Trump issues second order for states to drop gender ideology from sex ed

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has, for the second time, ordered states and territories to remove all references to "gender ideology" from a federally-funded sex education program or they will lose millions of dollars in funding.

Key Takeaways:

• The Administration for Children and Families sent a letter to 40 states and six territories ordering them to remove references to 'gender ideology' from their federally-funded sex ed programs or lose funding.

• In June, the administration sent a similar letter to California and ultimately stripped the state of its funding when it did not comply.

• The new letter gives the states and territories 60 days to remove the language.

The Details:

HHS's Administration for Children and Families (ACF) demanded on August 26 "that 46 states and territories remove all references to gender ideology in their federally-funded Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) education materials within 60 days."

As previously reported by Live Action News, the new order follows a letter sent to California in June, telling the state it must comply with the requirement to eliminate “all gender ideology references” from its sex ed curricula used in the program.

Last week, ACF followed through in California, terminating the state's PREP grant after it failed to remove references to gender ideology. States and territories receiving the new letters from ACF will face the same fate if they do not comply.

“Accountability is coming,” said Acting Assistant Secretary Andrew Gradison. “Federal funds will not be used to poison the minds of the next generation or advance dangerous ideological agendas. The Trump Administration will ensure that PREP reflects the intent of Congress, not the priorities of the left.”

PREP gives federal funding to states for sex education programs for children deemed ‘high risk’ for STIs or teen pregnancies. According to ACF, participants in PREP are mostly minority children. As reported by Live Action researcher Sheena Rodriguez, children deemed high risk can include:

• Minors in foster care

• Juvenile detention facilities

• Some public schools

• Homeless shelters

States receiving funding for PREP set guidelines for the program but must comply with federal requirements.

The 40 states that received the new letters are: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

The six territories are Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Washington, D.C.

Go Deeper:

• The letters to each state and territory can be found here and include information on each program's references to gender ideology.

• Details on how much money each state and territory stands to lose can be found here. The funding amount ranges from $333,000 for the Northern Mariana Islands and Delaware to $4.6 million for Pennsylvania. The total funding amount for all states and territories totals more than $81 million.