Federal Crackdown On Gender Ideology Puts Sex Ed Funding In Jeopardy In 46 US States

Last Updated:August 28, 2025, 00:10 IST

The PREP initiative was established under the Affordable Care Act and has been in operation since 2010.

The list of affected recipients includes 40 states and six US territories (File Photo: AP)

On Tuesday, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a formal warning to 46 states concerning references to gender ideology in sex education materials funded by the federal government. The department has advised these states to remove any such references from the educational resources used under the Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) within a 60-day period.

The warning was delivered through the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), which claimed the action was intended to protect “children from attempts to indoctrinate them with delusional ideology."

Acting Assistant Secretary Andrew Gradison stated, “Federal funds will not be used to poison the minds of the next generation or advance dangerous ideological agendas."

The PREP initiative was established under the Affordable Care Act and has been in operation since 2010. Its core aim is to prevent teenage pregnancy and the spread of sexually transmitted infections. Any PREP curriculum must receive federal approval before grants are disbursed to states.

However, following a “medical accuracy review" conducted in April, the ACF identified educational content in certain state programmes that it claimed “fall outside of the scope" of PREP. This includes references to gender identity or transgender individuals in various forms.

Just days prior to issuing the broader warning, the ACF revoked California’s PREP funding. The state was reportedly unable to comply with demands to eliminate mentions of gender ideology from its instructional materials. California now stands as a warning to other states, with the Trump administration signalling a more aggressive enforcement stance moving forward.

The list of affected recipients includes 40 states and six US territories. Among them are Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, as well as Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, and Washington D.C.

The administration’s letter argues that inclusion of transgender-related content is “irrelevant to teaching abstinence and contraception and unrelated to any of the adult preparation subjects." Notably, New York could face the most significant financial impact if it fails to adhere to these new directives.

This warning forms part of a broader federal pattern that includes removing transgender people from hate crime data collection, military service, and official government communications.

Washington D.C., United States of America (USA)

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