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No fewer than 11 states and a pair of regions have complied with a recent directive from the Trump administration to eliminate references of gender identity and the existence of transgender and non-binary individuals from a national sex education initiative, authorities confirmed.

The government established a recent cutoff for stripping these mentions, threatening the loss of millions in federal funds. Almost every of the agreeing jurisdictions have Republican-controlled lawmaking bodies and predominantly GOP governors.

Legal Challenges and Financial Conflicts

Sixteen other states and Washington DC have initiated legal action against the administration's demand, claiming it infringes on Congressional authority, which created the $75m sexual health initiative, known as the Personal Responsibility Education Program (Prep).

All jurisdictions involved in the lawsuit are led by Democratic state executives.

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

“HHS fails to show that the updated requirements are reasonable, let alone offer any reasonable explanation, other than an excuse, for its actions,” wrote the judge, a federal jurist in the state. “The department offers no proof that it made informed determinations or took into account the legal goals.”

Program Goals and Federal Review

Prep seeks to educate adolescents on positive interactions and how to avoid pregnancy and the transmission of sexually transmitted infections.

In the spring, the federal government required all states and territories receiving Prep funds to provide a version of their curriculum to HHS and its agency, the ACF office, for a health content assessment.

Four months later, the administration sent letters to 46 states and territories, informing them that, during the evaluation, it had discovered “material in the educational programs that deviate from the scope of the program's legal framework.”

In particular, the administration claimed it had identified evidence of “gender ideology,” a phrase often used by rightwing groups to describe the notion that gender is a fluid cultural concept and that trans and non-binary people are real.

Specific Examples of Requested Changes

The government directed Illinois to drop a lesson that said: “Adolescents may identify in ways that don’t conform with their assigned gender.”

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

Moreover, health instructors in many jurisdictions could no longer be instructed to “show tolerance and understanding for all participants, regardless of individual traits, including race, heritage, religion, social class, sexual orientation or gender identity,” according to the notices sent to states.

Government Comments and State Responses

“Oversight is imminent,” declared Andrew Gradison, acting assistant secretary of the ACF office, in a announcement. “Government money will not be used to negatively influence of the next generation or advance harmful political doctrines.”

Multiple states and regions stated they would remove the content or had already done so. These include Alaska, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia and Wyoming, as well as the two territories.

Another pair of jurisdictions, the states, said their Prep curricula never contained the language mentioned in the government's notices.

Impact on Youth and Mental Health

Collectively, these jurisdictions are home to over 120k trans people aged 13 to 17, based on estimates from a research institute.

“When the aim is to support youth and give them a safe space, I’m not sure why we are targeting the most vulnerable youth in the community,” commented an advocate, who heads Rise that provides sex education in one state.

“When the government says that there’s something incorrect about you and the teachers aren’t allowed to tell you things or they have to out you to your parents – when you know that that’s not safe – that’s horrible for mental health.”

Almost 50% of transgender adolescents contemplated self-harm in the previous twelve months, based on a recent study from a mental health organization. School support for these adolescents is associated with lower rates of attempted suicide, the organization found.

Earlier Incidents and Ongoing Disputes

Previously, the Trump administration ordered California to remove mentions to transgender topics from its educational program.

When the jurisdiction declined, the government withdrew its funding, eliminating approximately $12m in government money and stopping sex education programs in schools, juvenile detention facilities 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 additionally informed instructors who receive money from additional national programs, the $50 million Sexual Risk Avoidance Education (SRAE) and the $101 million TPPP initiative, that they cannot teach about “gender-related concepts.”

An early October judicial ruling blocked the administration from changing TPPP, while the Monday court order prohibits it from changing the other program in the suing jurisdictions that challenged Prep.

The Administration for Children and Families did not immediately respond to a request for comment.