how to prevent unplanned pregnancy and infections.”

Additionally, sex educators in numerous states could no longer be told to “demonstrate acceptance and respect for all students, regardless of individual traits, including race, heritage, faith, economic status, sexual orientation or identity,” based on the notices sent to states.

Official Statements and State Responses

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

Multiple states and territories confirmed they would eliminate the content or had already done so. These consist of eleven specific states, as well as the two territories.

Another pair of jurisdictions, the states, said their educational programs never contained the language mentioned in the administration’s letters.

Impact on Youth and Mental Health

Together, these states are home to over 120,000 transgender individuals aged 13 to 17, based on estimates from a research institute.

“If our goal is to help adolescents and give them a safe space, I’m not sure why we are stomping on the at-risk teenagers in the population,” said Cindi Huss, who heads Rise that provides sex education in one state.

“When the government says that there’s something wrong with you and the teachers aren’t allowed to provide information 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 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 linked to lower rates of self-harm attempts, the group discovered.

Previous Actions and Continuing Conflicts

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

When the Democratic-led state refused, the government withdrew its Prep grant, cutting about $12 million in federal funding and stopping sex education programs in schools, youth centers and group homes for foster children.

The California health department is appealing the termination. To date, it has been unable to make up for the withdrawn money.

The Trump administration has additionally told educators who obtain money from additional national programs, the $50m SRAE program and the $101m Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program (TPPP), that they may not teach about “gender-related concepts.”

An early October court order blocked the government from altering TPPP, while the latest ruling stops it from changing the other program in the Democratic states that challenged Prep.

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