Trump administration orders states, territories to strip gender ideology from education materials

The Department of Health and Human Services ordered Washington, D.C., 40 states, and five territories Aug. 26 to strip all references to “gender ideology” from a federally funded sexual health education program. Otherwise, they will lose millions of dollars in funding. 

The agency’s Administration for Children and Families (ACF), which issued the directive, gave the states and territories 60 days to revise materials used in the Personal Responsibility Program (PREP). According to its website, PREP educates youth on abstinence, contraception, and preventing sexually transmitted infections.

ACF said in letters to state officials that gender ideology is “irrelevant to teaching abstinence and contraception” and falls “outside the scope” of the law governing PREP grant awards. 

Together, the 46 states and territories hold about $81 million in remaining PREP funds, according to the ACF. New York receives the most, at more than $6 million.

“Accountability is coming,” ACF Acting Assistant Secretary Andrew Gradison said in the directive announcement. “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.”

The 40 states the order applies to 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 five territories are Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.